To
Argentina on
Ghana, No UN
Good Offices,
Ban Offered to
Colombia on
FARC
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 22 --
After
Argentina's
foreign
minister
Hector
Timerman met
with UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon on
October 22
about Ghana's
seizure of the
frigate
Libertad by
Ghana, Ban's
office issued
a read-out
that Ban "hope[d]
that both
Governments
will find
a way to
address the
matter on a
bilateral
basis."
With the term
good offices
-- that is,
Ban offering
his "good
offices" to
two sides of a
conflict if
they want to
use them -- in
the air, Inner
City Press on
October 23
asked Ban's
spokesman
Martin Nesirky
about
it.
Specifically,
did Ban offer
his good
offices?
Twice, Nesirky
repeated the
line from the
read out, that
Ban "hope[s]
that both
Governments
will find
a way to
address the
matter on a
bilateral
basis." Video
here, from
Minute 7:36.
And so the
answer appears
to be "no --
no offer of
good offices."
This contrasts
to a recent
answer
Nesirky's
office
provided Inner
City Press in
response to
its question
of whether the
UN plays any
role between
the government
of Colombia
and the FARC:
Subject:
Your question
on Colombia
From:
UN
Spokesperson -
Do Not Reply
[at] un.org
Date:
Thu, Oct 18,
2012 at 12:32
PM
To:
Matthew
Russell Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
Regarding
your question
at the noon
briefing on
Colombia, there
has been no
request for UN
good offices.
We shared the
following
guidance with
reporters in
August:
The
Secretary-General
was very
pleased to
learn that the
President of
Colombia, Juan
Manuel Santos,
has confirmed
exploratory
talks between
his Government
and
representatives
of the
Revolutionary
Armed Forces
of Colombia
(FARC).
The
Secretary-General
hopes that
this will be
the start of a
productive
dialogue to
address and
resolve a
conflict which
has afflicted
the Colombian
people for
almost five
decades. As
the
Secretary-General
has stated in
the past, his
good offices
are available
should they be
deemed useful.
So Ban Ki-moon
offered his
good offices
to Colombia
(for the
FARC), but NOT
to Argentina
on Ghana's
seizure for
its frigate
for a debt
claimed by the
NML Fund after
Argentina's
default in the
early 2000s.
Why not? Watch
this site.
, 
