At
IMF
on Egypt, No
Change But a
Visit, No
Comment on
Occupy Wall St
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 6 --
As Egypt says
it is
"changing its
attitude"
toward a
previously
offered $3.2
billion loan
from the
International
Monetary Fund,
the IMF on
Thursday told
the press that
there has been
no new request
from Egypt and
that only
policy and
technical
assistance is
being
provided.
IMF
spokesman
David Hawley
did tell the
press, under
embargo as a
big
revelation,
that IMF staff
will be going
to Egypt in
the "next few
weeks." Hawley
did not
provide any
update on
Director
Christine
Lagarde's
claim that the
IMF would be
helping out
the drought
and famine in
the
Horn of
Africa,
despite not
recognizing
the government
in Somalia.
Inner
City Press
submitted an
Egypt question
and two
others,
including
"what is
the IMF's
comment on the
Occupy Wall
Street
developments
in the US,
including 700
arrests in
lower
Manhattan?"
The IMF did
not
acknowledge or
answer the
question.
IMF's
Lagarde and
Ban Ki-moon:
no comments on
#OccupyWallStreet
On
September 28,
the IMF
acknowledged
but said it
would have no
answer to this
question:
Former
IMF
managing
director
Strauss-Kahn
has just
argued in
Bronx court
that he is
immune under
the 1947
Convention on
the Privileges
and
Immunities of
the
Specialized
Agencies.
But
this
Convention
provides that
"[e]ach
specialized
agency shall
have the right
and duty to
waive the
immunity of
any official
in any
case where, in
its opinion,
the immunity
would impede
the course of
justice and
can be waived
without
prejudice to
the interests
of the
specialized
agency."
That
is
to say, the
IMF can waive
any immunity
that is being
argued for.
The question:
will the IMF
waive the
IMF-based
immunity for
which Mr.
Strauss-Kahn
is arguing, or
will the IMF
shield him
from the
charges?
Saying
the IMF "has
nothing" on
this question,
an IMF
spokesperson
did answer
Inner
City Press'
question about
South Sudan --
with a press
release from
July, to which
it said there
is no update.
And so it goes
at the IMF.
, 
