Ban's
Handlers
Manhandle
Press, 2 Week
After Ban
Apology to
Turkish PM
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 10 --
The night
before UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon left
on Sunday for
Norway, he refused
a press
question and
had his
"handlers"
push a
reporter.
This
happened two
weeks after Ban rushed
to apologize
to Turkish
prime minister
Ergodan
after three UN
Security
officers were
injured by
Ergodan's
guards.
Further
reporting by
Inner City
Press finds
that after
Ban's fast
apology,
beyond the
complaints
that Inner
City Press
quoted, there
was a proposal
to walk off
the job,
during the
General
Debate, barely
averted. Some
leadership. So
now who
apologizes?
Consider:
Ban
Ki-Moon
doesn't deign
to talk about
pop stars. On
Saturday, the
United
Nations'
secretary
general
observed the
20th
anniversary of
South Korea's
admission to
the UN with a
press
reception at
its
consulate on
E. 45th St.
Among the
guests were
some Korean
pop acts,
including DBSK
and 4 Minute.
Ban thanked
them for
coming and
accepted a CD
from one
artist, but
his
receptiveness
did not extend
to what we
think was a
legit question
about his
teeny bopper
guests.
When The News'
David Yi asked
Ban why it was
important for
the acts
to be there,
he reports the
UN chief
turned away
and three of
his
handlers
"pushed" him
aside. "How
dare you ask a
question like
that to the UN
secretary
general?" said
one.
Seriously?
[Click here,
last item.]
It's
strange that
Ban and his
handlers would
think pop
music
questions
beneath him,
when he
similarly did
photo ops with
teeny bopper
singers while
he
was in South
Korea.
Ban in
South Korea in
August 2011
with pop
stars, Ban-handling
not shown
On
Monday in a UN
noon briefing
which saw only
two questions,
Inner City
Press asked
about
Cambodia,
where Ban has
had little to
say about the
crackdown
on human
rights and
accountability,
and if it is
true that Ban
will
return to New
York on
October 12,
only to
re-cross the
Atlantic Ocean
to go to
Switzerland on
October 16.
Ban's
Deputy
Spokesman said
he wasn't
ready to
confirm, then
did so 40
minutes
later. Who
else will get
roughed up?
Watch this
site.
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