UN
Counter-Terrorism
Chief Calls
Aid Exception
Complex,
Dodges on Spying
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
November 22 --
Former French
judge
Jean-Paul
Laborde,
chosen
by UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon to
head the UN
Counter-Terrorism
Committee
Executive
Directorate,
took four
questions on
Friday.
The
first included
a softball
question about
the US
National
Security
Agency spying;
Laborde did
not squarely
answer it,
just as Tony
Blair
did not the
day before, by
Laborde's
side. (Click
here for
Blair video by
Inner City
Press.)
The
second was
about suicide
bomber in
Iraqi being
from Saudi
Arabia.
Laborde
answered that
as a (former)
judge, he
would need
evidence. He
then addressed
the
questioner,
obviously "you
are from the
country." But
the
correspondent
is from
Lebanon.
Inner
City Press,
called on
third, thanked
Laborde on
behalf of the
Free
UN
Coalition for
Access
then asked
what he has
done about the
study
released by
the Norwegian
Refugee
Council urging
that
"Counter-terrorism
laws
and measures
adopted by
States and
inter-governmental
organizations
should include
exceptions for
humanitarian
action which
is undertaken
at a level
intended to
meet the
humanitarian
needs of
the person
concerned" and
"should
exclude
ancillary
transactions
and other
arrangements
necessary for
humanitarian
access,
recognizing
that
humanitarian
actors operate
in areas under
control of
groups
designated as
terrorist."
Laborde
called
it a good
question, but
as so often
happens after
that phrase
is used, did
not really
answer it. He
said it's a
complex issue,
he
mentioned one
country:
Somalia. But
he did not,
for example,
address
Barclay's move
to cut off
remittances.
We'll have
more on this.
Footnote:
Why
was there no
time for
follow-up, or
for more
journalists to
ask
questions? In
part it is due
to the UN
automatically
giving the
first
question to
the UN
Censorship
Alliance
(a/k/a UN
Correspondents
Association),
even when as
happens more
and more the
questioner /
president
never uses the
answer for any
news. What's
the point of
these
questions,
then, other
than to cling
on to a
position in
order
to censor
others?
, 
