On Pakistan, Ripert out of a UN Job, Schulenburg Tried Carpet Bagging, Musical Chairs
UNITED NATIONS, September 27, 2010 -- On Monday UN “Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of Rauf Engin Soysal of Turkey as Special Envoy for Assistance to Pakistan. The Secretary-General is grateful to Mr. Jean Maurice Ripert,” France's former ambassador to the UN. But what will Ripert's next job be? And who else competed for the Pakistan post?
On the latter, Inner City Press is told by well placed sources that Ban's representative in Sierra Leone Michael Schulenburg, previous the UN's Resident Representative in Iran, was lobbying member states to try to get the Pakistan position.
Schulenburg is already a controversial figure, having been accused of physically hitting a UN staff member in Sierra Leone. But there's more: these well placed sources say that while ostensibly serving the UN in Iran, Schulenburg engaged in the export of Persian carpets, including for profit. They joke that this focus on rugs explains his interest in Pakistan.
As for Ripert, who more and more obviously fled from the Press during his time in the Pakistan post, the buzz among Inner City Press' sources is that he will be getting a job at UN Headquarters. They point out, for example, that the top job at the UN Office of Partnerships is being vacated by Amir Dossal, who intends to set up another corporate social responsibility entity in and around the UN.
The Deputy Permanent Representative from one of Pakistan's neighbors notes that the UNOP job is at a lower UN level than the Pakistan post, which was at the Under Secretary General level. He also notes that Mr. Rauf Engin Soysal, as a Deputy Undersecretary in the Turkish foreign service, implies for the UN Pakistan post after Ripert, who was France's Permanent Representative to the UN, a downgrading. We'll see.
Footnote: On the Pakistan front, there are rumors of a September 28 meeting between the foreign minister of India, staying at the Palace Hotel, and of Pakistan, staying at the Roosevelt. We'll see. Watch this site.