UNITED
NATIONS, April
5 -- UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
current trip
started small
on March 30...
literally. Ban
went to San
Marino, then
Andorra, then
Monaco.
But
the trip is
now set to
finish big,
with Pope
Francis in
Rome on April
9, and
President
Barack Obama
in Washington
on April 11.
At
the UN's noon
briefing on
April 5, Inner
City Press
asked for
confirmation
that Ban would
meet the Pope
on April 9 --
and to
confirm its April
3 exclusive
that Italian
deputy foreign
minister
and American
favorite
Staffan De
Mistura is in
line to be UN
envoy to
Mali. Video
here, from
Minute 5:40.
Ban's
spokesperson's
office
belatedly
confirmed the
first, but
only to
journalists
other than
Inner City
Press, by squawking
it to the
scribes in
their cubicle,
not even an
e-mail.
At
5:37 pm on
April 5, a
Friday, the
White House
announced
Ban's visit,
mentioning
only Syria by
name:
“On
Thursday,
April 11,
President
Obama will
host United
Nations
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon for an
Oval Office
visit. The
President
looks forward
to welcoming
the Secretary
General back
to
the White
House and
consulting
with him on
key issues,
including the
crisis in
Syria, and
expressing his
gratitude for
the many
sacrifices
United Nations
personnel have
made to
protect
vulnerable
populations
and to deliver
aid to those
most in need.
This meeting
is a
demonstration
of the robust
partnership
between this
United
States and the
United Nations
in facing a
wide array of
global
challenges.”
What
about Mali?
Obama's
ambassador
Susan Rice
questioned
France's and
the
UN's plans for
Mali when
Inner City
Press asked
her about them
this
week. She said
that for UN
envoy, there
should be
someone with
experience
with complex
missions.
De
Mistura headed
the UN mission
in Iraq (where
he hired Ban's
son in
law as his
chief of
staff),
then got the
top job in
Afghanistan.
For
that, the US
came out in
favor, through
the late
Richard
Holbrooke.
And now Mali?
Watch this
site.
, 
