On
Syria,
UN Censors Try
to Cut Off
Questions, Ask
Who the Questioner
Works For
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 4 --
On Syria
during
Wednesday's UN
noon briefing,
Inner City
Press asked
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
associate
spokesperson
Farhan Haq to
respond to Syria's
August 31
statement
that the US,
France and UK
lobbied for
the UN to NOT
look into WHO
used chemical
weapons at
Khan al Asal.
Haq
repeated Ban's
statement from
the day before
in his
two-question
press
conference:
that Ban made
the decision.
Inner City Press
asked if Ban
agrees with
his
predecessor
Kofi Annan,
speaking for
The Elders,
that member
states should
await the UN
report before
reaching
conclusions
and deciding
on action, as
is taking
place in the
US Congress.
Haq said Ban
would have no
comment,
citing
sovereignty.
Another
journalist,
accredited
with a
Pacifica radio
station and a
member of
the Free
UN Coalition
for Access,
asked about
depleted
uranium and
about the
story by the
former AP
string based
on interviews,
that the
chemical
weapons in
Ghouta came
through Saudi
sources.
Before
Haq could
answer,
another
journalist in
the front row
who often
speaks for the
UN
Correspondents
Association
tried to cut
the
question off.
She was (and
is) at the
left hand of
UNCA's 2013
president
Pamela Falk of
CBS. FUNCA
says this is
not how it is
supposed to
work,
establishment
scribes
silencing or
purporting to
answer the
questions of
others.
Worse,
as soon as the
briefing was
over this UNCA
spokesperson
immediately
went to UN
spokesperson
Haq demanding
to know, "Who
does she
work for?"
This
is how it
works with the UN's
Censorship
Alliance,
which held a faux
"UN briefing"
with Saudi
backed Syria
rebel boss
Jarba
which the UN is
still not
answering
Press
questions
about.
Beyond
trying to get
the
investigative
Press thrown
out of the UN,
they try
to cut off
others'
questioning.
The Pacifica
reporter,
referring to a
history with
this Reuters
"retiree,"
inquired with
Haq but got no
satisfaction.
He or the
Department of
Public
Information
through which
Ban "partners"
with this UN
Censorship
Alliance
should at a
minimum remind
these insiders
that all
journalists
have a right
to ask their
questions, and
get answers
from
the UN
spokesperson,
not insider
scribes. Watch
this site.
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