UNreal: At UN, Kingdom of Atooi Claims "Seat 25" and Pitches New Currency, Follow this Money?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, May 20 -- Puerto Rico is debated at the UN as a case of decolonization, but Hawai'i is not. Still on Monday the King or Ali'i Nui of of the Polynesian Kingdom of Atooi appeared at a UN press conference to launch a new currency and encourage people to buy it.

Inner City Press asked three questions: is the King trying to get Atooi inscribed on the list of non self governing territories, as happened May 17 with French Polynesia? The answer was unclear. The king, Aleka Aipoalani, said Atooi already has a seat -- "number twenty five" in the General Assembly, he said.

  What are the benefits of minting your own currency? Will the coins just be worth the weight of the precious metals they're make of, or will there be some sort of sovereignty premium? 

   Here the King deferred to his expert, a man citing "Sovereign Economics" and displaying slides of the coins. Everyone will have their own reasons for buying, he said.

  Finally Inner City Press asked, who is sponsoring this press conference? It's said that only if sponsored by a country or a UN entity is a press conference allowed and televised. (Others come in through the backdoor of UNCA, but these are not on UN Television.) The answer, after a pause, was that the press conference was sponsored by the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

  Only an hour and a half earlier, Inner City Press covered then wrote about a press conference of the PFII, with representative from Kenya, Fiji, Canada and Alaska. This currency press conference felt different. Like we said, follow the money. Watch this site.

Footnote: all this takes place in a UN that wouldn't even distribute the letter of Somaliland, and is purported to "give" its airspace by the Somalia. We'll have more on this.

IMF Advised S. Sudan But Silent on Currency War, Only Monitoring Libya

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, July 21 -- With a currency war now threatened between newly independent South Sudan and the north, and the Contact Group on Libya recognizing the Benghazi-based rebels as the government, Inner City Press on Thursday asked the International Monetary Fund about its role in both countries.

IMF spokesman David Hawley replied, “As you know, South Sudan has applied for membership with the Fund, announced April the 20. Concerning out involvement on currency issues. earlier this year the Fund provided technical advice on currency issue including options on an exchange rate regime and a road map for an orderly introduction of a new currency.”

The introduction, of course, has been less than orderly, with north Sudan threatening to not redeem Sudanese pounds circulating in the South. So what happened?

Hawley continued, “Things have moved on since the time of that technical assistance, advice... We have not been involved in the launchng of the new currency announced this week. Going forward we stand ready to assist the government of South Sudan to manage its monetary policy.”

He concluded, perhaps understandably, “I don't have a specific comment on the currency wars.”

Inner City Press had submitted its questions to the IMF in Washington by computer in New York -- specifically, from a laptop at a table in front of the UN Security Council where both Sudan and Libya are considered. To the reporters in the room in DC, Hawley explained that South Sudan is not a member, but in the context of technical assistance, the IMF can give it to non members of the Fund.

Inner City Press then reiterated a question about Libya it had earlier e-mailed to the IMF, with this new information: since the IMF can assist non-members, now that the Contact Group on Libya has recognized the National Transitional Council as the government of Libya, can the IMF provide the NTC with technical assistance?

Hawley replied, “At this stage the role of the Fund is to closely monitor developments and we stand ready to engage further as soon as conditions allow. But there isn't anything fresh on contacts.” And so it goes at the IMF - which won't have another briefing until April 18 - and in Benghazi and Juba. Watch this site.

In S. Kordofan, UN Says It Can't Move, No Comment on Sudan Currency War

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, July 18 -- Amid reports of worsening violence in Southern Kordofan, not only at the UN peacekeepers there preparing to leave: even while still there, they “cannot move” even if they see war crimes committed in front of them, the UN told Inner City Press on Monday.

Last week outgoing UN Peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy told Inner City Press that while they cannot patrol or use force, if the peacekeepers saw something happen in front of them, they would respond “as humanitarians.”

But Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Martin Nesirky on Monday disagreed when Inner City Press asked for confirmation of Le Roy's statement. “They cannot move,” Nesirky said, “whether you like it or not or whether we like it or not, the United Nations does not have a mandate to operate there.”

If UN personnel present in a war zone are told by the Secretary General's spokesman that they “cannot move,” what does it mean to repeatedly say “never again”? We'll see.

Beyond saying its peackeepers “cannot move” in Southern Kordofan, the UN didn't even have a comment on North Sudan declaring itself ready for a currency war with South Sudan, refusing to redeem billions in Sudanese pounds circulating in the South.

Inner City Press asked for comment, from envoy Haile Menkerios or new envoy to South Sudan Hilde Johnson, but Nesirky said the UN has nothing to say.

So what is the UN's role in and on Sudan? From the UN's July 18 noon briefing transcript:

Inner City Press: In South Kordofan, I understand that a lot of it rides on the Security Council mandate, but there have been over the weekend more and more reporting of bombing, and of surrendering Nuba soldiers. And so,have any of the existing peacekeepers left the area? Are they there? What are they doing? What does the UN say about events in the last 48 hours in South Kordofan?

Spokesperson Nesirky: Well, I think the answer remains the same as last week. Whether you like it or not or whether we like it or not, the United Nations does not have a mandate to operate there. It is something that, clearly, we had wished to be otherwise. And the Secretary-General made very clear that there should not be any vacuum or gap in our ability to monitor what is happening. But that is the case. That is the case. And as for the presence of the troops, the peacekeeping troops there, they are in the process of moving out as they are required to do under this liquidation resolution. But they have not yet fully withdrawn. That’s where we are.

Inner City Press: [inaudible -- per the UN]

Spokesperson: I think it’s very important here to look at the reality. The reality is that the Security Council passed a resolution. The reality is that the Government of Sudan did not allow the mission to continue. Did we want it to be otherwise? Yes, we did. That’s why the Secretary-General went to Khartoum. It’s regrettable that we do not have the ability to do what needs to be done.

Inner City Press: Is it Alain Le Roy, when at the stakeout, he’d said they have no mandate to use force or to patrol, but if they witness things, they will respond as humanitarians. So, have they witnessed anything? Have they responded? He seemed to say that they wouldn’t just sit entirely idly by, that there was some sort of baseline--

Spokesperson: Well, they are not in a position to do that, they are not in a position to move. They are not in a position to move, and that’s the reality. That’s the reality at the moment, okay.

Inner City Press: this just less, less physical violence, but there is this idea of a currency war that South Sudan is creating its new currency and so North Sudan has said it is going to create a new currency and won’t redeem any of the Sudanese pounds that are in circulation in South Sudan. I am just… one, I am wondering if the UN has any comment, and two is, is this the kind of issue that Menkerios would work on or who is there? It seems to be…

Spokesperson: No, I don’t think we have any comment on that at the moment. If that changes, I’ll let you know.

Inner City Press later sent the question to the spokespeople of the International Monetary Fund, which is ostensibly a part of the UN system:

“We've seen the IMF Survey stating on South Sudan that 'the parties have not yet agreed on what will happen with the Sudanese pounds that are currently circulating in the South.' But the deputy governor of the Central Bank of Sudan, Badr al-Deen Mahmood, has said the north is ready for a 'currency war.' Central Bank governor Mohamed Kheir al-Zubeir say said: 'We do not want to buy [the old currency]. We want them to surrender it to us because it is valueless.'

This is a request for the IMF's view of this 'currency war.'

The IMF has a briefing later this week. Watch this site.

UN's Currency Transactions with Myanmar Regime Questioned, UNDP's Two Week Delay, Press Closed Out

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un7myanmar070908.html

UNITED NATIONS, July 9 -- While the UN is now full of praise of Myanmar, it has emerged that UN agencies have been exchanging currency at artificially low rates with the Than Shwe government. Sources told Inner City Press that the UN Development Program, for one, was quietly allowing the Myanmar military regime to profit from each exchange made for local currency to distribute to Cyclone Nargis victims.

Two weeks ago, Inner City Press asked UNDP about what currency exchange rates it has been accepting in Myanmar. The agency's new spokesman committed to provide an answer. After 12 days without information, the question was reiterated, and also posed to UNICEF, which usually provides more timely answers. Inner City Press also asked the UN's Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes about what exchange rates are being accepted. "I'll find out," Holmes has answered. Video here, from Minute 4:34. While admitting he didn't know, he said there are no "dodgy deals" in currency exchange in Myanmar. Video here, from Minute 4:34.

Holmes may well be wrong. Inner City Press' sources tell it that the military government is in fact profiting from post-Cyclone aid, including through the Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank, in which both UN and aid agencies, as well as expatriate Burmese who send remittances to their families, must have accounts. The exchange rate this government-controlled bank gives is lower that the actual, free-market rate; the government pockets the difference.

Even pending John Holmes' answer, some humanitarians have argued that it is worth it to allow the Than Shwe government to steal some percentage of aid, in order to reach needy people. But what percentage is acceptable? And if the UN never discloses it, how and by whom is the decision being made? Watch this site.

Also on Myanmar, while the UN Spokesperson was dismissive of Inner City Press' questioning of whether the Than Shwe government had ordered the UN to stop giving its Nargis relief press conference in Bangkok, and limit them to the friendly confines of Yangon, when Inner City Press put the same question to John Holmes later on Wednesday, he acknowledged that he is aware that the Myanmar government would rather the briefings be held in Yangon. Video here, from Minute 9:33.

When Inner City Press asked him what safeguards are in place that independent media can access the briefings in Yangon, Holmes quipped that he briefs in New York and "you are here." But that's not the point. Is the UN giving in to the Than Shwe government's attempts to control not only currency exchange, but also information exchange?

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un7myanmar070908.html