UNITED NATIONS, February 27 -- The decision to throw Inner City Press out of the UN on February 19, on only two hours notice, was made by Spain's highest UN official, Under Secretary General of Public Information Cristina Gallach. Audio here.
With seeming disdain for due process, Gallach never once spoke to Inner City Press before signing the letter to throw it out, to hear its explanation of why it sought to cover an event in the UN Press Briefing Room three weeks earlier on January 29.
How was such a decision, contrary to due process and press freedom, made by the UN's communication chief? How did she get this job?
When Spain put Gallach's name in contention for the USG DPI position, Inner City Press reported on her and two other short-list candidates, then acting chief Maher Nasser of Palestine and Romania's Permanent Representative Simona Miculescu.
At the time, many said Nasser was the most qualified. But because Saudi Arabia put forward its Deputy Permanent Representative and used the muscle it is showing on Yemen, Iran and now Lebanon to demand support, Nasser was not above to get the support of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) or the Arab Group.
But many said Gallach was the worst interview, and had the least experience. They say - and Inner City Press has a question pending to confirm or deny - that prior to Spain putting Gallach forward to run the UN Department of Public Information with some 700 staff, the largest team Gallach had run had consisted of one-hundredth of that, more like SEVEN people.
In most organization, such a person would never get the job. But this is the UN. Spain was about to take a two-year seat on the Security Council, and the Ban Ki-moon administration has a pattern of doling out high jobs to some of the countries coming on to the Council (less so the African countries), as a way of getting support for proposals it will have before the Council.
And so Gallach, described as underprepared and the “worst interview” of all the candidates, was given the job by Ban Ki-moon. Miculescu was given a consolation prize with the UN in Serbia. Nasser stayed on as a deputy to Gallach, seemingly not consulted even when Gallach, on February 19, decided to have a long time UN journalist thrown to the curb, on two hours notice.
Prior to that - and separately requiring Gallach's recusal - Inner City Press had accurately reported the Gallach hobnobbed at the "South South Awards" with Frank Lorenzo, photo here, just before he was indicted for bribery at the UN.
This is why senior UN officials telling Inner City Press to "stay in touch with Cristina Gallach on this matter. She will keep me informed" is both Kafka-esque and indicative of the UN's inability to clean up or even look into corruption.
There are a number of connections between those indicted for bribery and DPI and its partner in this, the UN Correspondents Association who event in the UN Press Briefing Room Inner City Press was seeking to cover on January 29, on corruption related issues: how indicted Ng Lap Seng was given a photo op with Ban Ki-moon by UNCA, after UNCA took money from Ng's South South News. This has yet to be answered either.
Or perhaps the ouster is the answer.
When Ban Ki-moon imposed his most recent budget cuts, the Department hardest hit was Gallach's DPI. Staff complained she didn't fight for them; those to whom she made presentations in the UN's budget process called her woefully unprepared, “a joke,” one of them said.
But to throw an investigative journalist into the street, without even coat or passport, to refuse to reconsider it even when contacted as Gallach was by such people as Nobel Peace Prize winner Jose Ramos Horta (shedissembled to him), a range of Ambassadors and even, privately and publicly, by the President of the Security Council, is not a joke at all.
When Business Insider wrote about the ouster, published on February 26, Gallach couldn't (be bothered) to give a quote: an unnamed DPI spokesperson said it was fine to throw out Inner City Press without even speaking with it or allowing an opportunity to be heard:
“When contacted for comment, the Office of the Undersecretary General for Communications and Public Information did not deny that Lee had never been questioned over the incident before his pass was revoked. 'In conducting its investigation into the incident on 29 January, [Department of Public Information] reviewed several videos of what happened, including footage that was taken by Mr. Lee and posted on his website,' a representative of the office wrote in an email to Business Insider. 'DPI also spoke at length with the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General and officers from the UN Department of Safety and Security who were in attendance on 29 January. These steps were sufficient to determine that Mr. Lee's actions clearly infringed the guidelines that apply to all correspondents at the United Nations.'”
Inner City Press asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric about this quote; he has yet to answer. In writing, Inner City Press has asked both Dujarric and Gallach about this: but questions submitted back on February 20 have yet to be answered.
UNITED NATIONS, October 12 -- When a press conference on the Central African Republic by Cheikh Tidiane Gadio, Special Envoy of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation for CARand Mansour Ayyad SH A Alotaibi, Permanent Representative of the State of Kuwait to the UN on October 12, Inner City Press went to ask about refugees being able to vote, and about slow responses to peacekeepers' rapes in CAR.
On the former, Cheikh Tidiane Gadio said that efforts are underway in refugee camps where the government dares not go to place polling places in nearby safer places. On the sexual abuse charges, he said Babacar Gaye, whom he knows, was courageous to accept be removed from his position. But what about Gaye's boss, Herve Ladsous, who linked the rapes to “recreation”? See below.
After a long question from, and answer to, CAR's Permanent Representative to the UN who was in the UN press conference, an even longer or at least more impassioned answer was given to a non CAR question: rightly so, Inner City Press believes. But when Inner City Press asked a similar non CAR question, about the level of death in Yemen, Kuwait's Mansour Ayyad SH A Alotaib said he wanted to keep the press conference only about CAR. We'll have more on this.
Three week after UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous linked peacekeepers' rapes in the Central African Republic to "distraction" and R&R, and three days after Inner City Press asked French President Francois Hollande about it, Ladsous appeared for a Q&A stakeout about CAR. Video here.
After asking CAR's foreign minister about refugees' voting rights, and getting an answer as it has throughout the UN General Assembly week, Inner City Press asked Ladsous of an update on the rapes. He gave none. In fact, he had a staffer instruct the UNTV boom microphone operator to move the mic to the other side. As he left, Inner City Press asked about his R&R comment, which in many countries could get him fired. Not at the UN, at least not yet. Vine here.
On October 3, Ladsous' mission in CAR MINUSCA put this out:
"Unidentified armed individuals opened fire in the night of Friday 2 October 2015 on blue helmets guarding the Headquarters of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA). United Nations soldiers vigorously fired back in response to this coward act, forcing the assailants to flee riding a motorbike.
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations in the Central African Republic, Parfait ONANGA-ANYANGA, firmly condemns this attack and reminds that it can constitute a war crime, as per relevant international conventions. He welcomes the quick and appropriate reaction of the blue helmets and encourages them to continue to remain vigilant in the daily discharge of their tasks in the service of peace.
The Special Representative invites the population to remain calm and reassures them of MINUSCA’s determination to pursue its action to protect the civilian population, support the political process with a view to restore state authority throughout the national territory.
The Chief of MINUSCA calls for an immediate halt of violence in Bangui and throughout the country so that reason can prevail and that the wide consultations of the Nation’s Forces Vives as announced by the Head of State of the Transition lead the country to a peaceful and sustainable resolution of the crisis."
After Ladsous fled on October 1, Inner City Press asked CAR's economy minister if there was any legal proceedings against the peacekeepers accused of rape. She said yes, in CAR - then acknowledged that her government does not even have the names of the accused. What kind of legal procedure? The kind where the defendants have no name.
Ironically, Ladsous had talked about accountability in his stakeout - but only for Africans, it seems, not the French troops of Sangaris. He'll do a stakeout on another Francophone peacekeeping mission, in Mali, later on October 1. Watch this site.
On September 28, on the day of the UN Peacekeeping summit at the UN, Inner City Press managed to ask French President Francois Hollande about alleged rapes by French troops in the Central African Republic (CAR) and about French head of UN Peacekeeping Herve Ladsous having linked rapes to “recreation” and R&R. Video here.
Hollande replied that when French troops are charged -- as they have been, in CAR -- France pushes for prosecutions, but also due process. Does that explain the one-year delay in the Sangaris CAR case? The question was not taken.
Later on September 28, Inner City Press went to cover the High Level Meeting on Peacekeeping, and found Ladsous slouched in his hair, wanly applauding pledges then glaring up at the photographers booth where Inner City Press was. Something is very wrong at the top of UN Peacekeeping - until it is addressed, the various commitments ring hollow.
A year after French President Francois Hollande tried to privatize the UN Press Briefing Room by having non-French journalists removed, his team on September 27, 2015 adopted a different strategy for the same result. At 8:40 am the UN said there would be a press conference by Hollande in just five minutes, at 8:45 am. Call it innovation.
Apparently in his press conference, Hollande had many of the seats in the front of the UN Press Briefing Room “reserved” - because Brazil cited this as a precedent for their 11:30 am press conference by Dilma Rousseff (that's another story). France, returning with Hollande for a session scheduled for 2:15 pm, again tried to control spaces in the front rows, as did the old UN Correspondents Association, which ejected a visiting journalist from “its” seat.
And the question for Hollande? For Inner City Press, it would be what actions have been taken on the French soldiers alleged to have raped children in the Central African Republic. Watch this site.
Update: After Hollande came in, two people who had sat next to Inner City Press through the entire Japanese briefing from 1:30 pm got up, to give their seat to Laurent Fabuis and Royale. Then a lady approached Inner City Press, in full view of UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, and told Inner City Press to move, she's a "minister." Inner City Press for the Free UN Coalition for Access said Non, je suis journaliste, je veux poser ma question.
Meanwhile Ban Ki-moon said Peru's President Humala regretted not being present. But he WAS present, next to Hollande. Inner City Press asked Humala about the Trans Pacific Partnership on September 27: watch this site.
Back on September 23, 2014 the entourage of French President Francois Hollande repeatedly ordered the UN accredited Press to leave the UN's Press Briefing Room.
A briefing by Hollande had been scheduled for 11 am, then was canceled. But at 10:55 am as a previous briefing about climate change was ending, Inner City Press was told to leave the room.
The question, On whose orders? was not answered. Instead a woman in the French delegation said the room was "reserved."
This is not a restaurant, Inner City Press replied, now on behalf of the new Free UN Coalition for Access, which advocates for the rights of journalists and for a Freedom of Information Act covering the UN.
Another member of the French delegation said loudly, "They'll take away his accreditation." It was not necessarily an idle threat: the UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric had looked into the room as this happened.
Inner City Press said, if UN Media Accreditation -- or UN Security -- tell me to leave, I will. But not before. Video here.
Meanwhile the representative of the old UN Correspondents Alliance meekly left; previously, UNCA did nothing when previous French Permanent Representative Gerard Araud in this room told a Lebanese reporter, "You are not a journalist, you are an agent."
After a time, the woman from Hollande's entourage said that the chief of UN Media Accreditation, whom she made a point of saying she knows well, was not answering the phone. A French security guard told Inner City Press to leave. But this is not their role, in the UN briefing room.
Finally the French foreign minister Laurent Fabius and the new Permanent Representative to the UN came and sat in the front room with Inner City Press and FUNCA. Hollande appeared from the doorway Spokesman Dujarric had looked out of.
Hollande said he had come mostly about climate change, but that a French citizen had been taken hostage in Algeria by a group linked with ISIL or "Da'ech," as he called the group. He said arms deliveries would continue; he noted the previous night's air strikes, by others, on Syria.
Hollande said he would meet in the afternoon with the Syrian Opposition Coalition's Hadi al Bahra, who he called the only legitimate leader of Syria. Then he left without taking questions.
UNITED NATIONS, June 14 -- 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.
Now the Organization of Islamic Cooperation has scheduled a meeting of its members' foreign ministers about Yemen on June 16 - while the UN facilitated talks in Geneva are supposed to be taking place. This comes amid reports the the UN plane from Sana'a did not include all participants; typically, the UN has remained silent.
Here is the OIC's June 14 announcement:
"The General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has finalized its preparations for the convening of an emergency meeting at the level of foreign ministers on the situation in Yemen, at the OIC headquarters in Jeddah on Tuesday 16th June 2015.
"The meeting, which is being held pursuant to a request from the Government of Yemen coupled with the approval of a majority of the OIC Member States, will consider the situation in Yemen and ways to ensure the return of security and stability there. It is expected that the meeting will be attended by a large number of OIC Member States Foreign Ministers."
The OIC has told the Press that at 3 pm, after their meeting, there will be a press conference.
Back 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 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, January 5, more here-- Days after the UN Security Council rejected Palestine's draft resolution, Mahmoud Abbas met in Ramallah with Secretary General Madani of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation, which on January 5 issued this read-out:
"Madani stated that the OIC is endeavouring action by its contact group of foreign ministers. This includes visits to the capitals of influential countries to convey the message and demands of the OIC vis-à-vis the Palestinian cause and Al-Quds. He further pointed out that the mission of this team has become more urgent in light of the recent vote of the UN Security Council on the draft resolution to end the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories."
So do these "influential countries" which have been visited include the five new members of the Security Council -- New Zealand, Spain, Venezuela, Angola and Malaysia -- as well as, for example, Nigeria? Abbas has indicated that preparations are underway for another vote in the Security Council, now with these five new members.
On January 2 just after the UN accepted Palestine's papers to join the ICC, Inner City Press asked Mansour if the decision has been made to ask for action on Israel at the ICC, and about the CRomnibus appropriations bill provision to cut US funding to the Palestinian Authority if it does so. Video here and embedded below.
Mansour said Palestine has already asked the ICC Registrar for retroactivity to cover the last Gaza war in 2014, and that he would met with a representative of the ICC Registrar, who happened to be in New York, in an hour's time.
On the threatened funding cut, which Senator Chuck Schumer issued a press release about, Mansour said it was strange to punish the Palestinians for seeking justice.
Inner City Press also asked Mansour if Nigeria's absention on the Palestine resolution surprised him. He said to focus on the larger power, and that Nigeria's Explanation of Vote sounded like they had voted Yes.
On the afternoon of December 31, the US State Department's Jeff Rathke, Director of Office of Press Relations, put out this statement:
"We are deeply troubled by today’s Palestinian action regarding the ICC. It is an escalatory step that will not achieve any of the outcomes most Palestinians have long hoped to see for their people. Actions like this are not the answer. Hard as it is, all sides need to find a way to work constructively and cooperatively together to lower tensions, reject violence, and find a path forward.
"Today’s action is entirely counter-productive and does nothing to further the aspirations of the Palestinian people for a sovereign and independent state. It badly damages the atmosphere with the very people with whom they ultimately need to make peace.
"As we’ve said before, the United States continues to strongly oppose actions – by both parties – that undermine trust and create doubts about their commitment to a negotiated peace. Our position has not changed. Such actions only push the parties further apart.
"Every month that goes by without constructive engagement between the parties only increases polarization and allows more space for destabilizing actions. Our efforts should focus on creating an environment for meaningful talks.
"While we are under no illusions regarding the difficult road of negotiations, direct negotiations are ultimately the only realistic path for achieving the aspirations of both peoples. All of us would like to see the day when that effort can resume, and can lead to the peace that we all know is the only real, sustainable answer to the underlying causes of this conflict."
The document is supposed to be filed or deposited with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who is listed as on "annual leave." (Ban's spokespeople have no press briefing scheduled for today.)
The Palestinian resolution which failed on December 30 needed nine "Yes" votes to trigger the expected US veto. It got only eight "Yes" votes, as Nigeria abstained along with the United Kingdom, Lithuania, South Korea and Rwanda.
Afterward, Palestine's Mansour said, "Why have the efforts of the Arab Group, with the full support of the NAM and the OIC and all other friends worldwide, to legislate this consensus through the Council as a contribution towards bringing an end to this conflict through peaceful, political, diplomatic and non-violent means repeatedly blocked?"
The NAM is the Non-Aligned Movement and as Inner City Press noted contemporaneous with the vote, both Rwanda and Nigeria are members of NAM (list here) -- but both of them abstained.
Rwanda's abstention was assumed, including in the Arab Group meeting held earlier on December 30. The abstention of Nigeria, which meant that the United States' "No" vote would not be considered a veto, was something else.
To the surprise of some, Nigeria and its President Goodluck Jonathan were not listed among the calls of US Secretary of State John Kerry. The State Department's spokesperson Jeff Rathke on December 30 said
"In the last 24 to 48 hours the Secretary has made a number of calls to counterparts. Let me give you a list of them. He has spoken with President Kagame of Rwanda; he has spoken on a few occasions with Jordanian Foreign Minister Judeh; he has spoken with the Saudi foreign minister, the Egyptian foreign minister, with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, with the UK foreign secretary, with the EU high representative, Chilean Foreign Minister Munoz, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linkevicius. The – he has spoken, as I mentioned yesterday, with PA President Abbas. He has spoken with the Luxembourg foreign minister, with German Foreign Minister Steinmeier, and with French Foreign Minister Fabius. So by my count, that’s 13 different individuals. Some of them he’s spoken with more than once, so more than 13 calls over the last day or two."
Despite this, it's said that Kerry called Goodluck Jonathan, and that a State Department spokesperson - Rathke? - said it. Where? We continue to wait.
It's reported that while Kerry doesn't list a call to Nigeria, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyau did -- for Goodluck, some say.
Inner City Press after the vote asked Jordan's Ambassador Dina Kawar if the Arab Group intended to put this or another Palestine resolution in front of the new line up of Security Council members entering in two days, with Angola replacing Rwanda and Malaysia replacing South Korea (and New Zealand replacing Australia, which voted no). She said the Arab Group would keep working, but did not say when another resolution will be put forward.
So what comes next? Below, we cover the issue of the International Criminal Court.
A source from inside the Arab Group meeting tells Inner City Press that question - the benefit or not of "making" the US veto - was a major topic in the meeting, but the decision was made by the Arab Group to support the Palestinians' strategy and request for a vote, with the above expectation, at this time.
On December 30 at around 1 pm, Mansour said, “We are happy that the Arab Group on the basis of previous ministerial meetings has considered in a positive and responsible way the request of the Palestinian leadership to put the draft resolution to a vote, possibly this afternoon, if not tomorrow morning, this is related to the readiness of the Secretariat of the Security Council.”
Referring it seems not only to the US but also to the UK, Palestine's Mansour said on Tuesday, “If one party decides for whatever reason that they do not want to go along with this massive support to find a solution to this conflict, to try to save the two-state solution by asking for an end of the Occupation that started in 1967, so that the State of Palestine could enjoy its independence, if a party is not going to go along with this mood, in Europe and in all corners of the globe... it is not for lack of giving time as Arabs, we have been deliberating for almost three and a half months.”
Down in the UN's first basement diplomats from Jordan paced around; the meeting upstairs in the Security Council about Sudan throwing out two more high UN officials was essentially forgotten.
Before the Sudan expulsions meeting on December 30 of the Security Council, for now their last of the year, UK Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant told the press of the Palestine amended draft, “the new text has been circulated but no negotiations have been scheduled and no vote has yet been scheduled, so we wait to see if there will be a vote this year, or next year or not at all.”
On the contents of the resolution, Lyall Grant said “there are difficulties with the text, particularly the language on time scales and the language of refugees. We would have some difficulties with the text. We don't know when the vote will be held.”
Palestine met with the Arab Group at the UN about the pending draft Security Council resolution on December 29. Afterward, Inner City Press asked Palestine's Observer Riyad Mansour and Jordan's Permanent Representative Dina Kawar about US opposition. Video here.
The text of the amended draft is below; six changes include:
New in PP 3 “and to independence in their State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital,”
New PP6 “Recalling also its relevant resolutions regarding the status of Jerusalem, including resolution 478 (1980) of 20 August 1980, and bearing in mind that the annexation of East Jerusalem is not recognized by the international community,”
New PP8: “Recalling the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice of 9 July 2004 on the legal consequences of the construction of a wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,”
New phrasing in OP2: “a just resolution of the status of Jerusalem as the capital of the two States which fulfils the legitimate aspirations of both parties and protects freedom of worship;”
adding the 2 words “and prisoners;”
New 10bis. "Reiterates its demand in this regard for the complete cessation of all Israeli settlement activities in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem."
Less than an hour before the Arab Group meeting ended, at the US State Department briefing in Washington, the Department's spokesperson said the US opposes the draft, and others oppose the draft as well, in part because it “fails to account for Israel's legitimate security needs.”
Update from US transcript:
MR. JEFF RATHKE: "We’ve seen reports regarding Palestinian and Jordanian plans to bring their text to a vote at the Security Council. There are discussions still taking place in New York and we are – and with the Secretary, who has spoken with some of his counterparts, and we are therefore engaging with all the relevant stakeholders. As we’ve said before, this draft resolution is not something that we would support and other countries share the same concerns that we have."
Inner City Press asked, and Mansour replied, “There was a telephone conversation between President Mahmoud Abbas and Secretary of State John Kerry yesterday and I'm sure they discussed all the issues.”
Dina Kawar said the amendments concern “the issue of Jerusalem, and others concern prisoners, water, settlements.” She said, “the Arab Group supports, they have now the copy of the new amendments, we are going to submit today to the Secretariat.”
On timing she said, “If I tell you this week and it happens next week you're going to come back and ask" why.
Dina Kawar and Riyad Mansour on Dec 28, 2104, (c) M.R. Lee
Mansour said on the timing of a vote, “realistically it could be tomorrow or the day after.”
