UN
Tells ICP It's
Fine With
Feltman
Communication
With US On
"Other System"
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
May 5 -- With
Jeffrey
Feltman on his
way about
Ukraine to
Moscow and
then Kyiv,
Inner City
Press on April
30 reported
and in May
asked about
Feltman communicating
with US
officials on
an "other
system," transcript
here, video here and embedded below:
Inner
City
Press: there
was a
high-profile
Freedom of
Information
Act response
of documents
by the US
State
Department
about the
Benghazi
incidents, and
although
obviously
that’s
something to
be looked at
by Congress,
one of the
documents
released was
an e-mail from
Jeffrey
Feltman at his
UN e-mail
address to
Salman Ahmed,
then an
adviser to
Susan Rice,
saying “thank
you for your
note on the
other system”.
And I just
wanted to
know, because
of the issues
that came up
because of the
leak of the
Victoria
Nuland one,
saying, “we’ve
spoken to
Jeff," which
seems clearly
it was Jeff
Feltman, I
wanted to
know, is there
some other
system by
which, in this
case a former
US official,
Jeffrey
Feltman,
communicates
with the US
Government?
Deputy
Spokesman
Farhan Haq:
There’s any
number of
reasons why
Jeffrey
Feltman, as
the
Under-Secretary-General
for Political
Affairs, would
communicate
with the
United States
Government.
That’s one of
the
Governments
that we deal
with.
Inner
City
Press: Sure,
I’m not at all
disputing the
idea, and this
was actually
about the
death in
Benghazi, so
I’m not at all
disputing the
fact of the
communication.
I’m saying
that this line
— "thank you
for your note
on the other
system" — I’m
specifically
asking about
the words “on
the other
system" --
Deputy
Spokesman
Haq: Matthew,
I don’t see
why I would
analyse this
precise
wording of an
email.
Inner
City
Press: You
don’t see the
issue that it
raises?
Doesn’t it
ring a bell?
Deputy
Spokesman:
As far as I’m
aware, all
these e-mails
are being
looked at by
other
authorities,
and we’ll let
them do that.
Inner
City
Press: Right,
but I’m asking
a UN question.
They are not
looking at it
for the
propriety of a
UN official
having another
communication
system with
his or her own
Government.
That’s not
what they are
looking at;
I’m asking you
about that.
Deputy
Spokesman:
Jeffrey
Feltman is an
international
civil servant
working for
the
Secretary-General
of the United
Nations.
There’s never
been any
dispute about
that and I
don’t believe
that there’s
any conjecture
even from the
US Government
people looking
into these
e-mails that
there is such
an issue
raised by this
e-mail that
you’re talking
about. He’s
perfectly free
to deal with
US officials
and people at
the US
Mission. He
has to
communicate
with people
from all the
various
missions,
including, of
course, the
missions of
our permanent
Security
Council
members.
Inner
City
Press: Right,
but in a
separate
system. That’s
what I’m
asking. I’m
specifically
pointing at
that word --
Deputy
Spokesman:
I think you’re
interpreting
the wording in
a way that may
not
necessarily be
supported by
what it means.
Inner
City
Press: What
does it mean?
Deputy
Spokesman
Haq: I have no
idea what it
means. I’m not
privy to what
the wording
is, but
neither do
you. You’re
playing
detective over
a random
series of
words and
trying to
impute meaning
to it.
Inner
City
Press: I’m
saying it
raises a
question about
UN practice so
I’m asking
you. I thought
that’s what we
do here.
Deputy
Spokesman:
Like I said,
there’s no
doubt,
certainly from
the
Secretary-General’s
perspective,
that Jeffrey
Feltman is
continuing
faithfully as
an
international
civil servant.
Of
this recent
Freedom of
Information
Act disclosure
by the US
State
Department,
many have
argued that
there is no
smoking gun,
there is
nothing new.
Focusing on
the UN, Inner
City Press
found
something new,
though perhaps
already known
or suspected
by some.
Former
US official
Jeffrey
Feltman, now
head of the UN
Department of
Political
Affairs, wrote
from his
UN.org email
account to
then Susan
Rice-staffer
Salman Ahmed
on September
12, 2012
saying "thank
you for your
note on the
other system."
(The topic was
Benghazi and
Chris Stevens,
may he and his
colleagues
rest in
peace.)
The UN
question
raised, as it
was by the
leaked audio
of Victoria
Nuland telling
US Ambassador
to Ukraine
Geoff Pyatt
that Feltman
got UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon to
send Robert
Serry to
Ukraine, is in
how close
contact
Feltman
remains with
US officials
-- and HOW, on
what "other
system"?
Here
is the
document,
click here.
Does
this mean,
other e-mail
system? As
simple as
Gmail or more
secure?
When
Inner City
Press asked
the UN about
the Nuland
audio, Ban's
deputy
spokesperson
Farhan Haq tried to
claim the
Nuland wasn't
referring
telling Geoff
Pyatt about
Jeff Feltman
but rather
some third,
still
undisclosed
Jeff (or
Geoff).
Now
Feltman is on
his way to
Ukraine again,
after a formal
stop in Cyprus
-- about which
Inner City
Press
previously
asked the UN
without
confirmation
until today.
Feltman is a
genial
individual but
these
questions must
be asked, and
the UN should
answer them.
How
will the UN
now explain
Feltman and
the US
Mission's
"other
system"? Watch
this site.
, 
