Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/gambari121807.html
UNITED NATIONS, December 18 -- Weeks after his trip about Myanmar to Far East capitals, the UN's Ibrahim Gambari finally briefed someone on Tuesday. He started with a closed-door session with the General Assembly, then took and fought off some questions from the press. A reporter asked about arrests by the Burmese government since Gambari was there. "Do you have the numbers?" Gambari asked. Another reporter opined that Gambari sounded very optimistic. Don't characterize me as optimistic or pessimistic, Gambari replied. Later, off-camera, he told the first reporter, "I don't trust you to not spin what I have to say."
Inner City Press asked Gambari about Western corporations still doing business in Burma, using France's Total Oil as example. Gambari referred to the UN Global Compact, with its human rights standards. But to a follow-up question of whether Global Compact members should do business with the Burmese government, Gambari declined to answer. Video here. He told Inner City Press that moves are afoot to name another UN country representative to replace Charles Petrie, who the regime expelled for mentioning its problems.
Days ago, a source who had run into Gambari on the street and had been told that Gambari was headed to South Africa, allegedly to hear ideas about Myanmar. Inner City Press asked the spokesperson's office, which responded that Gambari was on annual leave (vacation), and that to say where would be improper. Tuesday Inner City Press asked Gambari if he had, in fact, been in South Africa. The answer was yes, and the reason was given: to attend the International Peace Academy's session on the right to protect and prevention of genocide. "I spoke about the genocide in Rwanda," Gambari said, "in which I played a role... while on the Council." Another reporter snarked that yes, Council members had played their role in Rwanda's genocide. Gambari was a Nigerian diplomat, but on Tuesday the diplomacy ran a bit thin. There's always another day...
