UNITED NATIONS, June 17 – As the stand-off between Qatar and the GCC and Egypt continues, Inner City Press on June 15 asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric about Qatar pulling its troops out from between Eritrea and Djiibouti - and Dujarric answered about Ethiopia, see below. On June 17, an expert on Qatar's Al Jazeera said the Moroccan offer to mediate "wasn't taken seriously," which when Inner City Press quoted it, pro-Morocco trolls went crazy. Here's that quote, Vine Camera here, and here's the UN's June 15 transcript(video here): Inner City Press: on Qatar, they've announced that they're pulling out of their role on the border between Djibouti and Eritrea, where they've had… which is something the UN has worked on in the past. And I… they… it seems pretty clearly tied to this standoff with the other Gulf countries. Do you have any comment on that? Do you anticipate Qatar pulling back from the role it's played in Darfur? Is there any interplay between the… the… their… their… these diplomatic initiatives and, in the case of Djibouti and Eritrea, the actual imposition of troops between two belligerents?
Spokesman: No specific comment on the issue between Ethiopia and Eritrea. I mean, I think, as we've said, the Secretary-General has been following this closely. He's been in touch with various parties, including the Deputy Prime Minister of Kuwait, and is very much supportive of Kuwait's diplomatic efforts. I think it's important that the subregion regains its unity. The disunity we're seeing, it serves the purpose… serves no one. Go ahead.
Inner City Press: Djibouti. I just want… I wanted to just be clear. I'm asking about Eritrea.
Spokesman: Eritrea. I'm sorry. I misspoke. Yeah.
The veneer that Al Jazeera was not Qatar state TV has been ripped off, with self serving reports from, for example, Georgetown Doha We'll have more on this.
UNITED NATIONS, June 12 -- The UN Secretariat's bungling of Yemen mediation has become ever more clear, according to multiple sources and documents exclusively seen by Inner City Press, see below. But hope springs eternal: on June 6, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced a new round of talks to start June 14.
Then in a statement issued on June 12, the date was pushed back to June 15 --while maintaining a Ban photo op with the Gulf Cooperation Council on June 14. Here's the UN's Note to Correspondents:
"There has been a change in the timing of events related to the Geneva Consultations on Yemen. Due to unforeseen circumstances, one of the Yemeni delegations will now arrive in Geneva on Sunday evening, 14 June.
Therefore, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and his Special Envoy, Ismail Ould Chiekh Ahmed, will begin consultations with the Yemeni delegations on Monday morning, 15 June, 2015.
Accordingly, there will not be a press stakeout by the Secretary-General on Sunday evening, as previously announced. That press stakeout will now take place on Monday morning, after the beginning of the Consultations.
Please note that we still expect that there will be two photo-ops on Sunday afternoon, time to be confirmed, with the GCC and the Group of Sixteen. The press corps covering the Consultations are again invited to the planning meeting in Room III on Sunday 14 June at 13:00, when we expect to announce exact times and procedures."
So both the GCC and the Group of 16 will be there. Who else? Watch this site.
On June 9, Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric a simple question: which Yemeni political parties have been invited to Geneva? Even this, he refused to answer on June 9. Video here.
But on June 10 he returned with a read-out, which Inner City Pressphotographed and Tweeted it and now reports it in its two-sentence full text here:
“Ismael has now said publicly that seven seats have been allocated for both sides and that he expects representatives of the Houthis and the General People's Congress party, as well as the Socialists, the Nasserites and Islah party
“The government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi will also be represented." We'll have more on this.
On June 3, the UN Security Council got a briefing about Yemen from new UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O'Brien. Inner City Press staked-out the meeting and was told that O'Brien would speak. But when he emerged, he begged off.
While perhaps this is because his first week, the Free UN Coalition for Access believes O'Brien should speak on the record, particularly on Yemen at this point (as well as Sudan, Burundi and so forth).
O'Brien did not speak, but Russia's Vitaly Churkin did, including about O'Brien. Churkin said "Mr O’Brien, it’s his first appearance at the Security Council, his account was very graphic, about the humanitarian consequences. Over 2000 people dead, a lot of destruction, the fact that it’s difficult to bring in humanitarian supplies, it’s difficult to bring in commercial supplies. Commercial supplies and the situation in Yemen, it’s also a humanitarian aspect of the whole situation, because it doesn’t include the fuel oil, and without fuel the country cannot function because of electricity and things like that. So, it’s extremely dramatic situation and a strong reason to stop fighting and start seriously to talk, without preconditions, as the statement which we adopted finally last night is pointing out."
On June 2 the UN Security Council has issued a Press Statement calling for the resumption of talks -- on information and belief on June 10 -- in Geneva, without preconditions. Here is the Security Council Press Statement, eights minutes after it was issued:
"The members of the Security Council expressed their deep concern about the grave situation in Yemen. In this regard, the members of the Security Council were deeply disappointed that the consultations in Geneva planned for 28 May did not take place. The members of the Security Council urged Yemeni stakeholders to participate in the UN-brokered inclusive political consultations as soon as possible.
The members of the Security Council recalled Security Council resolutions 2014 (2011), 2051 (2012), 2140 (2014), 2201 (2015) and 2216 (2015), emphasizing the need for a peaceful, orderly, inclusive and Yemeni-led transition process. The members of the Security Council reiterated their demand for the full implementation of relevant Security Council resolutions, and reiterated their call from resolution 2216 (2015) on all Yemeni parties to resume and accelerate UN-brokered political inclusive consultations.
The members of the Security Council reaffirmed their call on Yemeni parties to attend these talks and engage without preconditions and in good faith, including by resolving their differences through dialogue and consultations, rejecting acts of violence to achieve political goals, and refraining from provocation and all unilateral actions to undermine the political transition. The members of the Security Council emphasized that the UN-brokered inclusive political dialogue must be a Yemeni-led process, with the intention of brokering a consensus-based political solution to Yemen’s crisis in accordance with the Gulf Cooperation Council Initiative and its Implementation Mechanism, the outcomes of the comprehensive National Dialogue conference, and relevant Security Council resolutions.
The members of the Security Council reiterated their full support for the efforts of the United Nations and the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Yemen, and further reiterated their request of the Secretary-General to intensify his good offices role in order to enable a resumption of a peaceful, inclusive, orderly, and Yemeni-led political transition process that meets the legitimate demands and aspirations of the Yemeni people.
The members of the Security Council endorsed the UN Secretary General’s call for a further humanitarian pause in order to allow assistance to reach the Yemeni people urgently. The members of the Security Council urged all parties to facilitate the urgent delivery of humanitarian assistance, as well as rapid, safe, and unhindered access for humanitarian actors to reach people in need of humanitarian assistance, including medical assistance. The members of the Security Council called upon all sides to comply with international humanitarian law, including taking all feasible precautions to minimize harm to civilians and civilian objects, including water systems, schools, and hospitals, and to urgently work with the United Nations and humanitarian aid organizations to get assistance to those in need. The members of the Security Council stressed the urgent need for ongoing commercial supplies to enter Yemen because of the heavy dependence of Yemen and its people on imported food and fuel.
The members of the Security Council reaffirmed their strong commitment to the unity, sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of Yemen, and its commitment to stand by the people of Yemen."
Background: Inner City Press has learned how new UN envoy Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed was viewed during his Sana'a trip as a "tool of the Saudis," and how with the UN having thus marginalized itself, the process has moved beyond it to Oman, with involvement of UN Security Council members which still pay lip service to Ould Cheikh Ahmed's shrunken role.
On Cheikh Ahmed's first day in Sana'a, Inner City Press is told, the Houthis let him wait, and stew. When they met him, he was asked why the previously Yemeni-agreed Peace and Partnership Agreement was being dropped, if he wasn't a "tool of the Saudis."
The answer was not convincing. Cheikh Ahmed was said to be asking the Saudis how much time they want, to continue bombing Yemen. Is this was the UN should be, it was asked.
Even Security Council (Permanent) members who say there is no military solution and pay lip service to Cheikh Ahmed's so far unsuccessful work are now working around the UN, through Oman. We'll have more on this.
On May 26, Inner City Press asked UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric,video here:
Inner City Press: on Yemen, since we're on this topic. I mean that sort of goes to the heart of it. Didn't he say there would be no preconditions? So, if the Riyadh conference that the Houthis didn't attend is somehow involved or a basis of these talks…?
Spokesman: I think… we're talking about getting people around the table. That's what we want to see. I'm not going to start to negotiate from here with the different parties.
Inner City Press: Sure. But how about… okay. One's kind of a strange one. I heard something like the children's parliament has been invited and would be flown in at UN's expense. Is that the case? Is it true that either the Yemeni Government or the Saudi side provided a list of accepting candidates under the categories of youth, civil society and women?
Spokesman: I think… I think all the different sides are engaged in… what could we say… a tussle. I think what we need to see is we need to see all of them… all the parties around the table. I don't have any specific information on the children's parliament.
Question: One more?
Spokesman: I'll come back to you.
Some of the UN's bungling is entirely public. Two days after Inner City Press and others reported that the May 28 talks were postponed or canceled, only on the afternoon of May 26 did Ban confirm the postponement. Here is his announcement:
"The Secretary-General has asked his Special Envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, to postpone the consultations in Geneva planned for 28 May following a request from the Government of Yemen and other key stakeholders for more time to prepare. The Secretary-General is actively working to convene the talks at the earliest possible time.
The Secretary-General is disappointed that it has not been possible to commence such an important initiative at the soonest possible date and reiterates his call for all parties to engage in United Nations-facilitated consultations in good faith and without pre-conditions. He also reiterates that the only durable resolution to the crisis in Yemen is an inclusive, negotiated political settlement.
The Secretary-General has instructed his Special Envoy to redouble his efforts to consult with the Yemeni Government, Yemen’s political groupings and countries in the region with the aim of producing a comprehensive ceasefire and the resumption of peaceful dialogue and an orderly political transition.
Noting that the conflict has escalated once again following a much-needed five-day humanitarian pause, the Secretary-General urges all parties to be mindful of the suffering of Yemeni civilians, and to support the efforts of the Special Envoy. He is acutely aware that a postponement or delay in a return to the political process will exacerbate a steadily deepening humanitarian crisis.
The Geneva initiative, aimed at bringing together a broad range of Yemeni governmental and other actors, follows extensive consultations by the Special Envoy as well as strong expressions of support by various Security Council resolutions, including 2216 (2015), for a peaceful and Yemeni-led political transition process based on the Gulf Cooperation Council Initiative and its Implementation Mechanism and the outcomes of the comprehensive National Dialogue Conference. "
On May 24 Inner City Press was informed that the UN already informed the Houthis and other participants that May 28 was off.
But what were and are the Saudis' demands? Inner City Press is exclusively informed by well placed sources that the Saudis demand that the basis -- and constraints -- of the Geneva meeting be the "Riyadh Declaration," reached without any involvement by the Houthis.
The UN already let the Saudis name individuals who would attend under the heading "women, youth and civil society." The GCC and the G14 were to attend -- the deck was already stacked for the Saudis. But they wanted the Riyadh Declaration as the basis (just as they excluded the September 2014 Peace and Partnership Agreement).
Or, as one well place source put it, the Saudis don't WANT a UN process, "they want to keep bombing, either to eliminate the Houthis" - a la Sri Lanka and the LTTE -- or to "make them capitulate and agree to a final meeting in Riyadh."
The Houthis agreeing to that, ever, seems unlikely. It is the UN of Ban Ki-moon that has capitulated. Watch this site.
First the UN allowed US Secretary of State John Kerry to tell it not to dare hold Yemen talks in Geneva on May 11 as the UN had planned, as Inner City Press exclusively reported on May 6.
Now the May 28 talks in Geneva, conveniently after the Houthi-less talks in Riyadh, will be stacked in ways both pro-Saudi and laughable, sources tell Inner City Press.
New Saudi-picked "UN" envoy Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed, who appeared on the podium in Riyadh, has dropped from the list of documents on which the May 28 talks are based the Peace and Partnership Agreement that all Yemeni political parties agreed to on September 21, 2014.
The reason? Saudi Arabia doesn't like what was agreed to at that time: it created obligations not only for the Houthis but also for Hadi. So it is gone.
Update: and now, at least for now, so is Hadi. Despite the May 28 talks being Saudi dominated, Hadi says he won't go unless Security Council resolution 2216 is "fully implemented." And about about the Peace and Partnership Agreement that he signed but didn't implement? We'll have more on this.
Slated for attendance on May 28 are the Saudi-led Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Gulf Cooperation Council currently headed by Bahrain and GCC Secretary-General Abdullatif Al-Zayani - but notably not Iran. The number of seats for the Houthis will be limited.
Who else is slated to go? Causing laughter in diplomatic circle and in Yemen where it is sorely needed, Cheikh Ahmed is angling to fly in the so-called Children's Parliament organized by an NGO in Yemen, as well as their parents and guardians. "Who is paying for this?" one source demanded of Inner City Press.
Inner City Press asked UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric at the UN noon briefing on May 26.
This last step is blamed by the sources on Cheikh Ahmed having little political background. Inner City Press has already reported on his failure while previously in Yemen to protect UN staff -- failure to pick up the armored vehicles from the airport or have the recommended security detail with staff going to the airport, leading to the long kidnapping of a UNICEF staffer.
But even at UNICEF, Cheikh Ahmed was in human resources, not substantive policy. And the Press questions about his fishing business and its funders remain UNanswered. We'll have more on this.
For now, this: Inner City Press is informed that after Cheikh Ahmed's quick visit to Iran, he was summoned back to Riyadh and, highly irregular for the UN, went without his policy "team," not even a note-taker. What might have been discussed?
The UN, we note, routinely refuses to answer Press questions.
Back on April 29, Inner City Press asked the UN's deputy spokesperson to confirm that the UN was considering Geneva as a venue to continue Yemen talks, after its previous envoy Jamal Benomar resigned in protest of Saudi airstrikes and was replaced by a more amenable envoy, Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed.
UNITED NATIONS, May 24 -- The UN's bungling of Yemen mediation has become ever more clear, according to multiple sources and documents exclusively seen by Inner City Press.
From Riyadh, Hadi wrote to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon opposing the scheduled May 28 meetings in Geneva, which were already Saudi top-heavy. And, Inner City Press is informed, the UN already informed the Houthis and other participants that May 28 is off (although as of this publication on May 24 at 9:30 pm in New York the UN has yet to announce it.)
But what were and are the Saudis' demands? Inner City Press is exclusively informed by well placed sources that the Saudis demand that the basis -- and constraints -- of the Geneva meeting be the "Riyadh Declaration," reached without any involvement by the Houthis.
The UN already let the Saudis name individuals who would attend under the heading "women, youth and civil society." The GCC and the G14 were to attend -- the deck was already stacked for the Saudis. But they wanted the Riyadh Declaration as the basis (just as they excluded the September 2014 Peace and Partnership Agreement).
Or, as one well place source put it, the Saudis don't WANT a UN process, "they want to keep bombing, either to eliminate the Houthis" - a la Sri Lanka and the LTTE -- or to "make them capitulate and agree to a final meeting in Riyadh."
The Houthis agreeing to that, ever, seems unlikely. It is the UN of Ban Ki-moon that has capitulated. Watch this site.
First the UN allowed US Secretary of State John Kerry to tell it not to dare hold Yemen talks in Geneva on May 11 as the UN had planned, as Inner City Press exclusively reported on May 6.
Now the May 28 talks in Geneva, conveniently after the Houthi-less talks in Riyadh, will be stacked in ways both pro-Saudi and laughable, sources tell Inner City Press.
New Saudi-picked "UN" envoy Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed, who appeared on the podium in Riyadh, has dropped from the list of documents on which the May 28 talks are based the Peace and Partnership Agreement that all Yemeni political parties agreed to on September 21, 2014.
The reason? Saudi Arabia doesn't like what was agreed to at that time: it created obligations not only for the Houthis but also for Hadi. So it is gone.
Update: and now, at least for now, so is Hadi. Despite the May 28 talks being Saudi dominated, Hadi says he won't go unless Security Council resolution 2216 is "fully implemented." And about about the Peace and Partnership Agreement that he signed but didn't implement? We'll have more on this.
Slated for attendance on May 28 are the Saudi-led Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Gulf Cooperation Council currently headed by Bahrain and GCC Secretary-General Abdullatif Al-Zayani - but notably not Iran. The number of seats for the Houthis will be limited.
Who else is slated to go? Causing laughter in diplomatic circle and in Yemen where it is sorely needed, Cheikh Ahmed is angling to fly in the so-called Children's Parliament organized by an NGO in Yemen, as well as their parents and guardians. "Who is paying for this?" one source demanded of Inner City Press.
This last step is blamed by the sources on Cheikh Ahmed having little political background. Inner City Press has already reported on his failure while previously in Yemen to protect UN staff -- failure to pick up the armored vehicles from the airport or have the recommended security detail with staff going to the airport, leading to the long kidnapping of a UNICEF staffer.
But even at UNICEF, Cheikh Ahmed was in human resources, not substantive policy. And the Press questions about his fishing business and its funders remain UNanswered. We'll have more on this.
For now, this: Inner City Press is informed that after Cheikh Ahmed's quick visit to Iran, he was summoned back to Riyadh and, highly irregular for the UN, went without his policy "team," not even a note-taker. What might have been discussed?
The UN, we note, routinely refuses to answer Press questions.
Back on April 29, Inner City Press asked the UN's deputy spokesperson to confirm that the UN was considering Geneva as a venue to continue Yemen talks, after its previous envoy Jamal Benomar resigned in protest of Saudi airstrikes and was replaced by a more amenable envoy, Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed.
UNITED NATIONS, May 23 -- The UN's bungling of Yemen mediation has become ever more clear, according to multiple sources and documents exclusively seen by Inner City Press.
First the UN allowed US Secretary of State John Kerry to tell it not to dare hold Yemen talks in Geneva on May 11 as the UN had planned, as Inner City Press exclusively reported on May 6.
Now the May 28 talks in Geneva, conveniently after the Houthi-less talks in Riyadh, will be stacked in ways both pro-Saudi and laughable, sources tell Inner City Press.
New Saudi-picked "UN" envoy Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed, who appeared on the podium in Riyadh, has dropped from the list of documents on which the May 28 talks are based the Peace and Partnership Agreement that all Yemeni political parties agreed to on September 21, 2014.
The reason? Saudi Arabia doesn't like what was agreed to at that time: it created obligations not only for the Houthis but also for Hadi. So it is gone.
In attendance on May 28 will be the Saudi-led Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Gulf Cooperation Council currently headed by Bahrain and GCC Secretary-General Abdullatif Al-Zayani - but notably not Iran. The number of seats for the Houthis will be limited.
Who else is slated to go? Causing laughter in diplomatic circle and in Yemen where it is sorely needed, Cheikh Ahmed is angling to fly in the so-called Children's Parliament organized by an NGO in Yemen, as well as their parents and guardians. "Who is paying for this?" one source demanded of Inner City Press.
This last step is blamed by the sources on Cheikh Ahmed having little political background. Inner City Press has already reported on his failure while previously in Yemen to protect UN staff -- failure to pick up the armored vehicles from the airport or have the recommended security detail with staff going to the airport, leading to the long kidnapping of a UNICEF staffer.
But even at UNICEF, Cheikh Ahmed was in human resources, not substantive policy. And the Press questions about his fishing business and its funders remain UNanswered. We'll have more on this.
For now, this: Inner City Press is informed that after Cheikh Ahmed's quick visit to Iran, he was summoned back to Riyadh and, highly irregular for the UN, went without his policy "team," not even a note-taker. What might have been discussed?
The UN, we note, routinely refuses to answer Press questions.
Back on April 29, Inner City Press asked the UN's deputy spokesperson to confirm that the UN was considering Geneva as a venue to continue Yemen talks, after its previous envoy Jamal Benomar resigned in protest of Saudi airstrikes and was replaced by a more amenable envoy, Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed.
UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq replied that “we do not officially have a venue yet. Geneva is certainly one of the venues that is being considered, and that may very well be where it's taking place.”
After that, Inner City Press has learned, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon spoke with US Secretary of State John Kerry, who discourage -- rejected, in essence -- the date of May 11 in Geneva which the UN had put in writing, in multiple documents since seen by Inner City Press.
The UN's argument, tellingly, was the May 11 would work well for Ban Ki-moon's schedule (he would be returning from his May 9 attendance of Victory Day in Moscow) and that the Houthis were more likely, but not certain, to attend in Geneva rather a Saudi selected venue.
In an echo of the UN's failing mediation on Syria, the UN acknowledged that while Iran should attend in Geneva, Saudi Arabia might refuse to attend in Iran did.
And so the UN's idea was a Yemeni-only event in Geneva, with Ban Ki-moon to speak and then leave. New enovy Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed would then conduct consultations -- like Staffan de Mistura is doing on Syria, the UN analogized without apparent irony -- and perhaps move the ongoing talks to Muscat, Oman.
(Involved in all this planning, not surprisingly, has been American Jeffrey Feltman, previously of the US State Department. While a nice enough guy, this combined withFrance's even more open domination of UN Peacekeeping through USG Herve Ladsous, has also caused the UN to increasingly be viewed as partial. The UK controls Humanitarian Affairs through incoming Stephen O'Brien as exclusively reported by Inner City Press, credited byUK Channel 4 and the Telegraph.)
As to the UN's idea of May 11 talks in Geneva, Kerry said no, that the UN should wait until after the Saudi convened event, now set for May 17 in Riyadh. The Houthis, of course, will not attend that. Ban Ki-moon is invited, but might see it smells of failure or partiality.
In any event, while the UN has not announced it South Korean sources say Ban will be in South Korea for four whole days around May 20. (Some say he has an interest in running for office there.)
But if Ismael Ould Cheikh Amhed attends the Riyadh meeting and is put on display on the podium, what possible credibility with or access to the Houthis could he have?
Tellingly, while others have reported the Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed is going to Paris before visting Riyadh, they have not said why. Inner City Press is informed the Paris stop over is at the request or demand of the head of the Gulf Cooperation Council, who is on vacation in Paris. This is today's UN.
(SPA subsequently reported or bragged that Ismael "Wild" Cheikh Ahmed met in Paris with GCC Secretary General Abdullatif bin Rashed Al-Zayani.)
Tellingly, while Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed rushed to Washington DC to meet at the US State Department on May 1, as of the late afternoon of May 5 the president of the UN Security Council had yet to meet Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed.
On April 25, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on April 25 named Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed to replace Jamal Benomar as envoy on Yemen.
Three times Inner City Press had 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 28, Inner City Press asked again:
Inner City Press: I wanted to ask on the new Yemen Special Adviser, Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed, there was this understanding of why on the page of the Secretary-General there's no public financial disclosure.
Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq: Regarding that, we did check with the ethics office, and he has made available his disclosure in line with the existing rules and procedures, and so he is up to date on those. There are times when for… for a variety of different reasons people's disclosures may not be on the website.
Inner City Press: But is he one of the officials that's decided to not make even the summary public? I want… because when the name is listed, there’s a checkbox…
Deputy Spokesman Haq: I've said what I have to say on that, but he has made his disclosures in line with the appropriate rules and regulations.
Inner City Press: And also Stéphane had said that he would check whether a letter was received by the Office of the Secretary-General from a number of parties in Yemen concerning the appointment of this new envoy. Did he do that? Have you received that letter?
Deputy Spokesman: I don't know. This was when?
Inner City Press: It was on Friday, I believe, that I asked him and he said he would check. The reports are that the… a variety of the parties in Yemen wrote a letter about the process of replacing Mr. Benomar. And I wanted to obviously just to know if you got it…
Deputy Spokesman: Certainly… In the day after you asked, we announced the appointment, so that is part of our answer. And with that, let me bring our guest.
So, none of the public financial disclosure which Ban talked so much about. Why not?
On April 24, Inner City Press had 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 has UNtransparently named 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?
UNITED NATIONS, May 6 -- The UN's bungling of Yemen mediation has become ever more clear, according to multiple sources and documents exclusively seen by Inner City Press.
On April 29, Inner City Press asked the UN's deputy spokesperson to confirm that the UN was considering Geneva as a venue to continue Yemen talks, after its previous envoy Jamal Benomar resigned in protest of Saudi airstrikes and was replaced by a more amenable envoy, Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed.
UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq replied that “we do not officially have a venue yet. Geneva is certainly one of the venues that is being considered, and that may very well be where it's taking place.”
After that, Inner City Press has learned, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon spoke with US Secretary of State John Kerry, who discourage -- rejected, in essence -- the date of May 11 in Geneva which the UN had put in writing, in multiple documents since seen by Inner City Press.
The UN's argument, tellingly, was the May 11 would work well for Ban Ki-moon's schedule (he would be returning from his May 9 attendance of Victory Day in Moscow) and that the Houthis were more likely, but not certain, to attend in Geneva rather a Saudi selected venue.
In an echo of the UN's failing mediation on Syria, the UN acknowledged that while Iran should attend in Geneva, Saudi Arabia might refuse to attend in Iran did.
And so the UN's idea was a Yemeni-only event in Geneva, with Ban Ki-moon to speak and then leave. New enovy Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed would then conduct consultations -- like Staffan de Mistura is doing on Syria, the UN analogized without apparent irony -- and perhaps move the ongoing talks to Muscat, Oman.
(Involved in all this planning, not surprisingly, has been American Jeffrey Feltman, previously of the US State Department. While a nice enough guy, this combined with France's even more open domination of UN Peacekeeping through USG Herve Ladsous, has also caused the UN to increasingly be viewed as partial. The UK controls Humanitarian Affairs through incoming Stephen O'Brien as exclusively reported by Inner City Press, credited byUK Channel 4 and the Telegraph.)
As to the UN's idea of May 11 talks in Geneva, Kerry said no, that the UN should wait until after the Saudi convened event, now set for May 17 in Riyadh. The Houthis, of course, will not attend that. Ban Ki-moon is invited, but might see it smells of failure or partiality.
In any event, while the UN has not announced it South Korean sources say Ban will be in South Korea for four whole days around May 20. (Some say he has an interest in running for office there.)
But if Ismael Ould Cheikh Amhed attends the Riyadh meeting and is put on display on the podium, what possible credibility with or access to the Houthis could he have?
Tellingly, while others have reported the Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed is going to Paris before visting Riyadh, they have not said why. Inner City Press is informed the Paris stop over is at the request or demand of the head of the Gulf Cooperation Council, who is on vacation in Paris. This is today's UN.
On April 25, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on April 25 named Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed to replace Jamal Benomar as envoy on Yemen.
Three times Inner City Press had 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 28, Inner City Press asked again:
Inner City Press: I wanted to ask on the new Yemen Special Adviser, Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed, there was this understanding of why on the page of the Secretary-General there's no public financial disclosure.
Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq: Regarding that, we did check with the ethics office, and he has made available his disclosure in line with the existing rules and procedures, and so he is up to date on those. There are times when for… for a variety of different reasons people's disclosures may not be on the website.
Inner City Press: But is he one of the officials that's decided to not make even the summary public? I want… because when the name is listed, there’s a checkbox…
Deputy Spokesman Haq: I've said what I have to say on that, but he has made his disclosures in line with the appropriate rules and regulations.
Inner City Press: And also Stéphane had said that he would check whether a letter was received by the Office of the Secretary-General from a number of parties in Yemen concerning the appointment of this new envoy. Did he do that? Have you received that letter?
Deputy Spokesman: I don't know. This was when?
Inner City Press: It was on Friday, I believe, that I asked him and he said he would check. The reports are that the… a variety of the parties in Yemen wrote a letter about the process of replacing Mr. Benomar. And I wanted to obviously just to know if you got it…
Deputy Spokesman: Certainly… In the day after you asked, we announced the appointment, so that is part of our answer. And with that, let me bring our guest.
So, none of the public financial disclosure which Ban talked so much about. Why not?
On April 24, Inner City Press had 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.
UNITED NATIONS, April 22-- The day after Saudi Arabia said it was ending its campaign of airstrikes on Yemen, the US issued a statement starting:
"The United States welcomes the decision by the Government of Saudi Arabia and its coalition partners to conclude Operation Decisive Storm in Yemen. With this announcement, we look forward toa shift from military operations to the rapid, unconditional resumption of all-party negotiations that allow Yemen to resume an inclusive political transition process as envisioned in the GCC Initiative, the National Dialogue outcomes, and relevant UN Security Council resolutions. We also welcome the United Nations continuing to play a vital role in facilitating the political talks and look forward to the United Nations announcing a location for the talks in the very near future."
So, 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 moving toward 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.
On April 15 Inner City Press reported that despite UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's claims to stand behind the UN's envoy to Yemen Jamal Benomar, who refused to call Saudi airstrikes positive, Ban was planning to replace him.
After that Inner City Press report, the UN Spokesman sent out this a canned statement that Benomar "expressed an interest in moving on" and would be replaced in due course. But by whom?
On April 15, Inner City Press named the name which was floated by Saudi and UN sources, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, and linked to its February 15, 2015 exclusive report on this individual's previous "incompetence" in Yemen, and side fishing business. There is yet more on both of these below.
On April 17, Inner City Press asked Ban's Office of the Spokesperson WHY there is no public financial disclosure for Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, and to confirm or deny he has links with businesses -- fishing - with Gulf funders. The response was, We will check and get back to you. Video here and embedded below.
By April 22 there had been no answer. Meanwhile Hassan Zayd of the Al Haq party wrote on Facebook that Ban should not appoint Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, mentioning corruption and, yes, Inner City Press' reporting, going back to Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed's stints in Libya and before that in Yemen.
So at the April 20 noon briefing Inner City Press asked UN spokesman Dujarric for his response. He said whomever Ban appoints, all sides should speak with. But would they? And with Ban meeting six GCC ambassadors on April 20 at 4 pm, what outreach is there to the other side? It is UNclear. Video here.
Inner City Press is informed that when the GCC ambassador came down from Ban's office, they spoke only in Arabic and not in much detail. Dujarric promised Inner City Press a read-out. Watch this site.
Inner City Press: on Yemen, in terms of trying to find a replacement for Mr. [Jamal] Benomar that can actually speak with both sides, I wanted to ask you, on Friday, I'd asked the spokesperson here about whether Mr. [Ismail Ould] Cheikh Ahmed, why he has filed no financial disclosure online… public financial disclosure… and whether he has a business that's funded by gulf interests and was told we will check and get back to you. So, I wanted to know, now that's Monday…
Spokesman Dujarric: It is, indeed, Monday. That is a fact. When I have something to share with you, I will do so.
Inner City Press: And I wanted to ask whether you're aware of Mr. Hassan Zaid of the Al-Haq party, which has been on and off affiliated with the Houthis has said online that Mr. Cheikh Ahmed is unacceptable and is viewed as being Saudi selected and will not be received by… I just wonder…
Spokesman: I…
Inner City Press: Are you going to consult with the Houthi side with someone…?
Spokesman Dujarric: We are… by answering your question, I am not confirming or denying the person you mentioned as an envoy. What is clear is that any envoy especially in dealing with very difficult political negotiations in what is an active conflict zone needs to be received by all the parties. And we expect that when our envoy is named that he or she will be received and engaged with… with all the parties.
Inner City Press: But I noticed that the Secretary-General was scheduled today at 4 p.m. to meet with the GCC ambassadors. I just wonder, what outreach are you doing to quote the other side that's in Yemen…?
Spokesman Dujarric: I think… contacts are being held at various levels. The meeting with the GCC ambassadors was at their request so we will have to see what message they come with and we will try to get you a readout.
We'll see.
On April 17, Inner City Press also asked if Ban was considering any female candidates and if Ban thought Saudi Arabia would or should have to accept one, if selected. We'll see.
On April 16, Inner City Press exclusively reported another candidate: Martin Kobler of Germany, currently the head of MONUSCO in the DR Congo. Kobler ran for head of the Office of Humanitarian Affairs, but that post "belongs" to the UK, in the person of Stephen O'Brien. Inner City Press' exclusive were credited in the Telegraph and Channel 4. (At least Andrew Lansley was avoided, as Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed should be here.)
Kobler speaks Arabic; as Inner City Press has exclusively reported, some six years ago he was in line to become UN Special Coordinator on the Middle East until a Permanent Five member blocked him (more on that soon), given the job to Robert Serry. Now Kobler is ready. But is Saudi Arabia?
Another name floated by UN sources (also reported exclusively by Inner City Press) is Lisa Buttenheim, currently at the UN mission in Cyprus. Like Kobler, she has more diplomatic experience than Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.
She is a woman. For the UN, that should be a plus, given what Ban Ki-moon has said. But as a well placed sources put it to Inner City Press, if Ban gave in to Saudi Arabia and got Benomar out, will he stand up to an edict NOT to name a woman? Watch this site.
"UNSMIL's former deputy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed of Mauritania has been moved to head UNMEER, the UN's Ebola mission. Sources in Yemen say Ould Cheikh Ahmed was the UN's “designated security official” when a UNICEF staffer was taken hostage while traveling to the Sana'a airport without the required (and needed) security detail. Some say Ould Cheikh Ahmed was distracted, in Yemen and later in Libya, by side business interests.
Now on April 17 we can report: in Yemen UN personnel where to have escort to the airport, and armored vehicles. But designated official Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed allowed the guards he hired to do nothing, and left the armored vehicles in customs. The staffer was kidnapped by a criminal group affiliated with Al Qaeda and was traumatized.
"But a check of Ban Ki-moon's Public Disclosure website, where his officials are supposed to make rudimentary disclosure of the finances and outside business interests, does not even list Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed (while numerous other Deputy SRSGs are listed). His is not in the most recent database, for 2013 - and may escape any disclosure by become an Under Secretary General with a mere nine month stint at UNMEER. Then what? We'll stay on this."
So, no matter how much of a sycophant for the Saudi-led coalition he is, how can he get this post? How can the "P4" support this?
For now, Inner City Press asked this additional question: in Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed's business(es), are there any Gulf investors?
Inner City Press: On Yemen, I’m, I would assume you have seen this report that the Saudi airstrikes killed 31 people in a dairy factory in Hudaydah. They make it pretty clear it may have been an errant missile, but it killed 31 civilians. And I’m wondering, what’s the, is there any comment from the Secretariat on that?
Spokesman Dujarric: Obviously, as we said here, that it is incumbent for all the parties in this conflict to fully respect international law which clearly includes the non-targeting of civilian infrastructure or civilian infrastructure, schools, facilities, civilian infrastructure in general. We have no way of knowing what exactly was the intended target. What we do know is that in many instances, since the fighting has started, civilians are the ones who are suffering, and I think that’s why the Secretary-General wants to see a halt to the violence, restart of the political process, and most urgently, the free flow of humanitarian aid going in. I think we’re seeing the food situation getting dire and dire every day. As our colleagues at the World Food Programme said, you know, when you’re a country that imports 90 per cent of its food is already vulnerable at any time and a time of conflict, that just increases that vulnerability very much so.
Inner City Press: And also on Yemen, I’m sure you’ve seen the reports — I don’t know if the UN is the source of them — floating Mr. Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed as a possible replacement. What I want to ask, I know you’re not going to say yes or no, but given he was so recently appointed to UNMEER, can you say that whoever’s working on Ebola will probably stay in that job? Or—
Spokesman: I think, you know, whenever there’s a senior vacancy at the United Nations, a lot of things float, a lot of names float around. When we’re ready to announce, we will announce. Obviously, the Ebola file is one of, it’s very important to the Secretary-General and to the United Nations, but when we’re ready to announce somebody, we will
