Sudan
Defeats US
Move to
Exclude NGO,
As Another
Brags of Bank
of America
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
May 24 -- In
the UN's
Committee on
Non-Governmental
Organizations
usually it is
Sudan and
countries like
it seeking to
exclude groups
and the United
States and its
allies pushing
for
admission. But
on May 23 the
roles were
reversed, and
as Sudan's
Permanent
Representative
Daffa-Alla
Elhag Ali
Osman told
Inner City
Press
afterward, "we
defeated
them."
At
issue was the
request by the
US to
permanent
exclude or
"close
the
application"
of the Islamic
African Relief
Agency (IARA),
a
Sudan-based
group which
the US in 2006
accused of
supporting Al
Qaida. At that
time, IARA's
application
was withdrawn,
and now the US
sought to
permanently
exclude it.
Invoking
groups'
rights to
respond to
such charges,
Sudan made a
"no-action"
motion seeking
to defeat the
US' proposed
exclusion of
the group. The
presence of a
Permanent
Representative
or "Number One
Ambassador"
like
Daffa-Alla
Elhag Ali
Osman in the
NGO committee
is rare. As
Inner City
Press spoke
with him,
representatives
of the
US looked on.
But due
process is due
process.
The
reported vote
breakdown was
interesting:
voting with
Sudan were
China, Cuba,
Nicaragua,
Pakistan,
Senegal,
Venezuela,
Russia -- and
elected
Security
Council member
Morocco, which
on
May 21 voted
with
the Arab Group
seeking to
exclude from
the Rio + 20
conference two
Israeli NGOs
which it's
said do
business in
the Occupied
Territories.
(Click
here for
Monday's story
from Inner
City Press.)
The
US garnered
only four
supporters:
Israel,
Belgium,
Bulgaria, and
Peru, United
States).
Registering
abstentions
were
Kyrgyzstan and
India, which
chairs
anti-terrorism
/ sanctions
subsidiaries
of the
Security
Council.
Inner
City Press
attended the
May 21 and May
22 session as
well, as the
only media
present as
question after
question was
raised about
the
sufficiency of
groups'
applications.
During these
sessions the
US
said very
little,
including as
one NGO the
World Habitat
Foundation
spoke about
issuing
mortgages in
partnership
with "Merrill
Lynch," since
acquired by
Bank of
America. And
so it goes at
the
UN.
, 
