By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, April
25 -- In a UN announcement about Yemen on Saturday morning the
other shoe
dropped and
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon named Ismael
Ould Cheikh
Ahmed to
replace Jamal
Benomar as
envoy.
Three times Inner City
Press asked the
Office of the
UN
Spokesperson
why Ould
Cheikh Ahmed
is not listed
on Ban's
webpage of
public
financial
discloure and
to say, yes or
no, if he has
an interest in
a business
which received
funding from
the Gulf. Three times the Office of Spokesperson promised to look into and give an answer, but never did. This is Ban's UN.
On April 24, Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric:
Question:
Okay. I'm also informed of a letter from political parties in Yemen,
including those representing Houthis and others, directed at the
Secretary-General making two requests. One, that Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed
not be named as a replacement to Mr. [Jamal] Benomar and that someone be
appointed or retained who actually they will speak with. And I wanted
to know… you may not know of this letter yet, but I'm reliably informed
it is either there or on its way…
Spokesman: All right. I will look for the letter.
Question: And I guess my question would be, do you… has the Secretary-General… since we've already… we've heard from some of the ambassadors from the Security Council that he's put forward a name. Did he put any effort to speak to the parties on the ground in Yemen, the actual Yemenis?
Spokesman: I think the… when we're ready to announce the person, we will. Obviously, for a… an appointment as delicate as this… as this ongoing… to represent the Secretary-General in this ongoing crisis, it is normal to have as broad of a consultation as possible, and what is obviously extremely important is that once that envoy is named, that adviser is named, that all the parties give him access and engage with him.
Question: If you get the letter, will you squawk it? Does it mean that these parties that wrote…
Spokesman: I think…
Question: …once consulted…
Spokesman: It's an ongoing humanitarian crisis. It's an ongoing conflict. And we are trying to get the political process back on track. So we'd like to have a special envoy as soon as… a Special Adviser as soon as possible, and again hope that all the parties engage with him.
Question: Didn't you have one? That's my question. Didn't you actually have a Special Adviser?
Spokesman: Yes, we have Mr. Benomar…
Question: Is it your understanding that he's entirely unwilling to continue in the post?
Spokesman: Well, I think he's… he's… he's expressed his desire to move on and, as we said, we are… we're in the process of naming somebody shortly.
No response about the letter, either. This does not bode well.
After
Saudi Arabia
was allowed to
oust UN
mediator Jamal
Benomar for
being
insufficiently
supportive of
its
airstrikes,
the UN is
being
promoted,
again, as an
honest
broker.
How so, when
the UN is
UNtransparently
naming as a
replacement
mediator an
individual who
previously
failed in
Yemen,
refusing to
make public
financial
disclosure?
How weak and
untransparent
is today's
UN? It
it apparently
considering
appointing as
replacement
envoy to Yemen
a partial
individual
whom one side
has indicated
it would not
speak with.
Spokesman: All right. I will look for the letter.
Question: And I guess my question would be, do you… has the Secretary-General… since we've already… we've heard from some of the ambassadors from the Security Council that he's put forward a name. Did he put any effort to speak to the parties on the ground in Yemen, the actual Yemenis?
Spokesman: I think the… when we're ready to announce the person, we will. Obviously, for a… an appointment as delicate as this… as this ongoing… to represent the Secretary-General in this ongoing crisis, it is normal to have as broad of a consultation as possible, and what is obviously extremely important is that once that envoy is named, that adviser is named, that all the parties give him access and engage with him.
Question: If you get the letter, will you squawk it? Does it mean that these parties that wrote…
Spokesman: I think…
Question: …once consulted…
Spokesman: It's an ongoing humanitarian crisis. It's an ongoing conflict. And we are trying to get the political process back on track. So we'd like to have a special envoy as soon as… a Special Adviser as soon as possible, and again hope that all the parties engage with him.
Question: Didn't you have one? That's my question. Didn't you actually have a Special Adviser?
Spokesman: Yes, we have Mr. Benomar…
Question: Is it your understanding that he's entirely unwilling to continue in the post?
Spokesman: Well, I think he's… he's… he's expressed his desire to move on and, as we said, we are… we're in the process of naming somebody shortly.
No response about the letter, either. This does not bode well.
