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On Syria Chemical Weapons, OPCW to Douma, UNSC 3 pm Vote, State Dept Has 2 pm Briefing

By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon here, photos

UNITED NATIONS, April 10With US President Trump canceling his trip to the Summit of the Americas in Lima in order to focus on Syria, at the UN his Ambassador Nikki Haley has called for a vote at 3 pm. Western spokespeople referred to a vote on what they called an "old" Russia draft as well - and there may be a new one voted on as well. From The Hague the OPCW issued this: "
Since the first reports of alleged use of chemical weapons in Douma, Syrian Arab Republic, were issued, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has been gathering information from all available sources and analysing it. At the same time, OPCW’s Director-General, Ambassador Ahmet Üzümcü, has considered the deployment of a Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) team to Douma to establish facts surrounding these allegations. Today, the OPCW Technical Secretariat has requested the Syrian Arab Republic to make the necessary arrangements for such a deployment. This has coincided with a request from the Syrian Arab Republic and the Russian Federation to investigate the allegations of chemical weapons use in Douma. The team is preparing to deploy to Syria shortly."
Bolivia's Ambassador was asked if he is concerned about US taking military action. "Of course," he said. "That would be against the Charter." In Washington the State Department has a briefing at 2 pm; Trump is said to be close to a decision. Over the weekend,
n
ine of the UN Security Council's 15 members called for a meeting about "
reports of chemical weapons attack in Syria;" Russia called for a meeting on international peace and security. After the meeting and consultations, Russia's Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said, “Tomorrow is tomorrow. I am prepared for everything. Whatever happens, we leave it all to chance.” Sweden's Olof Skoog deferred to the President of the Council, Peru, whose Ambassador said, Members of the Council coincide on need for investigation conducted by OPCW. Experts working on the possibility of a resolution on the matter.” He said the experts - not at the Permanent Representative level - would work on April 10 but there was no assurance a vote would be taken at that time. Since then Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov has said to expect a new Russian draft, and President Trump "will not attend the 8th Summit of the Americas in Lima, Peru or travel to Bogota, Colombia as originally scheduled. At the President’s request, the Vice President will travel in his stead. The President will remain in the United States to oversee the American response to Syria and to monitor developments around the world.” On April 9 Trump with John Bolton at his left hand, after commenting on Mueller and the raid on his lawyer Michael Cohen's office, said a decision would be made soon and the press would be told, probaby after the fact. Earlier as the Security Council meetings began, at the Council stakeout the UK's Karen Pierce was asked if her country supports military action. She called it hypothetical, then pointedly quoted Lenin. She said her Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson had spoken with Acting US Secretary of State Sullivan. Twice it turns out: the US has issued this read-out: "Acting Secretary of State John J. Sullivan spoke by phone twice today with UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.  During these calls, the Acting Secretary and Foreign Secretary discussed the alleged chemical weapon attack in Douma, Syria, which killed dozens of innocent civilians and injured several hundred more.  The two leaders discussed the international community’s response and potential further steps the U.S. and UK governments might take in coordination with other partners." Sweden's Olof Skoog, by contrast, said Sweden generally does not favor military action. He has proposed elements for discussion in a closed door consultation after the open meeting. Russia's Nebenzia said his country is willing to consider it. In Washington, President Trump's spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders repeated that "currently" the US is not conducting air strikes on Syria. We'll have more on that, and on the air strikes on Syria's T4 base near Homs, attributed to Israel (and to the advice of Mattis). In Washington, US President Trump said at his cabinet meeting “It was atrocious. It was horrible" and that his administration will be making a decision on Syria in the next 24-48 hours. “This is about humanity and it can’t be allowed to happen. If it’s the Russians, if it’s Syria, if it’s Iran, if it’s all of them together, we’ll figure it out.” (On meeting North Korea's Kim Jong Un, Trump said meeting will be in May OR early June.)  In the UN Security Council the nine, this time unlike on March 19, include Cote d'Ivoire. The UK On April 8 tweeted, "UK, France, US, Poland, Netherlands, Sweden, Kuwait, Peru and Cote d’Ivore have called an emergency meeting of #UNSC to discuss reports of chemical weapons attack in #Syria. Meeting expected on Monday." Back on March 19, these other countries did not have Cote d'Ivoire with them on Syria, resulting in a failed vote to hold a UN Security Council meeting on Syria. (An Arria formula meeting was quickly convened down the hall, where Inner City Press due to UN censorship for corruption can only go, if at all, with UN minder). This time, they got France-aligned Cote d'Ivoire on-side. Back on March 19, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Prince Zeid was reportedly slated to brief the Council at 3 pm. Zeid on his way into the Council told the press his Office has not had access to Syria for some years but he they "speak to people."  Now on March 23, a snow day in New York, at 6:20 pm after nearly all media had left the UN (Inner City Press stayed to the end of the Council meeting on Western Sahara), UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has issued and seemingly tried to bury, in snow, this statement: "The Secretary-General met on 20 March with the Director General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and reiterated his support for its work in investigating allegations of the use of chemical weapons in Syria, and his confidence in the integrity and expertise of the OPCW, its Fact-Finding Mission and its conclusions. The Secretary-General is alarmed at the persistent allegations of the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic. The use of chemical weapons, under any circumstances, is unjustifiable and abhorrent. Equally unjustifiable is a lack of response to such use, if and when it occurs. Impunity cannot prevail with respect to such serious crimes. The Secretary-General reiterates his call for the Security Council to demonstrate unity and resolve on this matter." A call to an empty building. Earlier on March 21, Inner City Press asked Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric, UN transcript here: Inner City Press: in the Security Council this morning, Ambassador Nebenzia of Russia, at the end of the Libya meeting, said, I'm coming forth with a documentary, not that he made it, but that he did present it, about eastern Ghouta.  And I just wanted to know, is it something… has the Secretary-General seen it?  Do you have any view of…

Spokesman:  I… I don't know.  I'll have to check." Hours later, nothing.
I
nside the Council on March 21, a procedural vote was called on whether to hold the briefing, and it failed: Yes votes were USA, France, UK, Sweden, Poland, Peru, Netherlands and Kuwait. Against were China, Russia, Bolivia and Kazakhstan. And the determinative abstentions: Cote d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia. After the vote, Sweden's Permanent Representative Olof B. Skoog said there might be another format - not a formal Council meeting - as early as today. And soon he and his counterparts from France and the UK and the US Deputy PR came back and announced an "Arria formula" meeting in 20 minutes in the ECOSOC Chamber - which Inner City Press, UNlike others, can only reach with a minder, due to UN censorship. Still, to the end when Inner City Press had to shout out a question from behind a barrier to Zeid, video here, story here, Inner City Press covered and summarized it here: US: Human rights do have a place in the Security Council. It is absolutely appropriate for the Council to focus on human rights. Especially the human rights of children. Syria needs to allow “unfettered humanitarian access,” The Assad regime’s atrocities in Syria have caused unparalleled suffering.  Crimes against humanity and war crimes in Syria. Certain member states don’t want these facts to come out. We reiterate our call to an immediate end to egregious human rights abuses.  Assad and his allies have been the primary perpetrators of killing in this war. We repeat our call to a political solution. As today’s briefing has shown, the situation in Syria is an example of how violation of human rights can lead to a grave threat to international peace and security. The international community cannot be silent when innocent lives are at stake.
Sweden: The fact that we are meeting in this room does not prejudge the format and location of future briefings.
Russia: we consider this event as a violation of the rules of procedure. It was organized violating rules, when delegations didn’t have enough time to prepare. We deemed it to be yet another demonstration of a lack of respect by members of the SC, both to the SC itself and to the situation. The interest in having such a show was so great that different premises were found and interpreters were found. A large audience was not found. This confirms the very value of this meeting.We are not going to go into detail. We explained our reasons in the other room. First of all we deem it to be very controversial to have the outdated assertion that the reason for the conflict in Syria was deprivation of rights of people by the administration in Damascus…it is clear that it is nothing other than the western countries warping a historical reality. They want to wipe from one’s memories their own geopolitical experiments in the middle east and north Africa…The west has already recognized mistakes that were made in Iraq and Libya…
Kuwait: The situation in Syria now encourages impunity. Kuwait condemns all hostilities and calls for ending them. All responsible for killing civilians…must be held accountable….for crimes which amount to war crimees The latest developments: we have listened last week to briefings
China: Recently the situation in Syria remains complex and sensitive. We need to realize the ceasefire and increase humanitarian aid. The UN should be the main mediator; we need to support Staffan de Mistura. Respect the territorial integrity of Syria. The main responsibility of the Security Council is the maintenance of international peace and security – china is opposed to discussing specific human rights issues. We had less than 30 minutes to prepare for this conference. In the spirit of cooperation we did participate.
Kazakhstan: We don’t believe in a military solution. We need a serious compromise form all sides. We’re deeply committed to seeing an end to the suffering of 7 long years.
Zeid at the end of the meeting: To say the SC should not deal with human rights issues requires further reflection. A colleague once said to me – the severe human rights violations of today are the conflicts of tomorrow. Geneva is the center of gravity for the examination of human rights. As conditions get worse and worse, it is necessary that the Security Council be apprised. For the Security Council not to deal with human rights would be like saying that a hospital shouldn’t deal with patients."
Earlier t
he US State Department issued a statement on Afrin, beginning "The United States is deeply concerned over reports from Afrin City over the last 48 hours.  It appears the majority of the population of the city, which is predominantly Kurdish, evacuated under threat of attack from Turkish military forces and Turkish backed opposition forces.  This adds to the already concerning humanitarian situation in the area, with United Nations agencies reporting a displaced population in or from Afrin district in the hundreds of thousands, who now require immediate shelter and other assistance to meet basic needs.  We are also concerned over reports of looting inside the city of Afrin.  We have repeatedly expressed our serious concern to Turkish officials regarding the situation in Afrin."
Back on March 12 US Ambassador Nikki Haley told the Council, We have drafted a new ceasefire resolution that provides no room for evasion...It will take effect immediately upon adoption by the Council.
Inner City Press is publishing the draft here. Back on March 7 b
efore the UN Security Council's closed door meeting about Syria, France Ambassador Francois Delattre stopped and spoke with or at the press, in French and English. He went on so long that his co-requested Jonathan Allen of the UK, who was on-desk, went in without speaking to the press. Sweden did; its co-penholder Kuwait did not. And when three hours later it was over, the Dutch president of the Council for March only read a short statement and took no questions. Periscope video here. As fast transcribed by Inner City Press: "Members of the Security Council expressed concern about humanitarian situation. The cessation of hostilities was discussed. The implementation of Resolution 2401 was discussed. Next Monday the Security Council will be briefed by the Secretary General on the implementation of resolution 2401." This is the Secretary General who only the day before changed his statement. Antonio Guterres on March 6 issued a "revised" statement on Eastern Ghouta in Syria. He added the word "reportedly" on the death count. At the demand of whom? Inner City Press asked, at the March 7 noon briefing, and was told that the UN fixed it itself. And why didn't he know minutes later? Where is the leadership, while Guterres and his Global Communications team devote time and resources to restricting and censoring the critical Press? The first version, at 6:27 pm: "The Secretary-General is concerned about continued reports of attacks throughout the besieged enclave of eastern Ghouta, which claimed the lives of more than 100 people on 5 March, as well as reports of shelling of the city of Damascus." The second revised version at 6:42 pm, with the new word "reportedly" added in: "The Secretary-General is concerned about continued reports of attacks throughout the besieged enclave of eastern Ghouta, which reportedly claimed the lives of more than 100 people on 5 March, as well as reports of shelling of the city of Damascus." We'll have more on this. Amid talk that a call for a ceasefire in Syria was unrealistic, Inner City Press on February 22 alone staked out an evening meeting of the UN Security Council's Elected Ten members, exclusive video here. On February 24 the changed draft was approved 15-0. More than a week later on Sunday March 4 the UN announced that it "and partners plan to deliver humanitarian assistance to Duma in eastern Ghouta tomorrow, 5 March 2018. Tomorrow’s convoy will consist of 46 truckloads of health and nutrition supplies, along with food for 27,500 people in need and will be led by Ali AlZa’tari, the UN Resident / Humanitarian Coordinator. The UN and partners have received approval to deliver assistance for 70,000 people in need in Duma. The UN has received assurances that the remaining supplies for all approved people in need will be delivered on 8 March 2018. The only UN delivery of assistance to eastern Ghouta in 2018 was on 14 February when a convoy with assistance for 7,200 people reached Nashabiyah." Watch this site. Back on February 24, as Syria's Ambassador Ja'afari began as final speaker, US Ambassador Nikki Haley and then France's Francois Delattre walked out. But the UK's speaker, Stephen Hickey, stayed to the end. Inner City Press twice asked him at the stakeout afterward to explain this, but he demurred. Meanwhile, when Inner City Press asked Russia's Nebenzia what this meant for Council diplomacy, he replied to ask them, but I think you know. But why the differences among the so-called P3? Here's from Operative Paragraph 1:"Demands that all parties cease hostilities without delay and engage immediately to ensure full and comprehensive implementation of this demand by all parties, for a durable humanitarian pause for at least 30 consecutive days throughout Syria" - but does "without delay" mean the same thing as "immediately"? If so, why not use the word immediately? And does it full apply to Afrin? And to as Ja'afari put it, to the areas controlled by the US and to the Golan? They call this intentional ambiguity.
Full version put out by the UN attached here on Patreon; Alamy speech photos here. We'll have more on this.


The UN Department of Public Information's UNTV is live during meetings of the Security Council, like on Saturday February 24, and moves in with a boom microphone to record Ambassadors speaking to reporters. It happened on February 23 with the UK and Jordan, and February 24 with the Netherlands. But during the consultations with Syria's Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari emerged and was speaking to a half dozen reporters, fielding questions in English and Arabic, UNTV stopped filming. Why? And why does UN DPI, under Alison Smale, not answer any questions, but only censor and spin? Inner City Press has requested the video before and after cut from DPI. Back on February 22, Inner City Press asked Sweden's Olof Skoog if the meeting was productive. He said the E10 are always helpful, the "extremes" are represented on the E10. He indicted that a new draft would be put out on February 23. And on February 23, with Inner City Press roped in to cover a meeting in ECOSOC, with UN minder four feet away, Skoog rushed by at 10 am and into the Council. Russia's Nebenzia followed five minutes later, stopping to ask Inner City Press, This is a new stakeout? Only Inner City Press is caged in, for two years for its coverage. But no vote at 11, then none at noon. At 2:30, there was an "E10 coordination meeting." An afternoon of closed door consultations, with non Council members waiting in the chamber, continued past five. Then Skoog said he is disappointed but there will be a vote Saturday at noon, either way. Kuwait's  Mansour Al-Otaibi, the president of the Council for February, said the issue is "OP1" - Operative Paragraph 1 - but reiterated, vote Saturday at noon. At that time, US Ambassador Nikki Haley walked into the Council and told the Press, "Today we're going to see if Russia has a conscience." Video here, and tweeted Vine. Full Periscope here, including Syrian Ambassador Ja'afari asking if Al Jazeera is chairing the day's Security Council session.

Inner City Press on February 22 alone staked out an evening meeting of the UN Security Council's Elected Ten members, exclusive video here. Inner City Press asked Sweden's Olof Skoog if the meeting was productive. He said the E10 are always helpful, the "extremes" are represented on the E10. He indicted that a new draft will be put out on February 23. Inner City Press also asked Bolivia and Kazakhstan (which thanked it for asking), and Netherlands which said too early to comment. Back on February 14 published the full text of the UN Security Council's then draft resolution making that call and more, here on Patreon. Some highlights from the Operative Paragraphs below. On February 21, Russia called a briefing by the UN's Mark Lowcock from Geneva on 12 noon on February 22 (at the February 21 UN noon briefing, no media other than Inner City Press asked any questions, so it seems it doesn't matter); but when will the vote come? The February 22 noon meeting ended with Kuwait urging Syria's Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari to limit himself to five minutes, and Ja'afari and Russia's Nebenzia objecting. Kuwait replied it was relying on "Note 507." Inner City Press asked Nebenzia about it and he said it was impolite, when the meeting was all about Syria. Russia has proposed changes, including a condemnation of shelling from Eastern Ghouta of residential areas in Damascus City, including diplomatic premises. Sweden's Olof Skoog says it's leaning toward February 23. On the morning February 22 outside a meeting about Palestine, correspondents questions were nearly entirely about Syria, with Sweden's Olof Skoog rating the difficulty of the negotiations as 11 on a scale of 1 to 10. (The UN Department of Public Information, apparently distracted by and focused on censoring the Press and serving certain member states, didn't notice there would be press interest in the Palestine meeting, Periscope video here). France's Francois Delattre, who has yet to comment on refoulements to Cameroon, said he is deeply concerned. Now this from the UK: "Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has called for an end to the violence in Eastern Ghouta and emphasised the UK's leading role in peace negotiations. The Foreign Secretary said: 'I am utterly appalled by the brutal and merciless violence that the Asad regime is inflicting on the people of Eastern Ghouta. They are enduring a hell entirely of the making of Asad and his enablers. Today in the UN Security Council, the UK will press Russia to support a ceasefire to allow for the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid. Protecting Syrians and getting them the lifesaving aid they need must be paramount. The UK is committed to working closely with all international partners to secure an end to the terrible bloodshed and make progress towards a political solution, which is the only way to bring peace to the people of Syria.'" The White House on February 21 said, "We fully support the call from the United Nations for a cessation of violence to allow for the unfettered delivery of humanitarian supplies and urgently needed medical evacuations of civilians. The United States also calls upon Russia and its partners to live up to their obligations with respect to de-escalation zones, particularly those in Eastern Ghouta, and to end further attacks against civilians in Syria. Assad and his deplorable regime must stop committing additional atrocities and must not be further abetted by backers in Moscow and Tehran. The regime’s horrific attacks demonstrate an urgent need for the UN-led Geneva process to advance toward a political resolution for Syria that respects the will of the Syrian people, in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolution 2254." Earlier US Ambassador Nikki Haley said, "The United Nations Security Council is considering a resolution that would establish a one-month ceasefire to allow for the delivery of critical supplies and evacuation of the wounded. It’s time to take immediate action in the hopes of saving the lives of the men, women, and children who are under attack by the barbaric Assad regime. It is simply preposterous to claim that these attacks on civilians have anything to do with fighting terrorism. The Security Council must move to adopt a resolution establishing a ceasefire. The United States will support it, as should every member of the Council." Showdown.  From OPs: the Security Council "Decides that all parties to the Syrian conflict shall immediately abide by a humanitarian pause and cessation of violence throughout Syria, for a period of 30 consecutive days to begin at [00:00 h, (Damascus time) on XX February 2018], [72 hours after the adoption of this resolution], to enable the delivery of humanitarian aid and services and medical evacuations of the critically sick and wounded;  Further decides that, 48 hours after the start of the humanitarian pause, all parties to the Syrian conflict shall allow and facilitate weekly United Nations and Syrian Arab Red Crescent convoys to all requested areas based on United Nations’ assessments of need, in order to allow safe, unimpeded and sustained deliveries of humanitarian aid, including medical and surgical supplies, to the millions of people in need in all parts of Syria, in particular to those 5.6 million people in 1,244 communities in acute need, including the 2.9 million people in hard-to-reach and besieged locations; Decides moreover that all parties to the conflict shall allow and facilitate unconditional medical evacuations by the United Nations and its implementing partners, based on medical need and urgency, and requests the United Nations and their implementing partners to start undertaking such medical evacuations 48 hours after the start of the humanitarian pause... Endorses the five measures identified by the Emergency Relief Coordinator on 11 January 2018 during his mission to Syria, and calls on all parties to facilitate the implementation of these five measures and others as specified in relevant Security Council resolutions, to ensure principled, sustained and improved humanitarian assistance to Syria in 2018; Calls upon all parties to immediately lift the sieges of populated areas, including in Eastern Ghouta, Yarmouk, Foua and Kefraya, and demands that all parties allow the delivery of humanitarian assistance, including medical assistance, cease depriving civilians of food and medicine indispensable to their survival, and enable the rapid, safe and unhindered evacuation of all civilians who wish to leave, and underscores the need for the parties to agree on humanitarian pauses, days of tranquility, localized ceasefires and truces to allow humanitarian agencies safe and unhindered access to all affected areas in Syria, recalling that starvation of civilians as a method of combat is prohibited by international humanitarian law [2139 with updated locations];
OP 8. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the Council on the implementation of this resolution, and on compliance by all relevant parties in Syria within 15 days of adoption of this resolution and thereafter..." We'll have more on this.
On February 9, after Inner City Press exclusively reported that the UN's top Middle East post is slated for Susanne Rose with only "basic Arabic," Guterres' deputy spokesman Farhan Haq refused Inner City Press' questions about the selection process.

The top UN Political Affairs position belongs to the United States. With Obama-nominee Jeffrey Feltman set to leave by March 31, now Feltman has used his final days to name an ally or protege to head the Middle East and Western Asia Division, to continue his views even under his replacement. It is Susanne Rose, who worked for Feltman in Beirut. But she speaks only "basic Arabic." There is grumbling in DPA - and elsewhere. 

Here's from the letter, by Feltman's deputy Miroslav Jenca since Feltman is in South Korea with Guterres, or to create the illusion of recusal: Rose was "Political and Economic Counselor in Beirut, Middle East Officer in Rome (where she spent the first year as an exchange diplomat at the NATO office of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Staff Assistant to the Assistant Secretary for Economic Affairs, and Economic Officer in Trinidad and Tobago.... Susanne speaks French, Italian, Spanish, German, and basic Arabic. She was born in Berkeley, California, and has a 14-month year old Havanese dog named Tartufo."

Senior staff and diplomats have been asking Inner City Press which American will replace Feltman. On January 25, amid complaints of Guterres' silence and long weekends away, a name emerged leaving some shaking their heads: Dina Powell. "She's perfect," one said of Trump's deputy national security adviser for strategy of whom spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders said she's "returning home to New York. She’s expected to continue working with the administration on Middle East policy issues from outside the White House." Why not from the UN? (Some now tell Inner City Press she has declined the post.) Inner City Press notes she's been spotted in Davos, where Guterres at the last moment did not go. "Really?" demanded another, alongside a controversial Serbian government presentation in the UN Delegates' Entrance. Stranger things have happened. Guterres gave his "Global Communications" position to an official, Alison Smale, who refuses to answer Press questions even about whistleblowers' complaints about her Department of Public Information.

Another Brit Martin Griffiths seems destined to take over the UN's Yemen envoy post, perhaps taking with him some staff currently assigned to Staffan de Mistura for Syria. Other Department of Political Affairs posts have already been given away, but not yet announced. Until now.

To head the UN-affiliated International Organization for Migration (IOM), the US on February 2 nominated Ken Isaacs of the group Samaritan's Purse, active in Sudan and elsewhere. Inner City Press at the UN has been pursuing the story it first exposed of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres having recently met Sudan's Omar al Bashir, indicted for genocide in Darfur by the International Criminal Court, without even notifying the ICC in advance, as required. So after the US nomination, Inner City Press visited Isaac's Twitter account, to see if he'd opined on Guterres' unprecedented move. Isaacs' Twitter account, @KenIsaacs1, was accessible to the public; he had re-tweeted about the Nunes memo.

But by February 3, the account was protected, not accessible. Photo here. Perhaps it's a function of the upcoming election among IOM member states, the scrutiny of involved officials - like Guterres himself. But what *does* Isaacs think of Guterres meeting with Bashir, indicted for war crimes in Sudan, without even telling the ICC in advance, and not disclosing it until Inner City Press asked at the UN noon briefing on January 29? Question here. Watch this site.

Today's UN of Antonio Guterres, who just met with ICC indictee Omar al Bashir, and his Deputy Amina J. Mohammed who has refused Press questions on her rosewood signatures and now the refoulement of 47 people to Cameroon from "her" Nigeria, has become a place of corruption and censorship. Amid UN bribery scandals, failures in countries from Cameroon to Yemen and declining transparency, today's UN does not even pretend to have content neutral rules about which media get full access and which are confined to minders or escorts to cover the General Assembly.

Inner City Press, which while it pursue the story of Macau-based businessman Ng Lap Seng's bribery of President of the General Assembly John Ashe was evicted by the UN Department of Public Information from its office, is STILL confined to minders as it pursues the new UN bribery scandal, of Patrick Ho and Cheikh Gadio allegedly bribing President of the General Assembly Sam Kutesa, and Chad's Idriss Deby, for CEFC China Energy.

Last week Inner City Press asked UN DPI where it is on the list to be restored to (its) office, and regain full office - and was told it is not even on the list, there is no public list, the UN can exclude, permanently, whomever it wants. This is censorship...

***

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