Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/unga1sarkozy092308.html
UNITED NATIONS, September 23 -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy said his country would not oppose freezing the prosecution of his Sudanese counterpart Omar Al-Bashir if Sudan, among other things, normalized its relations with French ally Chad, and removed Ahmad Harun, already indicted by the International Criminal Court, from his government ministry. This put an end to contradictory statements by France's mission to the UN, which last week told Inner City Press that it would not oppose freezing the prosecution if five conditions were met, and then the next day sought to "clarify" the comment. This time, at least, it's from the horse's mouth.
Sarkozy press conference, however, was pure theater. At last year's General Debate, Sarkozy excluded all but journalists with French passports. This year, UN correspondents were let in, but Sarkozy's press people directed the microphones at the traveling French press corps. They had apparently decided that the story of the day was Sarkozy taking the lead on the global financial crisis, and virtually all questions were softballs on that theme. Sarkozy preened and mugged and called for accountability.
But what about accountability for his sloppy negotiations in Moscow, where he told Russia it could have international discussions about the "future status" of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the same words that led to Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence. Even those later Russia agreed to drop this phrase, since future security had the same connotation. Sarkozy later proclaimed his full commitment to Georgia's territorial integrity. But when the chips were down, the phrase and principle were nowhere to be seen.
On the financial crisis, Sarkozy said that Monday he had met with the officials of the Federal Reserve. On personal knowledge since Inner City Press met in Washington with four of the five sitting Fed governors on Monday afternoon -- click here for the story -- it is not clear with whom Sarkozy met. Perhaps he meant the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which is not in fact a government agency. Rather it is owned by the banks. Sarkozy is said to have spoken very populist on Monday night -- at a fundraiser costing $1500 a plate. And so it goes.
And see, www.innercitypress.com/unga1sarkozy092308.html
