Diplomacy
and
Oil Mix at CFR
Talk by
Ivorian
Ouattara and
Koroma
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 20
-- When Cote
d'Ivoire
Alassane
Ouattara spoke
Tuesday at the
Council on
Foreign
Relations, one
expected him
to
raise, or be
asked, about
accountability
for killings
by his
supporters and
those of
Guillaume
Soro, in
Douekoue for
example.
Ouattara had
promised to
take action
against anyone
found
responsible;
this was said
to set him
apart from
Laurent
Gbagbo.
But
in a
discussion led
by an
executive from
ExxonMobil,
Walter
Kansteiner
III, Ouattara
neither
mentioned
accountability
nor was asked
about
it.
Rather
he was asked
about his
economy and
the African
Development
Bank -- by a
banker -- and
what he
thought of the
African Union.
The
answer to the
latter was,
not much.
Ouattara
said he
is
"disappointed"
with the
African
Union's "lack
of
efficiency."
As an example
of this, he
pointed to the
AU not yet
recognizing
the
Transitional
National
Council in
Libya. He said
if
you just look
at the
television you
see who is in
power. The
audience
laughed.
ExxonMobil,
one wag
muttered,
likes to do
business with
those who are
in power. (It
was
by this same
logic that
Tony Blair,
sometime UN
official,
pitched
J.P. Morgan
Chase's wares
to Gaddafi,
and now
appears in the
guise of
convincing the
Palestinians
not to seek UN
membership.)
Ouattara
was
accompanied by
Sierra Leone's
president
Ernest Bai
Koroma, who
Ouattara
called his
"brother," and
the
moderator's
logic in
the pairing
quickly became
clear.
"We
have started
oil
exploration,"
Koroma said,
"and the
results have
been very
interesting."
More
interesting
than the fate
of underaged
prisoners in
Freetown's
jails?
Ouattara,
Koroma &
the man from
ExxonMobil,
Douekoue not
shown
The
Council on
Foreign
Relations has
been in a
frenzy the
first two days
this week,
starting by
hosting Alain
Juppe on
Monday. In
that one, the
first
question was
given to
French state
media; after
that, the
moderator
asked about
the Euro. CFR
puts out good
reports, but
it is also
interested in
business,
witness the
ExxonMobil
host for
President
Ouattara. An
intellectual
gloss on the
great game for
resources, in
a
venerable
building on
68th and Park
Avenue.
Ouattara left
at 2:30,
and CFR
pitched its
5:30 offering
from Iran.
Pump that oil!
* * *
At
UN,
Deby On TNC's
"Hypocrisy, "
400,000
Chadians
"Blocked" in
Libya, "No
Prisoners in
Chad"
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 19
-- Chad's
President
Idriss Deby
told Inner
City
Press on
Monday that
there remain
400,000
Chadian's
"blocked"
inside Libya.
He
said the vast
majority had
gone to Libya
to work.
Some had been
recruited to
fight but by
both sides, he
insisted,
Gaddafi and
the National
Transitional
Council.
He said that
going forward
the
international
community
should help
reconcile all
Libyans,
"including
those who
worked with
Gaddafi." Video here, 1st part
of interview.
Deby
accused the
leaders of the
"New Libya,"
the National
Transitional
Council, of
hypocrisy as
many of them
previously
worked with
Gaddafi.
He said there
should be
greater
African Union
involvement in
the New
Libya, and
chafed at
Inner City
Press'
statement that
South Africa
has led on
that issue,
and on that of
African
migrants.
"There
are
other African
countries on
the Security
Council," he
said,
naming Gabon
and then
Nigeria.
Inner
City Press
asked Deby for
his view of
developments
in Sudan. Deby
spoke of
Southern
Kordofan and
"Nil Bleu,"
Blue Nile,
then said that
much remains
to be solved
between North
and South
Sudan.
On
this, Inner
City Press
asked Deby to
respond to reports
that the
publication
N'Djamena
Bi-Hebdo was
told not to
compare South
Sudan to
Southern
Chad:
"In
the
October 14 to
17 edition of
the local
newspaper
N'Djamena
Bi-Hebdo, the
publishers
included an
article
comparing
southern Sudan
with southern
Chad. The
prime minister
called the
article
'dangerous'
and asked the
HCC to act on
the matter. On
October 19,
the HCC met
with
journalists
and warned
N'Djamena
Bi-Hebdo in
particular and
all
media houses
in general to
"observe
ethics rules"
by not
printing
articles that
risked
inciting
hatred,
violence, or
separatist
sentiment."
Deby
said he
didn't know
about the
case. He said
"come to Chad"
to see
the freedom of
the press, and
also said that
"there are no
political
prisons in
Chad." Inner
City Press
began to ask
of
one example --
Ibni
Oumar Mahamat
Saleh --
but Deby
didn't answer
on
it.
Deby and the
author, smiles
on Libya,
other answers
not show
The
interview was
over, and
Inner City
Press left the
Plaza
Hotel. Deby
will speak
before the
General
Assembly on
Friday, after
meeting with
Ban Ki-moon
the day
before. "Mais
vous savez de
tout,"
Deby said. Not
as much as
we'd like to.
Watch this
site.
, 
