Exclusive: In Sudan, UN Gave Its Staff's US Dollars to Bank of Khartoum, UN Falsely Blamed It on US Sanctions

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive Must Credit

UNITED NATIONS, December 27, more here – With the UN belatedly moving to stand up to pressure from the Sudanese government of Omar al Bashir, who has ordered UN officials Yvonne Helle and Ali Al-Za'tari to leave the country, Inner City Press has learned of a particularly shameful way in which the UN and Al-Za'tari tried to placate the Sudanese government, to the extend of giving it the U.S. dollars of UN national staff in Sudan.

   Last week Inner City Press exclusively reported on the UN Federal Credit Union abruptly telling UN national staff in Sudan that their accounts were being frozen and the dollars in them transferred to the Bank of Khartoum. Inner City Press has asked the UN, including UNDP, OCHA andUNFPA, to explain this. 

   Today Inner City Press exclusively publishes a complaint filed with Ali Al-Za'tari about the change, here. Inner City Press notes that the decision to give the UN national staff's dollars to the Bank of Khartoum flies in the face, in fact, of the sanctions.  The complaint to Al-Za'tari states that 

“UNFCU closed checking and savings accounts of national staff without prior notification and consultation and unilaterally transferred all funds of staff members' accounts to local saving accounts to be paid in SDG by Bank of Khartoum... Based on the long years of established provision of the UNFCU service, majority of national staff have made long term financial arrangements taking into account UNFCU deposits facilities which provided solutions to many of their problems such as medical treatments and education to them and their families.”

  UNFCU's President and CEO William Predmore told national staff in Sudan that that “as you may be aware, UNFCU is subject to U.S. Regulations (including those promulgated by the Office of Foreign Assets Controls (OFAC)). In order to ensure compliance with those regulations, checking account services and debit card services were terminated for local staff.”

   (Many were stranded with AMT cards that didn't work, while their dollars were transferred to the Bank of Khartoum.)

  Contrary to what UNFCU's Predmore told staff in writing, the US OFAC has told UN staff that sanctions law and regulation does NOT require what the UN has done, citing 31 CFR 538.531.

  Tellingly, Predmore's letter to staff also says that the switch was made pursuant to UNDP's rules. What rules?

  Now the UN Security Council is set to meet on December 30 about Sudan's order to Ali Al-Za'tari and Yvonne Helle to leave; the Council will say they are in support of UN staff. What will they do about UN staff members' dollars having been given to the Sudanese authorities?

  In essence, UNDP and its Resident Coordinator Ali Al-Za'tari gave Khartoum the U.S. dollars of UN national staff, without notice. Even that wasn't enough to keep him in the country. But it is reminiscent of another UN scam Inner City Press exclusive uncovered, the overpayment of Myanmar by inflated foreign exchange rate in the wake of Cyclone Nargis.

  That was covered and credited – will this be? Or does thescam here extend to covering up the complicity of UN officials like not only Herve Ladsous but even, yes, Ali Al-Za'tari, who remained silent when UNFPA's country director was thrown out of Sudan in April, and as Inner City Press asked the UN on December 24, gave in quickly to the ouster of Yvonne Helle? Watch this site.

   

UN in Myanmar Still Losing 20% on Currency Exchange, Asks for More, Problem Widens

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
www.innercitypress.com/un2forex080508.html

UNITED NATIONS, August 5 -- While the UN in Myanmar has yet to resolve or even minimize the 20%, $10 million currency exchange losses it admitted eight days ago, it is going public with requests for more funds. At the UN's noon briefing on Tuesday, spokesperson Michele Montas quoted UN humanitarian coordinator for Myanmar Dan Baker that $51 million is needed for rice paddies, and that of the UN's July 10 revised appeal, there is a $285 million, or 59%, shortfall. Video here, from Minute 4.

Inner City Press, which back on June 26 first reported on the UN's losses to government-required currency exchange, asked Ms. Montas if the UN is still losing 20% of each dollar spent in Myanmar. "The information you have stands," Ms. Montas said. "I have heard of no changes." Video here, from Minute 12:03.

That each dollar of aid must be converted with Myanmar's military government for a Foreign Exchange Certificate with, now, 80% of the value means that 20% of aid is directly benefiting the regmine led by General Than Shwe. This puts in a different light -- bribery, some call it -- Chevron Corporation's self-described "$1 million cash contribution." $200,000 of that goes to the government, which controls licenses, including of those few money changers which in turn convert the devalued FECs. Other corporate contributors include French oil company Total, Siemens AG and JP Morgan Chase.

On July 28, the UN's John Holmes publicly admitted $10 million of losses and promised both to get to the bottom of it, and at Inner City Press' request to produce a list of other countries in which the UN is losing more than 5% to currency exchange. So far neither has been done.

A representative of the UN Development Program telephoned Inner City Press the day after Holmes' public admission, by contrast providing UNDP's answers only on a not for direct attribution basis. He said that the Myanmar government, in order to "control" foreign exchange, licensed a few approved money changers. He jotted down Inner City Press' request for UNDP's pre-cyclone currency exchange losses and a list of other countries in which UNDP is losing 5% or more to currency exchange, but said that UNDP will be relying on and deferring to John Holmes' inquiries in this regard.

Now, however, well-placed UN sources tell Inner City Press that the reason for the delay on making any disclosures, even about Myanmar, is that UNDP demanding a re-do of the numbers, trying to whittle down Holmes' admission of $10 million in losses. The attempt to re-fudge the numbers is being down through the UN Country Team, headed by UNDP's Bishow Parajuli, previously the head of the UN World Food Program in Egypt.

Meanwhile, UNDP has been unable to provide any figures about how much money it has converted in Myanmar, including for a program it calls "Micro-Finance." The spokesman-without-name repeatedly like a mantra, our work is good. But how much was converted and spent? How much money has been and is in UNDP's account with the Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank? There has still been no answer.

Belatedly joining its Western Permanent Five compadres the U.S. and UK, the French Mission to the UN provided Inner City Press with the following response to the scandal:

"Obviously, we are sharing the concerns expressed by John Holmes toward these difficulties. Since the beginning, France has been very engaged in the international effort to hurry assistance to the victims of Cyclone Nargis. Consistent with the principle of the responsibility to protect, we have also urged the Myanmar government to fully allow access of international aid to victims. We pay tribute to the UN involvement to improve the situation. It is obviously crucial that no financial resources dedicated to humanitarian assistance should be wasted, and we therefore support the UN efforts to find a solution to that problem."

But for now the efforts focus on cover-up, and nothing is being done to ensure that the problem doesn't continue, and in countries beyond Myanmar.

On August 5, to try to get answers since UNDP Administrator Kemal Dervis has refused to answer questions or to hold a press conference, Inner City Press attended a meeting of UNDP's Executive Board. After a presentation by UNDP controller Darshak Shah, comments were sought by UNDP from the member states on the Board. Nothing was said about Myanmar or the currency exchange losses. Rather the talk was of boosting UNDP's "direct budget support" to governments, and ensuring "government ownership" of funds. This has been UNDP's priority in Myanmar.

[Since Kemal Dervis does not, as he puts it, "answer questions in the hallway," nor hold press conferences, Inner City Press has formally posed the questions here.]

Similarly, despite a commitment by World Health Organization official Eric Laroche -- previously of UNDP -- to provide a description of WHO's currency exchange practices and losses in Myanmar, no information has yet been provided by WHO, despite reminders to Mr. Laroche's spokesman. Apparently the cover-up mentality of UNDP spreads with its former employees.

Inner City Press asked Ms. Montas when the Holmes-promised list of other countries with currency losses would be provided, and how that would cover UNDP and UN Peacekeeping. Ms. Montas said that Inner City Press will have to ask each agency, even each department, separately. One agency spokesman told Inner City Press that the agency's controller / accounting department might not be tracking currency exchange losses, even now, and that if is such information were being collected, it is not the UN's job to "do research" for Inner City Press. How about making basic disclosure, of losses up to 25% of each aid dollar, to donors? Apparently the UN does not that that is required, either.

The time for semi-proactively disclosing other countries with currency losses is now.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un2forex080508.html

UN Admits $10 Million Exchange Loss in Myanmar, Says Will Disclose Others Countries and Losses

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1forex072808.html

UNITED NATIONS, July 28 -- At least $10 million in UN aid money raised by the UN after Cyclone Nargis hit has been lost in government-dictated currency exchanges, UN humanitarian chief John Holmes admitted on July 28. He stated that at the time he launched a second appeal for aid on July 10, "we here" in New York had not been aware of the seriousness or extent of the losses. But an internal UN document obtained by Inner City Press shows that the UN knew as early at June 26 of a "very serious 20% loss on foreign exchange... changing US Dollars to Foreign Exchange Certificates [FEC] then to local currency, Kyats." This appears in the internal "Notes for the Record" of an "Emergency Task Force Teleconference" call involving top officials in Yangon, Bangkok and Rome, available here.

Inner City Press on June 26, after being read the minutes by a source, wrote an article and asked questions about it, including to the UN Development Program. On July 9, before the appeal was launched, Inner City Press asked Holmes about it, on camera in front of the Security Council, video here, at end.

Holmes on July 28 put the loss at $10 million and called it unacceptable. Inner City Press asked what percentage loss through government-dictated currency exchange he and the UN would find acceptable. "I think we've had this discussion before," Holmes said. "It's very difficult to set the bar." Video here, from Minute 31:58. "We are arguably a bit slow to recognize, since the spread widened in June." But prior to June, and prior to the cyclone, the UN was losing 15% to currency exchange. Was that acceptable?

Given the UN's losses in Myanmar only came out due to questions being pursued about these leaked minutes, Inner City Press asked Holmes if he would commit to now releasing a list of those countries in which the UN suffers currency exchange losses of greater than five percent, and a plan to address the losses and / or appropriately disclose them to donors. "I don't see any reason why not," Holmes said. "There's no reason not to be transparent." Video here, from Minute 55:57. He added, "we had not been trying to conceal it."

But why then not have disclosed it in the July 10 appeal for several hundred million more dollars for Myanmar? Notably, if a publicly-traded company was even negligent in this way, there would be fines and worse. This now becomes a test-case not only for Holmes but also for Ban Ki-moon. The problems of currency exchange rip-offs by governments may have pre-existed their tenures. But now that it is belatedly known, if only through questions being pursued about leaked minutes, it remains to be seen if they and the UN move to clean out this heretofore undisclosed leakage of aid money.

Inner City Press first raised the issue on June 26 itself, in print and in questions to the UN Development Program, which handles UN finances in the field. UNDP Spokesman Stephane Dujarric provided a written response that

"UNDP Funds are remitted into the UNDP US dollar account at Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank. UNDP Myanmar exchanges US dollars for Foreign Exchange Certificates at the Bank, and then converts these into local currency (Kyat)."

After that, in response to Inner City Press' request for how much money UNDP and the UN have converted into FEC, UNDP has provided no information. Mr. Dujarric left a message that he was going on leave but that his colleagues would provide the information. This never took place. On July 25, Inner City Press asked UNDP Administrator Kemal Dervis after he launched an appeal for more most-emergency funds if he would answer questions about UNDP's Myanmar operations, there in the UN's conference room 4 or in a press conference. "You know I don't answer questions like this," he said, adding that any press conference would have to wait until "after the high summer season." There are indications that UNDP, even prior to Cyclone Nargis, provided larger cuts to Myanmar's Than Shwe government than the 25% now admitted to by the UN's humanitarian operations.

The amount of money the UN system has turned over to the Than Shwe government goes back far before the cyclone. At UN Headquarters on July 16, Inner City Press posed questions to Eric Laroche, now at the World Health Organization, but previously the UN's humanitarian coordinator in Somalia, and further back with UNICEF in Myanmar. When Inner City Press asked if Laroche thought it legitimate to accept a low exchange rate from a government in order to have access, he stayed silent for a full eight seconds before saying, "It's a very difficult question, and a more difficult answer. It has to do with principles." He said that when he was in the country with UNICEF, auditors were told about the exchange rate arrangements with the government. He and his spokesman committed to explain how WHO exchanges money in Myanmar, but to date have not done so. After a telephone call on the afternoon of July 28, their response is expected immanently, and will be covered as this series progresses.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1forex072808.html

Leaked Minutes Show UN Knew of 20% Loss in Myanmar 2 Weeks Before $300 Million Request

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un16myanmar072808.html

UNITED NATIONS, July 28 -- While UN humanitarian officials John Holmes and Dan Baker have belated admitted currency exchange losses of up to 25% to Myanmar's government, an internal UN document obtained by Inner City Press shows that the UN knew as early at June 26 of a "very serious 20% loss on foreign exchange... changing US Dollars to Foreign Exchange Certificates [FEC] then to local currency, Kyats."

This appears in the internal "Notes for the Record" of an "Emergency Task Force Teleconference" call involving top officials in Yangon, Bangkok and Rome, available here. But on July 10, the UN's humanitarian coordinator for Myanmar Dan Baker answered Inner City Press' questions by stating there were no significant losses to the government. Video here, from Minute 46:20.

The troubling implications of the June 26 "Notes for the Record" are not limited to Mr. Baker. Fully two weeks after the "very serious 20% loss on foreign exchange" was acknowledged in writing by the UN, an appeal for an additional $300 million was launched at the UN in New York, with no disclosure at all about the losses.

The preparation of this request for additional funding is noted in the June 26 minutes, which also discuss such matters as the "messaging" and talking points for the UN's phase-out of helicopter flights to the Delta. The minutes have it that the government urged that rice be bought outside of the country -- the UN, it should be noted, preferred to buy it in-country, putting in question Dan Baker's claim that foreign exchange losses were minimized by making purchases outside of Myanmar.

Long after Inner City Press requested basic information about how much money the UN has exchanged into undervalued FECs, OCHA's Dawn Blalock on the morning of July 28 responded that "on the dollar issue, the UN [Country Team] in Myanmar is working on that and should have figure by the end of the week and Mr. Holmes will address the issue today after the noon briefing." It shouldn't take this long to get financial information. But Mr. Holmes will be asked about it, and about the June 26 minutes, at the July 28 UN noon briefing.

Inner City Press first raised the issue on June 26 itself, in print and in questions to the UN Development Program, which handles UN finances in the field. UNDP Spokesman Stephane Dujarric provided a written response that

"UNDP Funds are remitted into the UNDP US dollar account at Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank. UNDP Myanmar exchanges US dollars for Foreign Exchange Certificates at the Bank, and then converts these into local currency (Kyat)."

After that, in response to Inner City Press' request for how much money UNDP and the UN have converted into FEC, UNDP has provided no information. Mr. Dujarric left a message that he was going on leave but that his colleagues would provide the information. This never took place.

On July 25, Inner City Press asked UNDP Administrator Kemal Dervis after he launched an appeal for more most-emergency funds if he would answer questions about UNDP's Myanmar operations, there in the UN's conference room 4 or in a press conference. "You know I don't answer questions like this," he said, adding that any press conference would have to wait until "after the high summer season." There are indications that UNDP, even prior to Cyclone Nargis, provided larger cuts to Myanmar's Than Shwe government than the 25% now admitted to by the UN's humanitarian operations.

The amount of money the UN system has turned over to the Than Shwe government goes back far before the cyclone. At UN Headquarters on July 16, Inner City Press posed questions to Eric Laroche, now at the World Health Organization, but previously the UN's humanitarian coordinator in Somalia, and further back with UNICEF in Myanmar. When Inner City Press asked if Laroche thought it legitimate to accept a low exchange rate from a government in order to have access, he stayed silent for a full eight seconds before saying, "It's a very difficult question, and a more difficult answer. It has to do with principles." Video here, from Minute 51:46.

Laroche said that when he was in the country with UNICEF, auditors were told about the exchange rate arrangements with the government. He and his spokesman committed to explain how WHO exchanges money in Myanmar, but to date have not done so. Their response is expected immanently, and will be covered as this series progresses.

In fairness, the UN has now provided to Inner City Press its transcript of John Holmes' July 24 press conference in Yangon, which has him stating

"yes, there is an exchange loss. I’m not sure where that gain goes, it’s hard to be sure. There is an issue here, it’s a serious problem because we are losing purchasing power in the dollars we are spending. We have raised that with the Govt. I raised that with the Govt today, with the Govt ministers, and they have said that they understand the problem and will look for a solution, and I hope we can find a solution very quickly."

Myanmar's government has implemented a temporary fix or cover-up. It has announced that certain taxes and fees can be paid with the Foreign Exchange Certificates it requires that the UN convert dollars into. Last week, this temporarily raised to street value of FECs from 880 kyats, the local currency, to 980 kyats, limiting exchange losses from 25% back to 17%. But now the spread is back to 21%, with the FEC to kyat exchange rate sliding back to 950 to 1, compared to 1180 kyats per dollar.

The temporary fix or cover-up did not work. Even at its best, is a 17% loss of aid funds to the Myanmar government acceptable to donors? Why were these losses never disclosed while funds were being raised, including in UN appeals for $200 million and then, earlier this month, $300 million more?

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un16myanmar072808.html

As Myanmar Tweaks Its Theft of UN Aid Funds from 25% to 17%, Donor Anger at "Burma Shave"

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un15myanmar072608.html

UNITED NATIONS, July 26 -- Under fire for taking a 25% cut of UN aid money, Myanmar's government has implemented a temporary fix or cover-up. It has announced that certain taxes and fees can be paid with the Foreign Exchange Certificates it requires that the UN convert dollars into. Last week, this temporarily raised to street value of FECs from 880 kyats, the local currency, to 980 kyats, limiting exchange losses from 25% back to 17%. But now the spread is back to 21%, with the FEC to kyat exchange rate sliding back to 950 to 1, compared to 1180 kyats per dollar.

The temporary fix or cover-up did not work. Even at its best, is a 17% loss of aid funds to the Myanmar government acceptable to donors? Why were these losses never disclosed while funds were being raised, including in UN appeals for $200 million and then, earlier this month, $300 million more?

Inner City Press raised the issue in print and to the UN Development Program on June 26, then to UN humanitarian chief John Holmes at the Security Council stakeout on July 9 and at two subsequent briefings. On July 10, the UN's Humanitarian Coordinator for Myanmar Dan Baker denied there were losses to the government. The next day Holmes said losses were "relatively small and transitory," but when asked by Inner City Press about internal UN documents indicating otherwise, he committed to look into the issue while visiting Myanmar. On July 24 he admitted serious losses, said he'd raised them to the government, and that "they did not say exactly how but they said they would try to find ways by which we could get round the problem."

Temporarily allowing more things to be paid for in FECs, thereby slightly (and only temporarily) bringing FECs' value closer to that of the dollar, is not getting round the problem -- it is covering the problem up so that the siphoning of aid money, which Inner City Press first pegged as the "Burma Shave," can continue in the future, including as reconstruction money flows in. The UN, given that it knew of but covered up this problem, cannot be relied on to solve it, many donors are saying. Demands for repayment of losses to Than Shwe's Burma Shave are growing.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un15myanmar072608.html

In Myanmar, UN Loses 25% of Aid in Currency Exchange, Up from 15% Pre-Cyclone

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un11myanmar072208.html

UNITED NATIONS, July 22 -- The UN has directed hundred of millions of dollars into Myanmar since Cyclone Nargis hit, and on July 10 asked for $300 million more. But it has now emerged that the UN has lost some twenty percent of the money it has exchanged in Myanmar, by acquiescing to a government-required exchange of dollars for Foreign Exchange Certificates.

Not only does an internal UN memo reviewed by Inner City Press refer to a "serious loss of 20%" -- now, sources in Yangon describe the applicable exchange rates accepted by the UN between FECs and Kyats as 25% lower than the dollars the UN changes into FECs. Before the cyclone, the loss was 15%. The extra ten percent loss, applied to the millions of dollars exchanged by the UN system, could have helped the cyclone's victims. What will be done remains to be seen. The UN's top humanitarian John Holmes has pledged to get to the bottom of the issue during his current three day trip to Myanmar.

The UN Development Program is central to the UN system's operations, and states that "funds are remitted into the UNDP US dollar account at Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank. UNDP Myanmar exchanges US dollars for Foreign Exchange Certificates (FECs) at the Bank, and then converts these into local currency, Kyat."

But in the second half of July, the exchange rated was a mere 880 Kyats for each Foreign Exchange Certificate, compared to 1180 for each dollar the UN converted one-to-one into a FEC. That's a loss of more than 25%. Before Nargis hit, the Kyat to FEC rate fluctuated between 960 to 980 per FEC, compared to 960 to 980 per dollar, a loss of 15%.

The recent Post-Nargis Joint Assessment Final Report, issued by the UN along with ASEAN and, notably, the Than Shwe government of Myanmar, acknowledges in Box 2 that

"Myanmar has a multiple exchange-rate system. The official exchange rate applies to the transactions undertaken by the government and state-owned enterprises and is used primarily for accounting purposes. Foreign Exchange Certificates (FECs) are also issued by the government, exchangeable at a market-determined rate. A large parallel market also exists that exchanges US dollars with Kyats at a small premium over the rate for FECs. This report utilizes the exchange rate used by the Government of Myanmar in its presentation of damages immediately following Cyclone Nargis at the ASEAN-UN International Pledging Conference in Yangon on 25 May 2008 (K 1,100/USD), which was consistent with the prevailing rate on the parallel market at the time of the assessment.*

* FEC and USD rates are fluctuating at present and should be kept under close review during the initial stages of the relief and recovery program: the upcoming Article IV consultations would be a good opportunity for review."

This is a diplomatic way to refer to the black market, and to dodge the question of how much the UN loses by accepting the requirement to change dollars into FECs on a one-to-one basis. Consider the above quotes, annotated:

Foreign Exchange Certificates (FECs) are also issued by the government, exchangeable at a market-determined rate." - The only rate is the black market rate, which currently is 880 Kyats per FEC. So when they say "market determined" they're referring to the black market, as they are in the sentence that follow -- "A large parallel market also exists that exchanges US dollars with Kyats at a small premium over the rate for FECs."

"This report utilizes the exchange rate used by the Government of Myanmar in its presentation of damages immediately following Cyclone Nargis at the ASEAN-UN International Pledging Conference in Yangon on 25 May 2008 (K 1,100/USD), which was consistent with the prevailing rate on the parallel market at the time of the assessment." - it appears that Myanmar government actually used the "black market" rate for this, that surprises me quite honestly. If you read the State Media here they're always very careful to quote US$ and Ks figures separately so as not to acknowledge the "real" black market value. The claim that the rate was Ks 1,100 on the 25th May is questionable, records show that it was slightly higher at Ks1,1700, with FEC was trading at Ks975 at that time. But all of that raises two questions;

1) If the Myanmar Govt. is using an exchange rate of Ks1,100 to the US$ and it was the "prevailing rate" at that time, why did the UN not get that rate? The answer to that is of course obvious, the Myanmar Government shafted the UN and the UN damned well knows it!

2) Who in Myanmar can change that sort of money? The only people who have that amount of cash here are the Generals and their allies.

Not only the UN's Sir John Holmes is in Myanmar -- the UN Development Program's new regional director for Asia and the Pacific, Ajay Chhibber is there as well. Both should know personally about the exchange rate scam. Also according to a source, if one stays in an "International" hotel like Traders or Sedona -- both used by the UN, with Ban Ki Moon staying at Sedona and a apparently at least one whole floor occupied by the UN at Traders -- one will pay in FEC/US dollars as a foreigner, around US$/FEC 55 per night. If you're a Myanmar citizen you will pay Ks 40,000.

In some cases it's even more extreme, for example a hotel in Mandalay charging US$/FEC 25 per night, with Myanmar nationals paying Ks 6,000 for the same room and service. So did Ban Ki-moon and his entourage notice this while they were in Myanmar?

On Tuesday at UN headquarters, Inner City Press asked Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson Michele Montas about the seeming wind-down of parts of the UN's Nargis response:

Inner City Press: it's been said that the UN is going to stop its flights from Thailand and its helicopter flights inside Myanmar on 10 August and various humanitarian groups have questioned the decision and said that it’s going to make it more difficult to deliver aid. What’s the reasoning behind stopping those flights? Is it the problem is over?

Spokesperson Montas: Well, this is because it is being taken over by maritime transportation and other considerations. It really happens quite often in relief operations; that after the emergency phase is over, that they take other means besides transportation by air.

Inner City Press: Maybe the groups just didn't understand?

Spokesperson: No, it’s not going to stop the flow of aid in any way. It’s going to be simply, right now they are getting into the phase of reconstruction.

And what will the exchange rate loss be during that recovery phase? The Post-Nargis Joint Assessment Final Report asks for $1 billion, while stating in Box 2 said the exchange rate should be reviewed also during the recovery phase. Our point here is that the pressure that countries such as France brought to bear, to get their own humanitarian workers into Myanmar, might have been better exercised in getting the Than Shwe government to back off requiring foreign exchange losses to it, at least in the cyclone's wake.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un11myanmar072208.html