Inner City Press -- Investigative Journalism from the United Nations

On Somalia, We Are All Ill-Informed, Says the UN, Same on Uganda, Lurching Toward UNDP Power Grab

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN

UNITED NATIONS, November 7 -- As a proxy war in Somalia gathers force, UN envoy Francois Lonseny Fall on Tuesday declined the name the six countries documented as violating the UN arms embargo. A UN report last May named Ethiopia, Eritrea, Italy, Saudi Arabia and Yemen, and referred to a "clandestine third-country," widely thought to be the United States.

At UN Headquarters, Inner City Press on Tuesday asked Mr. Fall if he could now identify this "clandestine" party. Video on UNTV, from Minute 34:21.

"You and I, we are on the same level," Mr. Fall responded, adding that the UN Monitoring Group for the Somalia sanctions is independent from his office. Video on UNTV, Minute 34:55. Asked by Inner City Press about reported fighting in the Puntland region, and about the terrorism alert issued by the U.S. for East Africa, Mr. Fall largely punted.

"Regarding the threat against American interests in the region... it is from American sources, I cannot give more comment on it," he said. He said there is no fighting in Puntland, despite reports to the contrary (click here for some).

After the briefing, Inner City Press as told that when Mr. Fall first spoke publicly of his work, he was too forthcoming, and that he was asked by the UN to be less forthcoming. Mission accomplished. Still, his good humor covers a multitude of (briefing) sins. Whether this process is helpful to Somalis is another question.

Back on August 16, in response to one of five questions from Inner City Press, Francois Lonseny Fall said that during the morning’s Security Council consultations, the issue of Ethiopian troops in Somalia "didn't come up." He added that no member of the Security Council asked about the issue. Video is at http://webcast.un.org/ramgen/pressbriefing/brief060816.rm

Tuesday, Inner City Press interviewed Chinese Ambassador Wang, asking for China's thinking on the possibility of an IGAD force now going into Somalia.

"The Africans have different opinions" on that, said Ambassador Wang. "We are watching the Africans to see what they feel is best." That is the line, on the record.

Going off the record, an- /the other major power let it be known that they support a limited lifting of the Somalia arms embargo, for IGAD and to strengthen the seeming-doomed Transitional Federal Government.

Mr. Fall had briefed the Security Council, and afterwards Inner City Press asked this month's Security Council president, Peruvian Ambassador Jorge Voto-Bernales, what the timeline for any Council action would be. Video on UNTV.

Somalia per UN

Amb. Voto-Bernales said cautiously that there are "options under consideration" to address Somalia's "fragile situation," and that the Council "stresses dialogue between the parties."

The same could be said of Uganda -- and was, hours later, after the Council's consultation on the Lord's Resistance Army. In this case the UN's briefer, Ibrahim Gambari, declined to speak to the press. While at the noon briefing, spokesman Stephane Dujarric had said that Mr. Gambari "would be happy to speak with you at the stakeout," when the time came, Mr. Gambari cut to the elevator and went on up. There were references to Myanmar. But the effect was to continue the UN's silence as LRA leaders indicted by the International Criminal Court travel freely, and now ask to meet with outgoing head of UN Humanitarian Affairs, Jan Egeland.

(Insider's note: while Mr. Egeland has said he is outgoing from his New York-based OCHA position, it is being circulated that the UN will set up a new agency, based in Scandinavia, which Norway will largely fund and which Mr. Egeland will head. Watch this site.)

After the Uganda briefing, not a single official or Ambassador came to the stakeout. Inner City Press followed Amb. Voto-Bernales down the hall and asked whether a presidential statement may be released. "Yes," Amb. Voto-Bernales responded. Any guidance for Mr. Egeland? "It was discussed."

A more forthcoming Security Council diplomat, who requested not to be identified by name or mission -- nor, perhaps, by motive -- disclosed that during the Council's Uganda meeting, the issues discussed included the reports that Khartoum is behind the so-called LRA Sudan and the recently killing of 41 civilians there, and the Ugandan People's Defense Forces' aerial assaults in Karamoja. These are UPDF attacks in the name of disarmament, part of a program funded by the UN Development Program, suspended earlier this year and purportedly (but opaquely) not to be refunded. We'll see.

Finally, for this pre-Washington report, a summary of the upcoming Coherence report has been circulated, highlighting the differences between the present and the proposal. Many of the proposal involve giving more power to the aforementioned UNDP, including "UNDP head becomes UN Development Coordinator" and "UNDP to lead and coordinate early recovery." Would it be a good idea to give more powers to UNDP as it is currently constituted and makes, or does make, itself available and transparent? More on this in coming weeks -- some, in fact, at or just after 8 a.m. on November 9, watch this site.

On WFP, Annan and Ban Ki-Moon Hear and See No Evil, While Resume of Josette Sheeran Shiner Is Edited

UNITED NATIONS, November 7 -- In the hours after Josette Sheeran Shiner was "confirmed" as the new head of the UN World Food Program, questions continued to arise.

At the UN spokesman's noon briefing, reporters asked about Ms. Sheeran Shiner's now-UN resume, which omits previous claims of status as Pulitzer Prize finalist and as promoter of the interests of U.S. agribusiness, and about the involvement of the U.S. and of Ban Ki-Moon (and another Moon, see below) in choosing Ms. Sheeran Shiner.

At a 10 a.m. stakeout interview, Inner City Press asked U.S. Amb. Bolton: "On WFP, did the U.S. reach out to the incoming secretary- general, Ban Ki-Moon, in order to get his position on it? Video on UNTV, from Minute 2:48.

Ambassador Bolton replied, as transcribed by the U.S. Mission, "My understanding is that the secretary-general consulted Ban Ki-Moon's office, and we certainly supported that and supported the decision to go ahead with Josette Sheeran's announcement. As I've said to you before, this is almost exactly what happened in late 1991, when Javier Perez de Cuellar and the then- director general of the FAO [Edward Saouma] when they appointed Cathy Bertini to be the executive director of the World Food Program."

At the UN's noon briefing, Inner City Press asked Kofi Annan's spokesman Stephane Dujarric when Mr. Annan had communicated with Ban Ki-Moon, and if the decision on Ms. Sheeran Shiner had already been made before they spoke.

Mr. Dujarric replied that that the two had spoken "in the past few days," after Mr. Annan had interviewed Ms. Sheeran Shiner, and characterized the process as "consultative" and "rigorous."

Inner City Press asked if Ms. Sheeran Shiner had been asked, by Mr. Annan or the other outgoing UN official who interviewed her, including Mark Malloch Brown and Jan Egeland, about her 20-year affiliation with Sun Myung Moon and for her position on his stated views, including that the UN should be destroyed, or merged with the U.S..

As reported by Associated Press, Mr. Dujarric replied that "People's religious affiliation is their own. People are not judged on their religious affiliation."

Mr. Dujarric also said, "People's religious affiliation is not a matter of concern." Video on UNTV, Minute 22:26 to 23:17.

Sun Myung Moon's speeches, proudly online, deal not infrequently with the United Nations, including for example his statement that

"All five organizations will integrate into a new UN. Until today the United Nations has represented only the political realm... Through the United Nations, we can connect to the whole world and unite the whole world. The world is the extension of the family. Students, centering on True Mother, will form a big plus in relationship to the big minus formed by the IRFWP and FWP. Centering on True Mother, mind and body must be completely united, and on that foundation True Mother goes to unite with True Father; then all children, young and old, will all be completely unified, resulting in the unification of the whole world." http://www.tparents.org/Moon-Talks/sunmyungmoon95/SM950207.htm

Reuters reported that "she joined Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church in 1975 and was married in a mass wedding but left the church in 1997." The Times of London went further:

"Ms Sheeran joined Rev Sun Myung Moon’s South Korea-based Unification Church in 1975 and married in a mass wedding before leaving the church about 1997. UN officials said that Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General, had been reluctant to appoint Ms Sheeran, Washington’s official candidate, fearing that she lacked logistical experience."

"in Rome, where WFP has its headquarters, some officials privately expressed concern. 'She has never distanced herself from the views of this group which, given its extreme nature, you would think was appropriate,' said one. He referred to Mr Moon's claims that the Holocaust was a result of the death of Jesus. 'It's sufficiently bizarre to warrant an explanation - that, and the duration of her involvement.'"

According to the UN spokesman, no question was asked, by Kofi Annan, Mark Malloch Brown, Jan Egeland -- nor apparently Ban Ki-Moon. Perhaps the answers to these questions, pre-Rome, are to be found in Washington, DC. Developing...

Would Moon Followers Trail Josette Sheeran Shiner into WFP, As to U.S. State Dep't?

UNITED NATIONS, November 6 -- As the race to head the UN World Food Program enters what appears to be its final week, issues concerning the official U.S. candidates at least 20-year affiliation with Rev. Sun Myung Moon's organizations have resurfaced. Josette Sheeran Shiner does not dispute that she joined the Moon organizations in 1975. She states that she left in 1996, after serving as the editor of the Moon-owned Washington Times.

Now at the U.S. State Department, Amb. Sheeran Shiner's senior adviser is Paula (Gray) Hunker, long time Moon follower. Click here for the State Department roster, and here for a Moon official's speech, that

"At the Washington Times, we have our professional organization, which is headed by Jim Whelan. But we also have spiritual organization. I am your spiritual leader. I would like to be responsible. And I would like to assign Jonathan to represent me during my absence. You can convey to him all the spiritual counseling and needs. And we have seven key brothers and sisters with key newspaper roles. I would like them to be a spiritual counseling team with Jonathan Slevin as their head. They are Jonathan, Jim Gavin, Paula Gray, Josette Sheeran, Ted Agres, Denny Duggan, and Susan Bergman. This will be the initial committee. They will look after the spiritual well-being of our members." (Emphasis added.)

If Ms. Sheeran Shiner has bought to the State Department at least one "Moonie" -- as some refer to Rev. Sun Myung Moon's followers -- would she do the same at the World Food Program?

Of Sun Myung Moon's interest in the UN, there is much to be said. Click here for a 1995 talk by Sun Myung Moon, including

"When Mother was due to address the United Nations, just two hours prior to the event the United Nations still had not given permission. But at the last moment, Father pushed and pushed and within two hours Mother was able to speak there. Through the International Religious Foundation, in the position of Abel, we finally got permission from the United Nations for Mother to speak.... Father organized the Student Federation for World Peace and the Youth Federation for World Peace. These organizations have Cain and Abel relationships existing between college students and religious students.... The United Nations and America can combine. This vertical world can make that friendship. That will be an amazing event. America is going to understand those vertical contents. When they analyze that, they will see that it is a good way for the future. We won't separate. If the United Nations and the United States unite into one, the world unification will come about quickly." http://www.tparents.org/Moon-Talks/sunmyungmoon95/951210.htm

Friday Inner City Press called the U.S. State Department to request an opportunity to ask Amb. Sheeran Shiner one or more questions, during what had been announced as a November 6 media availability. Inner City Press was told that it wouldn't be possible, then was asked: "What would your question be?" But isn't at least one of the questions obvious?

Ms. Gray Hunker's affiliation with the Moon organizations predates Ms. Sheeran Shiner's -- click here for an online history of the organization, 40 years in America, early days:

"The New York church in 1972 was able to provide members with a comfortable center and a healthy menu, but our meager salaries as secretaries, clerks and deliverymen could not fund a growing movement, even when we pooled our incomes. Weekend fundraising was a constant in our schedule. We made candles in the garage on a Coleman stove and then sold them door-to-door. We did well enough that Philip Burley, our church leader, asked several of us to quit our jobs and begin a full-time fundraising 'Team.' This was a gamble, because we had to make at least as much money as our regular jobs had been producing for the center to survive. In fact, Philip said: 'If this works, you'll get the credit, but if it doesn't, I'll get the blame.' There were 6 or 7 of us, with myself as the team leader and Paula Gray as the team mother. We knew how to go door-to-door on the weekends, but what would we do on the weekdays? New York City was less than an hour from our center in the Bronx." Emphasis added.

Well, fundraising is one of the roles of a WFP leadership team... Later, Ms. Gray Hunker was a founding partner of the Gold Group, stating online that "as a founding member of Starpoint Solution's Netsuasion division, Paula developed an innovative methodology to marry journalistic discovery with persuasive communication techniques." Effective campaigning...

At Monday's noon media briefing at the UN, Inner City Press asked the spokesman why, in the process to find a new director general for the World Health Organization, both the long list of 11 and short list of five candidates were publicly named. The spokesman insists this process is different, and declined to describe the pressure brought on by the U.S.. Video on UNTV.

The Washington Post's Al Kamen wadded in on l'Affaire Josette today, mentioning both the "other American" Tony Banbury, and Ms. Shiner's 1992 article praising North Korea's Great Leader, and confirming that the U.S. State Department paid for Ms. Sheeran Shiner's brochure (the extent of distribution is still not clear.) While the Washington Post still predicts Ms. Sheeran Shiner will win, in UN Headquarters there is renewed talk of Swiss finalist Walter Fust. Has the U.S. called Ban Ki-moon to urge that the fix be put in for Ms. Sheeran Shiner? Developing.

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