UN
Ignores Darfur
E-mail,
Stonewalls on
Yemen Check
& Bibi
"Leak"
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 13 -- A
full day after
UN
staff in
Darfur were
told
that Ibrahim
Gambari had
been replaced,
and Inner City
Press had
exclusively
reported it
then asked for
confirmation,
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
deputy
spokesman at Monday's
noon briefing
replied that
"to
the best of my
knowledge,"
Gambari is
still in
charge.
Five
hours later,
no
clarification
was received.
Is there a
Darfur power
struggle? It
would seem
important to
clarify this.
But
the UN often
has its own
reasons to
leave things
vague, to not
answer
questions or
to answer
questions
other than
those asked.
Also
on Monday,
Inner City
Press asked
about a UN
investigation
into
allegations
its
peacekeepers
did nothing
amid killings
near Duekoue
in Cote
d'Ivoire.
Five hours
later, the UN
replied, but
about an
entirely
different
report of a
full year
earlier. Inner
City Press
immediately
reiterated and
further
explained its
question, so
far
without
answer.
Then
there is the
run-around.
Last week
Inner City
Press ran
an exclusive
story about
Yemen's June
20 check to
the UN for
over $200,000
in dues
bouncing for
non-sufficient
funds,
such that
Yemen could
not vote on
the Syria
resolution in
the General
Assembly on
August 3.
Inner City
Press published
the check.
The
first two
times Inner
City Press
asked the UN
about it, the
response
was they'd
check into it.
Third time is
NOT the charm:
when Inner
City Press
reiterated the
questions on
Monday, deputy
spokesman
Eduardo Del
Buey said
only the
President of
the General
Assembly's
spokesperson
could answer.
This
spokesperson
replied,
"please ask
the Office of
Programme
Planning,
Budget and
Accounts in
the Department
of
Management."
That is part
of the
Secretariat.
So why didn't
the
Secretariat's
spokespeople,
to whom the
question has
now been put
for the fourth
time, just
answer it in
the first
place?
Then
there is the
nearly
Kafkaesque
(non) answer
that "you have
your
answer." Inner
City Press asked:
Inner
City Press: on
this reported
trip to Iran.
There’s an
article in
Haaretz,
saying that
Benjamin
Netanyahu
quoted from
his
conversation
with Ban
Ki-moon, and
he quotes
Martin
[Nesirky]
saying, "Ban
is
not in the
habit of
referring to
private phone
conversations
with
foreign
leaders." So,
can you
explain a bit?
Because we do
get
these readouts
of calls — you
know, they’ll
put a readout
saying
that Ban
Ki-moon spoke
to X and Y —
so what’s
different
about
what happened
with
Netanyahu?
Deputy
Spokesperson:
You have the
explanation
right there,
Matthew. Next
question?
Inner
City Press:
Oh, because he
said it was
private in
advance?
That’s
what I’m
wondering.
Deputy
Spokesperson:
You have your
answer.
What?
In fairness,
one of Inner
City Press'
five questions
on Monday was
answered
thusly before
5 pm:
Inner
City Press: I
saw that there
were these
comments by
the
Secretary-General,
after he met
with the
Foreign
Minister of
the
Republic of
Korea, about
how the two
sides should
work together.
And
I just
wondered,
during this
trip, did he
ask to meet
with anyone
from the DPRK
[Democratic
People’s
Republic of
Korea] side?
And
when was the
last time he
met with a
DPRK official?
If he’s
calling
on both sides,
is he
attempting to
speak to both
sides?
Deputy
Spokesperson:
I’ll have to
find out when
the last time
he spoke to
a DPRK
official was.
I don’t have
that
information
with me right
now, no.
But
at 5 pm on
Monday, the
following was
provided:
As
for your
question on
the last
meeting
between the
Secretary-General
and a DPRK
official, the
Secretary-General
met Vice
Minister for
Foreign
Affairs Pak
Gil Yon on 28
September 2011
at UN
Headquarters.
It's
appreciated.
So what is the
batting
average? Watch
this site.
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