By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, October 3 -- On very little notice, five minutes' notice to the Press, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon met Thursday afternoon with Lebanon's caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati.
It was after 3:30 pm when Ban's spokesperson's office squawked the 4:15 meeting. One has to show up for security screen at least 30 minutes in advance, so only two journalists went up: a wire service photographer and Inner City Press.
In the waiting room there were big bags of potato chips, waiting for a party. Thirty eight stories below UN Security officers were taking down the flags for the day: Pakistan, Palau, Panama. Inner City Press tweeted photo here. Then the door to the meeting room opened.
Mikati, tall like say Paul Volcker, stooped to sign Ban's book. He was accompanied by Lebanese Permanent Representative and author Nawaf Salam: it was a two person delegation. Inner City Press tweeted photo here.
The UN on the other hand, or side of the table, had Edmond Mulet for UN Peacekeeping (instead of Herve Ladsous), Valerie Amos on aid, former US official Jeffrey Feltman on politics, and part time UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen, also the head of the International Peace Institute which, among other things, opened an office in Bahrain. Tweeted photos here and here.
Angela Kane of UN Disarmament, who attended yesterday's UN meeting with Iranian foreign minister Zarif, was not present.
Mikati has given his "personal assurance" no chemical weapons entered Lebanon. At the day's noon briefing, Ban's spokesperson Martin Nesirky declined to answer Inner City Press' question about why the UN team under Ake Sellstrom had not gone to Khan al Assal, saying it was in the transcript. But Inner City Press did not find it there.
The more difficult they try to make things to find (out), the more effort is re-doubled. Watch this site.
