By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
April 30 --
Syria's and
Sudan's
Missions to
the UN
complained
Monday that
they are being
blocked from
having bank
accounts in
New York.
The complaints
were made in a
closed door
meeting of the
UN Committee
on Relations
with the Host
Country, at
which the
detention of
the Permanent
Representative
of St. Vincent
and the
Grenadines,
and President
Barack Obama's
discussing the
incident at
the recent
Summit of the
Americas, was
also
discussed,
sources told
Inner City
Press.
The
bank account
issue arose
last year when
JP Morgan
Chase
announced it
would close
diplomatic
accounts. The
US State
Department
sent Patrick
Kennedy up
to New York to
address UN
Ambassadors in
another closed
door session
on January 13,
2011. Inner
City Press filmed
outside that
meeting, click
here to view.
Now,
the number
of countries
without
approved bank
accounts has
declined from
34 to
nine,
including
Syria and
Sudan both of
which took the
floor in
Monday's Host
Country
Committee
meeting.
Another
delegation
has complained
to Inner City
Press that
"the
Americans came
whispering we
should open
our account
with some bank
in Washington,
looked like an
online bank,
but then they
tried to
charge us
$500, we asked
ourselves,
what is this
scam, a CIA
bank?"
An
attendee of
the
meeting told
Inner City
Press that the
problem now is
that "bank
are in the
private sector
and the US
State
Department
can't tell
then
what to do."
A wag went on
to muse that
given the
number of bank
industry
officials in
the Obama
administration,
including most
recently Jack
Lew of
Citibank,
getting them
to allow these
countries
to open
accounts
should be no
problem.
Followed
the
detention and
handcuffing of
St. Vincent's
Ambassador
Camillo
Gonsalves in
the lobby of
the building
his Mission's
office is in,
the US has
been
apologetic.
"Obama
discussed it
with St.
Vincent's
prime minister
in
Cartagena," an
attendee told
Inner City
Press,
referring to
the
Summit of the
Americas.
Camillo
Gonsalves'
father Ralph
is the Prime
Minister.
"Hillary wrote
a letter, and
Susan Rice.
But nobody's
happy with
explanation
provided by
NYC Police
Commissioner."
It
is politically
popular or
populist in
New York City,
of course, to
appear to be
tough on
diplomats, and
not only on
parking
tickets.
With
Commissioner
Ray Kelly
mentioned as
possibly
Michael
Bloomberg's
successor,
this may play
a role in the
difference
between the US
and
New York
response.
There is also
the matter of
the NYPD
taking
custody of the
14 kilograms
of cocaine
which were
quietly found
and
taken out of
the UN, as
first reported
by Inner City
Press. What
follow up has
there been?
Watch this
site.
