Somali Diaspora Questions UN's Moves, from Twin Cities to West Bank (of Missippissi)

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/minn1somalia061010.html

MINNEAPOLIS, June 10 -- People with no assurance of ever returning home follow politics more closely than those who've never left. Hassan, a Somali living in the Minneapolis neighborhood called the West Bank -- of the Mississippi River -- asked bitterly why the United Nations sent Ahmedou Ould Abdallah and now "the Tanzanian" Augustine Mahiga, as envoy to his homeland. "Who not a Somali?" Hassan asked Inner City Press on June 10. "Are we not good enough?"

Hassan works at Safari Express, an East African take out restaurant, in the Midtown Global Market in south Minneapolis. Over a plate of chicken suqqar, he recounted to Inner City Press how the civil war in his country makes it impossible to return. Some, he said, return only to fight, usually for Al Shaabab, "The Youth."

Outside in the Chicago and Lake neighborhood, women in veils walk in front of liquor stores and half abandoned buildings. The Ugbaad Cafe is closed and boarded up, across the street from one of Minneapolis' Peavy Parks. Two blocks further south, traversed on one of Minneapolis' bikes to rent and share, nurses are picketing Children's Hospital.

"Is that a rental bike?" a Somali calls out to Inner City Press. Yes it is. From 11th and Marquette out to 30th and Lake is less than 20 minutes. The same to the West Bank and Riverside.

It is June in Minneapolis and aging rock bands play for free. There is a statue for Mary Tyler Moore. Make it, Mary Tyler Moore in Mogadishu. "Don't go there," Hassan advises Inner City Press. "They kidnap you for money."

In fact, Inner City Press traveled with the UN Security Council and Ould Abdallah to Djibouti in 2008. Ministers of the Transitional Federal Government, some from Minnesota, stayed in the expensive Kempinsky Hotel and assigned themselves positions.

Now they control four square blocks in Mogadishu. The view of them from Riverside, from Minneapolis Somalis, is less than positive. "We need our country back," Hassan said over chicken. Then he smiled and went back behind the counter.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/minn1somalia061010.html

At UN, Somalia Post Handed from Ould Abdallah to Mahiga, of Yemen's G-77 Deal

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/tfg1mahiga060910.html

UNITED NATIONS, June 9 -- The UN's envoy on Somalia Ahmedou Ould Abdallah, who called for a moratorium on press reporting of civilian deaths in Mogadishu and cut a stealth deal about Somali off shore rights with Kenya and Norway, has been relieved of his functions.

Sources last week told Inner City Press that he was being replaced by Tanzania's current Permanent Representative to the UN, Augustine Mahiga. The affable Ambassador Mahiga has been seeking a UN job for some time. He put himself up for the number two post in the UN Development Program, running against his own foreign minister. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and UNDP's Helen Clark bypassed the African Group and gave to post to Rebecca Grynspan of Costa Rica.

On June 4, rather than simply write the story without receiving confirmation, Inner City Press asked UN Deputy Spokesperson Marie Okabe:

Inner City Press: Ould-Abdallah.. is leaving in July and seeks to remain as an adviser to the Secretary-General. I just want you to confirm that he is leaving, and to confirm or deny that Augustine Mahiga, the Tanzanian ambassador, is going to be named the SRSG [Secretary-General’s Special Representative].

Deputy Spokesperson: I have nothing on any appointments.

Inner City Press: But Ould-Abdallah has said publicly that he is leaving in July. Is that the case?

Deputy Spokesperson: I have nothing on that.

Inner City Press: He said it.

Deputy Spokesperson: I have nothing on appointments for Somalia today.

Even thought Inner City Press knew it to be true, confirmation was sought from Mahiga himself. The Tanzanian Mission said he was in Europe thought June 18, but they would ask him (the staffer said, "that is good news"). But Mahiga, who previously asked Inner City Press to email him articles, did not respond.

Now, five days after Inner City Press publicly asked about Mahiga and Somalia, Ban Ki-moon has formally named Mahiga to the Somalia post, which is actually based in Nairobi, Kenya.

Mahiga, stars and bars behind him, TFG not shown

On June 9, before the confirmation, Inner City Press asked Ban's Associate Spokesperson Farhan Haq if the UN had consulted with the Transitional Federal Government about Mahiga. Haq said yes -- but we'll have more on this.

Several sources say that Mahiga is "so pro American, he'll make it all about counter - terrorism." Then again, that has already been the UN's approach.

These sources note that the UN way for a diplomat to seek a Secretariat job is for he or she -- almost always he -- to beginning selling out his Group and even his country, in exchange for the coming favor. The Secretariat uses the needs and wants of Permanent Representatives to obtain certain actions or forbearance in the budget committee -- which has continued meeting this week, despite the announced conclusion in May -- the General Assembly and in this case the peacebuilding commission.

"Consider Yemen," one well placed source told Inner City Press. "With all of the conflicts and problems, you might expect the UN to name an envoy or otherwise get involved. But since Yemen managed to head the Group of 77 this year, they use that leverage to tell the UN to do nothing. In exchange for which, the Group of 77 does not move to hold Ban accountable." Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/tfg1mahiga060910.html

On Somalia, UN Ban's Ould Abdallah "Takes All the Money," Bumbles in Politics

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/los9somalia052210.html

UNITED NATIONS, May 22 -- At the conference on Somalia in Istanbul, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon read out an unequivocal call for funding and support for that country's Transitional Federal Government, whose control over a few square blocks of Mogadishu is only maintained by Ugandan and Burundian troops shooting wildly including into civilian areas.

What Ban did not mention was even the Somali Parliament's opposition to UN Special Representative Ahmedou Ould Abdallah, who most recently bumbled by issuing loud support to a move by Somali's president which was nearly immediately reversed as illegal.

The UN often says it will not comment on internal legal matters of sovereign states. But Ould Abdallah is allowed by Ban to do whatever he wants, including having called for a moratorium on media reporting of the killing of civilians by the Ugandan and Burundian troops.

Inner City Press has been told by sources in the meeting that when the TFG contingent met with Ban last week, they complained about how Ould Abdallah is taking all the funding, leaving them with nothing.

He gets $25 million, they said, while they get less than a million dollars. Ban said he'd never heard of this. Perhaps this explains his Turkey call for more funding to the TFG?

At the UN's May 18 noon briefing, Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky:

Inner City Press: Yesterday there was a statement put out about the UN – let me see how to put it — backing the President of Somalia’s sacking of the Prime Minister of Somalia. It was put out in your Office that the UN supported the move by the President to fire the Prime Minister. Now the Prime Minister is saying that that was illegal under the Somali Constitution and that the President had no right to do it. What I am wondering is [Ahmedou] Ould-Abdallah essentially taking sides in an internal dispute of Somalia, is it something he did based on legal advice from OLA [Office of Legal Affairs]? Was it his reading — apparently it was — that this was a legal move by the President? And what does the UN say now that many in Somalia dispute the right of the President to make that move?

Spokesperson: First of all, Mr. Ould-Abdallah is well briefed — it’s his area of expertise. As you know, he was here and spoke to you last week. He will be present at the conference in Istanbul on Somalia this coming weekend, and I am sure at the latest at that meeting there will be a chance to discuss this particular matter. I do not have any further comments to add to what we have from yesterday.

Inner City Press: In the briefing that he gave with Mr. Pascoe, there was this question of 300 parliamentarians saying that Ould-Abdallah should in fact — that the UN should look into his actions there and should fire him — that is what they called for. He was the one that responded, and he said that was just a website. I mean, it’s Associated Press which does have a website. But I wondered, I’d wished Mr. Pascoe — and I guess I am asking you now on behalf of the Secretariat — what is the Secretariat’s response to a host country — 300 parliamentarians of a host country — saying that the SRSG should not be in the job? What is the procedure? I mean, I know that Mr. Pascoe said he is well seasoned or whatever he said, but what is, we often hear that the UN can only do things with the consent of a host country and a host Government, so what is the response to a complaint of the host Government in this case?

Spokesperson: As far as I know, there is a difference between the Government and Parliament in a country.

Inner City Press: Could it just be the President? As long as President Sharif… I mean, I am just wondering.

Spokesperson: I think you know how Parliaments and Governments work. There is a distinction between the two. But what is more important here is that Mr. Ould-Abdallah is the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and, therefore, clearly is there doing that job, not in Somalia itself as you know, posted in Somalia, but covering that topic because the Secretary-General wants him to.

But then, the President's move was reversed as illegal. The BBC cites experts that it undermine the credibility not only of the president but also of the UN. Inner City Press sought comment from Ban's Spokesperson and Deputy Spokesperson, but none has been received.

Rather, just before Ban and his Spokesman Martin Nesirky headed to Istanbul on May 20, Inner City Press asked:

Inner City Press: Just one more on Somalia since you’re going to Turkey... Yemen…

Spokesperson Nesirky: Yeah, I am just about to run.

Inner City Press: Absolutely. Yemen has announced the death penalty against six Somali pirates. Given, you know, the role of the UN and of OLA [Office of Legal Affairs] and Patricia O’Brien and sort of suggesting to Member States how pirates should be addressed, what does the UN, does the UN Secretariat, OLA or Secretary-General, what do they think of these death sentences recently announced in Yemen?

Spokesperson: Well, there are two points. You are quite right that this is a topic — not the specific case, but the question of piracy — this is a topic that is clearly part of the agenda at this conference on Somalia in Istanbul on Saturday. The second point is, as you well know, the United Nations speaks out quite clearly on the use of the death penalty, namely that it should not be used.

Inner City Press: So, this is the speaking out clearly about these death sentences?

Spokesperson: I beg your pardon?

Inner City Press: I mean, is this the speaking out clearly about these particular death sentences?

Spokesperson: The use of the death penalty anywhere is something that the United Nations would not be in favour of. I am going to hand over now to Mr. Adlerstein with apologies for being slightly late. And also Marie, very kindly, is going to moderate. Okay, thanks very much.

Then neither Nesirky or Marie Okabe answered for two days this question:

"Now that the President of Somalia has reversed his firing of the Prime Minister after being advised it was illegal, and with the BBC reporting "Analysts say the row has severely weakened the president's credibility, and the UN's, which had backed him" (see below) - I want to reiterate my question from Tuesday, now on deadline:

was 'Ould-Abdallah essentially taking sides in an internal dispute of Somalia, is it something he did based on legal advice from OLA [Office of Legal Affairs]? Was it his reading — apparently it was — that this was a legal move by the President? And what does the UN say now'?"

If and when an answer is provided to this question, we will publish it. Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/los9somalia052210.html

On Somalia, UN's Ould Abdullah Dismisses 300 MPs as Web Sites, Hasn't Read Report

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/los8somalia051210.html

UNITED NATIONS, May 12 -- The UN's envoy on Somalia Ahmedou Ould Abdullah, fresh from being denounced and asked to resign by over 300 members of the Somali parliament, dismissed the criticism on Wednesday as being the product of web sites. "I don't consult web sites, except yours from time to time," he told Inner City Press.

He went on to say that the AP report of 300 MPs was "based on a letter not signed." He did not respond to the rejection of the Norway-funded deal he unilaterally made with Kenya, about Somalis' rights to their shelf continential shelf. As to the criticism that rather than mediating he has taken sides in the Somali conflict, he said "yes I take sides.. for peace, stability, legality, human rights." Video here, from Minute 21:33.

But he has in fact defended violations of human rights by Ugandan and Burundian troops in Mogadishu, who have fired into civilian areas trying to "drain the sea" to get at Islamist rebels. Ould Abdullah earlier called for a moratorium on the reporting of the killing of civilians by AU peacekeepers. Now he says reports by human rights groups are overblown.

Speaking of reports, UK Deputy Permanent Representative Philip Parham told the Security Council on Wednesday that he would "like to register our disappointment that the Secretary-General’s report was issued less than 24 hours before this meeting."

Ould Abdullah claimed that he had only read the first draft of his report, trying to explain why in person he was more dismissive of claims of aid diversion than the report was. What exactly is Ould Abdullah doing? He is a man of action. He does not read UN reports, he does not read web sites (except this one, from time to time). He is not based in Mogadishu but rather Nairobi, Kenya. Soon he will be in Turkey beating the drum for donations. But does he have support in Somalia? Apparently not. What is the UN going to do about this? Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/los8somalia051210.html

On Somalia, UN Belated Admits Rejections of its MOU With Kenya

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/los7somalia031510.html

UNITED NATIONS, March 15 -- A UN-promoted joint Law of the Sea filing by Kenya and those Somalis the UN works with, about Somalia's offshore rights, has finally been acknowledged by the UN as rejected by the Somalia parliament.

On March 12, 2010, the UN web site quietly added the notation that the "Memorandum of Understanding" about the filing, pushed by Nairobi based UN envoy Ahmedou Ould Abdallah and funded by oil drilling Norway, "has been rejected by the Parliament of the Transitional Federal Government Somalia, and is to be hence treated as non-actionable."

Inner City Press has reported extensively about this controversial MOU, which despite rejection in Somalia has been defended by the UN, Ould Abdallah and Norway. Another analysis by some Inner City Press sources is below.

But the UN's quiet admission that its plan for the Somali coastline was rejected by Somalis comes as the UN's Sanctions Group on Somalia is promoting its findings about widespread diversion of aid to Al Shabab. As Inner City Press reported, the Sanctions report has subject last week to a staged leak, first to the New York Times and then to wire services. Some UN correspondents reported did not appreciate the exposure of how the document was shown. But it is relevant, and should have been reported in the initial stories.

Here now is an alternative telling of the UN - Somali story, an update to Inner City Press' previous reporting on the MOU:

From the [beginning, many] Somalis were furious about the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), saying “Somali territorial waters would have been lost had this MOU succeed”. And any where that the Somali TFG delegations travel they were confronted by angry citizens asking them “why did they sign that MOU” and demanding answers from them.

While many Somali lawmakers (MPs) were criticizing the government about the controversial MOU with Kenya, and hand full of TFG ministers were shying away from defending it, Deputy Prime Minister ( he is also Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources) Abdirahman Adan Ibbi (AKA Prof. Ibbi) became the biggest lobbyist for the MOU - Weird huh!

Prof. Ibbi fought very had so that the MOU would go forward. In doing so he wrote a letter* to Ban Ki Moon on August 19, 2009 supporting the MOU – it was after the Somali parliament rejected the same MOU (and voted down on August 1, 2009).

What is serious about that letter was: it was signed by him, Prof. Ibbi, but is says it was written by TFG Prime Minister Omer Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke who was out of town at the time. When that letter became public Prof. Ibbi started to fade away into the background.

Prof. Ibbi had a backing of the TFG president Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, who also defended the MOU .

When the Somali PM Sharmarke realized that his deputy used his name, he (Sharmarke) wrote his own letter to Ban Ki Moon on October 10, 2009, supporting the Parliament decision. The funny thing is, Sharmarke’s office did not send that letter to The Secretary-General of UN as they should. Much later, realizing again, Sharmarke handed the letter to Somalia's Foreign Minister, Ali Jama Jangali so that he could hand deliver to Ban Ki Moon or at least send through appropriate channel.

Nobody knows whether Jangali handed that letter to The Secretary-General – at least it was not posted at the UN website as they did the previous letters regarding the same MOU.

While all these were going on, a group of Somali lawmakers, who were fed up with government, sent their own letter to Ban-Ki Moon asking him not to accept the controversial maritime deal between Kenyan and Somalia and remind him that Somali Parliament rejected it. Again that letter also was not posted at UN website and as far as we aware of, The Secretary-General of the United Nations did not respond the Somali MPs’ letter – at least he did send reply back.

We do not know what did it or which letter reached at the Ban Ki Moon’s desk. But we do know that there was an update at UN website on 12 March 2010 stating that: “The MOU has been rejected by the Parliament of the Transitional Federal Government Somalia, and is to be hence treated as non-actionable.

This has been a huge relief for Somalis in general as they realize that the MOU between Somalia and Kenya is non-actionable – which in legal term means NULL & VOID.

Somalis think this is very good statement from UN headquarters, why? The MOU between Somalia and Kenya had a backing of UN Somalia Office (based mainly in Nairobi Kenya). This has been a concern for Somali people. And that is why many believe that UN Headquarters did not acknowledge quickly when Somali Parliament rejected the same MOU.

This is also a news dawn for Somali political system, some say, as members of parliament realize that they can overrule any law (for Somalia) even if the president doesn’t approve it. There had been even a talk to impeach the Somali parliament speaker, Sheikh Aden Mohamed Nur (AKA Aaden Madoobe) as he did not act swiftly when the TFG government started the maritime MOU between Somalia/Kenya.

* Below is the link of Prof. Ibbi’s letter (at UN website)

http://www.un.org/Depts/los/clcs_new/submissions_files/ken35_09/som_re_ken_clcs35.pdf

You can compare with the Somali PM’s signature at following link (UN website).

http://www.un.org/Depts/los/clcs_new/submissions_files/preliminary/som_2009_letter.pdf

We'll have more on this.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/los7somalia031510.html

As Somalia's TFG Prints Bills, UN Accused of Shipping Tanks, Denial by Ould Abdallah

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/unsc7somalia011410.html

UNITED NATIONS, January 14 -- Somalia's Transitional Federal Government, in control of just a small part of Mogadishu, is contracting with Sudan to print new Somali shillings, UN envoy Ahmedou Ould Abdallah acknowledged to Inner City Press on Thursday. Video here.

Ould Abdallah had just told the UN Security Council that it should further back the TFG. Inner City Press asked about opposition by Somali MPs to the TFG's finance minister Sharif Shaykh Hasan Shaykh Adan cutting a deal with Sudan. Ould Abdallah said that new shillings were needed, because the previous bill were counterfeited, on "photocopy machines" and otherwise.

Inner City Press asked how wide or small an area these new bills would be used it. Ould Abdallah claimed all over the country, but for the dollarization of the economy. But with Al-Shabaab controlling whole swaths of Southern Somalia, one wonders if this currency contract is even practical.

With the European Union bragging about escorting from Kenya to Mogadishu a ship chartered by the UN's UNSOA, and reports that the ship contained arms and tanks for the TFG, Inner City Press asked Ould Abdallah about it.

For the record, it has been reported that

[T]he TFG had imported a large shipment of arms, including tanks—the latter representing a considerable escalation from the "technicals," improvised battle wagons constructed by mounting a machine or anti-aircraft gun on a pickup truck or four-wheel drive vehicle, which have been ubiquitous in the Somali conflict. It later emerged that the shipment came on Sierra Leonean-flagged vessel, the MV Alpha Kirawira, which, according to a press release by the European Union Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Somalia's Operation Atalanta, was chartered by the UN Support Office for AMISOM (UNSOA) and escorted out of the Kenyan port of Mombasa by the Spanish frigate SPS Navarra and accompanied all the way to Mogadishu by the French corvette FS Commandant L'Herminier.

Ould Abdallah said he hadn't heard of the ship, then added that heavy equipment is needed in Somalia, including APCs. His spokeswoman urged him to leave the stakeout, again without herself agreeing to provide any answers.

Ould Abdallah, as he left, said he would look into the ship. His deputy, who previously a serious humanitarian, seemed to indicate the same. We'll see.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/unsc7somalia011410.html

In Somali Chaos, Japan and Germany Offer Separate Training, U.S. Cuts Aid

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/unon1somalia120809.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 8 -- Mirroring the chaos of the Transitional Federal Government in Somalia, donors and vultures and purported helpers are all working at cross purposes. Among the vultures we place a company called "Phoenix," which brags of having contracts with the TFG to train security forces in Jordan for deployment in Somalia. We will have more on this.

Meanwhile while the UN claims that it alone is authorized to train Somali forces, a senior UN official on Tuesday complained to Inner City Press that Japan and Germany are moving toward doing their own trainings, outside of Somalia.

This has reportedly angered the UN's envoy to Somalia Ahmedou Ould Abdullah enough that he has traveled to Tokyo. His spokesperson has repeatedly declined to answer questions from Inner City Press in the past.

Three top UN humanitarian managers for Somalia briefed the Press on Tuesday, about shortfalls in fundraising. Inner City Press asked if they have solved their dispute with the United States, which slowed aid because transfers to Al Shabaab would violate U.S. anti terrorism laws. Mark Bowden, the UN's Nairobi based humanitarian coordinator, confirmed his talks with "donors," stressing that time is of the essence.

Inner City Press asked Bowden about the UN urging the TFG president not to fire the police chief of Mogadishu, which nevertheless took place. Bowden confirmed the UN has concerned, but said they "come from the political side." Then what is Ould Abdullah doing in Japan?

In belated disclosure of how the TFG's parliamentarians were paid, Inner City Press was told that when the parliament contained 250 members, countries including the U.S., UK and Norway paid their salaries. When the parliament swelled to 500, the UN Development Program started paying, Inner City Press was told. UNDP itself has repeatedly refused to answer questions about its funding in Somalia.

Al Shabaab has ordered the UN World Food Program to stop importing food, to buy locally or not bring food in. The Food and Agriculture Organization's Graham Farmer conceded that bringing in food aid during the harvest season depresses the prices farmers get.

Does WFP buy locally in Somalia? Farmer said WFP tries to buy locally elsewhere, but does not do so in Somalia. Why not? Watch this site.

Footnote: Bowden's press conference was delayed, a spokesperson said, because he was blocked at the UN's visitors' entrance. Afterwards, Bowden told Inner City Press he showed his pass from the UN Office in Nairobi, but that this wasn't accepted at the UN in New York. Ironically, Kentucky Fried Chicken's Colonel Sanders impersonator got into the building with no problem, but the UN's humanitarian coordinator for Somalia was stopped...

And see, www.innercitypress.com/unon1somalia120809.html

UN's Somalia Envoy Blames Web Sites for Aid Cut Off and Child Soldier Reports

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/unsc6somalia111809.html

UNITED NATIONS, November 18 -- The UN's top envoy to Somalia Ahmedou Ould Abdallah was asked Wednesday by the Press about the reported suspension of U.S. aid due to diversion to the Al Shabaab rebels, and the recruitment of Somalia refugees in Kenya to come back to fight Al Shabaab. He dodged both questions by referring to the ills of online media and web sites.

When Inner City Press asked about the recruitment of fighters including child soldiers in refugee camps in Kenya, Ould Abdallah replied that Somalis have "three hundred web sites... People write and print what they want." Video here, from Minute 0:54. But the sites reporting this include the UN's own ReliefWeb.int, here.

Likewise, when Inner City Press asked about reports -- by both the Wall Street Journal and New York Times -- of the suspension or delay of U.S. aid due to diversion of World Food Program funds to Al Shabaab, Ould Abdallah said "they campaign through web sites [that] they don't don't like help" from the U.S. or WFP. He added that it is difficult to prevent diversion. Video here, from Minute 7:46.

Then Ould Abdullah turned his comments on Inner City Press itself, saying "you are very specific. You ask only controversial or difficult issues." Video here, from Minute 8. Given that the alternative is to ask bland or easy question, "that's journalism," Inner City Press replied. "It is not journalism," Ould Abdallah said.

Ould Abdallah ended his 11 minute stakeout by asking an intern, "Who are you with?" When told the name of the cable television network, Ould Abdallah directed the intern to ask a question, since "he [Inner City Press] monopolize." Video here, from Minute 9:58.

Since Ould Abdallah's spokesperson Susanna Price has refused to answer e-mailed questions about who paid for UN-spoonsored conferences and the Transitional Federal Goverment's wages and security, and about Ould Abdullah's role in a Norwegian funded, Kenyan drafts Law of the Sea filing subsquently voted down by Somalia's parliament, to ask Ould Abdallah four questions after none for many month hardly seems a monopoly.

Ould Abdallah previously called for a moratorium on the reporting of the killing of civilians by AMISOM peacekeepers in Somalia, saying that these reports only hed to more strife. When Human Rights Watch and others called for him to retract the censorship call or resign, he did neither.

Secretariat sources say Ould Abdallah was asked to apologize, but that he refused. "He called the UN's bluff," said a source. "They feel that they need him." This is what the UN has come to. Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/unsc6somalia111809.html

Somali Continental Shelf Filing Rejected by Parliament Has Norway "Embarrassed," UN Admits

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/los4somalia083109.html

UNITED NATIONS, August 31 -- The Somali parliament recently voted over 90% against a deal cut by UN envoy Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, using Norwegian assistance, to make a joint Kenya - Somali filing about the Somali people's rights to the continental shelf and its natural resources. Even before the vote, Inner City Press had repeatedly asked the UN by what right Ould Abdallah had coordinated the filing, without getting a straight answer.

Now, with meetings about the Continental Shelf and the Law of the Sea taking place in the basement of the UN's headquarters in New York, Inner City Press finally got at least some answers.

In a meeting on "The Regular Process of Marine Assessments" held by the UN's Office of Legal Affairs, Inner City Press asked a group of UN experts how they deal with a now-contested filing like the one about Somalia. At first, an expert tried to evade the question, saying it could only be asked and answered at another meeting down the hall about the Limits of the Continental Shelf. But those meetings are all closed.

The master of ceremonies Peter Gilruth, director of the UN Environment Program's Division of Early Warning and Assessment, said he would try to answer, although he felt it might put his "head in a difficult spot." He said that Norway paid for the filings of some 10 African countries but that in Somalia, some "other elements.... may have tried to take the information in a different direction, causing the difficulty you refer to." Gilruth that moved the proceedings forward, asking if there were "any questions easier than that one."

Afterwards, Inner City Press approached Mr. Gilruth, who said that the whole Somali filing snafu "involved embarrassment to the government of Norway."

Next to him Patricio Bernal, UNESCO Assistant Director-General and Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, said that he had been working on this for ten years, he had coordinated with the Somali "government in exile" in Nairobi, and he could not understand the stink made in Somalia itself. He emphasized that the decisions in Continental Shelf meetings -- behind closed doors, mind you -- are "unappealable."

Perhaps the ongoing snafu reflects that to deal with the Somali government in exile, or the TFG, or Ould Abdallah, is not to deal with the Somali people, and is no guarantee of support or legitimacy. Ould Abdallah, meanwhile, is reported trying to invite into the TFG process a notorious war lord. Inner City Press asked about this last week at the UN's noon briefing, and the Spokesperson said an answer would be sought from Ould Abdallah. But still none has been received. Watch this site.

As first reported by Inner City Press, the filing states that Ould Abdallah

"initiated the preparation of preliminary information indicative of the outer limits of the continental shelf of Somalia beyond 200 nautical miles... In the preparation of this material the SRSG accepted an offer of assistance from the Government of Norway... Both the Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate have been involved in the preparation...

Inner City Press wrote about this and asked the UN and Ould's spokesperson Suzie Price, but never received an answer.

On May, the question was put to Ould Abdallah and he said he is "no specialist," that he was unfamiliar with the filing that states that he prepared it. "Ask Norway," he said. Video here, from Minute 12:30.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/los4somalia083109.html

UN's Envoy to Somalia Denies He's a Target and that War Crimes Are on Both Sides

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/unsc5somalia072909.html

UNITED NATIONS, July 29 -- More than a week after the Al Shabaab insurgents ordered out from the parts of Somalia that they control some segments of the UN system, notably UN envoy Ahmedou Ould Abdallah and the UN Development Program, the UN still refuses to speak or apparently even to think about why it became a target.

Inner City Press asked Ould Abdallah to respond to accusations that he has, in essence, taken sides in a civil war, and made himself a target. Ould Abdallah responded by asking, "You support the Islamists?" Video here, from Minute 12:06.

Inner City Press responded that it was asking for his and the UN's response to the statements of one of the parties in Somalia. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has said, through her spokesman Rupert Colville, that "both sides were reported to have used torture and to have fired mortars indiscriminately into areas populated or frequented by civilians... The High Commissioner believed that some of these acts might amount to war crimes."

Inner City Press asked Ould Abdallah if he acknowledged that the forces of the Transitional Federal Government which he supports, and also of the AMISON African Union, have at time fired mortars into civilian areas. "I don't like to introduce AMISOM as a part of a problem," Ould Abdallah said. Video here, from Minute 16:06.

But isn't it the UN's role to speak out against the killing of civilians by either side? Rather than answer the questions about his neutrality, and relatedly about the efficacy of his diplomacy, Ould Abdallah joked that he is neutral because when he arrived in Somalia he said he would not engage in local politics, would not engage in business and would not get married in Somalia.

But refusing to speak up about, and in fact covering up, killing of civilians by one or more of the armed forces in Somalia shows a lack of neutrality. And Ould Abdallah's still unexplained role in the joint Law of the Sea Continental Shelf filing of the Kenyan Government and the TFG, funded by oil-exploring country Norway, constitutes business in the view of some.

Ould Abdallah told Inner City Press, next time we go to meet with the Islamists we will take you. In mid 2008, Inner City Press covered the Security Council's trip to the Somalia talks in Djibouti, top heavy with TFG officials who flew in from London. Business was done, in a $400 a night waterfront Kampinski Hotel. The Press stayed elsewhere.

When asked about the looting of his Office in Baidoa, in connection with al Shabaab ordering him and UNDP to get out, Ould Abdallah said it was mere theft of private property with, as a "bandage," statements against him. This is called, by some, being in denial.

Also in denial is the UNDP, which on July 28 told Inner City Press that "UNDP programmes and operations continue uninterrupted in Somalia." But it was looted and ordered out of the former TFG capital, Baidoa.

Ould Abdallah is a funny man. Wednesday he drew laughter when he called Somali piracy a form of hedge fund. But he did not state what if anything he has done about the problem on non-Somalis engaging in illegal fishing off the coast, or dumping toxic waste on the shore.

This was by his count his fourth or fifth briefing of the Security Council and the press in the past 20 months. The situation is hardly better. Perhaps the bombast, the willful blindness and yes, the lack of neutrality, are part of the problem.

Footnotes: On July 28, as Inner City Press passed through the UN's 37th floor Peacekeeping Office on route to a briefing about the UN's New Horizon plan, Ould Abdallah asked, who invited you here? He added, with a smile, "You are impossible." Others say that he is impossible -- including to discipline or replace. A Ban Ki-moon advisor from the 38th floor told Inner City Press that following Ould Abdallah's comments that the media should not report of the killing of civilians by AMISOM forces, he was told by the UN in New York to issue an apology, but refused to.

The source marveled at, and offered an explanation of, why Ould Abdallah is allowed to get away with it. The answer does not make this UN look good. Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/unsc5somalia072909.html