By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, May 17 -- Now the UN says that the news of Golan Heights peacekeepers being taken hostage "came out in a conversation" between UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous "with a few journalists."
This is what Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's deputy spokesman Eduardo Del Buey told Inner City Press after the Press asked when Ban's Office became aware of the kidnapping.
Serious questions have been raised about Ladsous' knowledge of involvement from Qatar in the kidnappings; a Permanent Representative on Friday told Inner City Press that is why Ladsous and Ban's Office downplayed or tried to pre-spin news of the kidnapping by spoon-feeding only scribes.
"I don't... I'm not going to discuss that with you," Del Buey answered, adding that after Ladsous' "conversation," his Office put out a Note to Correspondents "last night."
Actually, Ban's Office only put that out after 8 am on Friday. Del Buey, when Inner City Press emailed him and three of Ladsous' spokespeople at 7:30 pm on Thursday replied to all that "Jo, this one is yours!"
But "Jo" - Josephine Guerrero -- didn't send Inner City Press even the canned paragraph until after 11 pm; it was even more belatedly sent out by Ban's Office after 8 am the next day.
Del Buey cut off Inner City Press' follow up question, then said only one more question. Inner City Press asked Del Buey, as it has asked Guerrero and Ladsous' other spokespeople, for their comment or read-out on Syrian ambassador Bashar Ja'afari's meeting on Thursday with Ladsous. Del Buey refused that, as well.
Another journalist asked Del Buey to whom Ladsous gave this information, and how they were selected. Del Buey said, you have to ask Mr... you have to ask DPKO. But doesn't Ban's Office have some duty?
So the Free UN Coalition for Access has protested and will continue to protest this travesty, in which news of attacks on peacekeepers is withheld and spoon-fed to Ladsous-friendly journalists "in conversation."
Pamela Falk of CBS News, the president of UNCA, was present during the interchange and said nothing. UNCA's "leadership" is apparently fine with Ladsous excluding even most of UNCA's dues paying membership who cover Syria or peacekeeping, because these leaders benefit from this insiders' game. Some correspondents association. Actually, since they use anonymous social media accounts to defend Ladsous, they're now the UN Cowardice Association. Watch this site.
