Brahimi Nears NY, Grumbles from German +1, Nobel Peace Laureate Follies

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, August 22 -- As the UN's first envoy to Syria Kofi Annan quietly starts his final lame duck week in the post, his replacement Lakhdar Brahimi is slated to arrive in New York tomorrow. 

   The non P5 Council members are said not to be happy. When Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin on August 16 announced a meeting the next day of the P5 and some non-Council members, Germany is said have requested that if the meeting took place -- Germany would not be included -- they quickly report back to the full Security Council.

  Ultimately that meeting didn't take place; sources say that the US and United Kingdom were the most adamant about not attending, Turkey less so.

  But what will Brahimi say? He seems to have made peace with Damascus, after being criticized for calling the situation a civil war in one of his many interviews. 

   Wednesday morning in front of the Security Council when Syrian Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari was asked about the comment, he said "it's the media, he was misinterpreted." If you say so.

   Another mis-statement, or mis-report ("it is the media") has yet to be corrected. Brahimi was deemed by a wire service to be a "Nobel Peace laureate." The Nobel Foundation has written to Inner City Press that Brahimi should not thusly be referred to.

  There has been no retraction. One of the other media that ran the erroneous report has written back:

"Your complaint has been noted, and will be forwarded to the relevant department for their 

consideration. We thank you for making use of our services."

  It's not a "complaint" -- it's that the published report that Brahimi is a "Nobel Peace laureate" has been disavowed by the Nobel Foundation itself. The media, which we'll hold off on naming, has been asked to say what is ultimately done. Watch this site.

Brahimi Has 1 Deputy, UN No Answer on Nobel Report, Ban Out to Aug 24?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, August 21 -- After rounds of interviews from his Paris apartment and uncorrected false reports Lakhdar Brahimi is a Nobel Peace laureate, at the UN in New York on Tuesday Inner City Press asked UN spokesman Martin Nesirky two of the three Brahimi questions it had prepared.

  Nesirky began by announcing that Nasser al-Kidwa will be deputy to Brahimi on Syria, as he was to Kofi Annan. Inner City Press asked if that meant that Annan's other deputy Jean-Marie Guehenno, who quit to return to the French government, will not be replaced.

 "I've announced what I have to announce," Nesirky said, turning immediately to another questioner. Video here, from Minute 7:44.

 When Nesirky returned for what Inner City Press had said would be its second Brahimi question, the answer was even more curt. 

  Inner City Press asked about continued media reports that Brahimi is a "Nobel Peace laureate," noting as the Nobel Foundation did in its response to Inner City Press that the UN once received this prize: is the claim based the award to the UN as a whole? (The Nobel Foundation told Inner City Press that this should not be done, click here for that.)

  Nesirky replied, "with the greatest of respect, I'm not responsible for the content of media reports about the Joint Special Representative." Then he even faster than the first time switched to another questioner. Video here, from Minute 9:33. We'll have more on this.

  To other questioners, Nesirky said that Brahimi will be based in New York, and will come to the UN in New York late this week for consultations.

  Inner City Press asked the Permanent Representative of a non-Permanent member of the Security Council, who had heard nothing about it.

  But apparently neither had Ban Ki-moon: as of Tuesday afternoon, Ban Ki-moon's "Daily Schedule" says "The Secretary-General will be away from Headquarters from 21-24 August 2012."

   It was said Ban got back from his Timor and South Korea trip on August 17. It would be nice to ask, but questions are limited, as noted above.

  

 Another question: who is Brahimi's spokesperson? And if as it appears he doesn't have (a good) one, when will it start: August 31?

  How many apologies can Brahimi request, and prizes be reported to have, by then? Watch this site.

Brahimi Is Not a Nobel Laureate, Nobel Foundation Tells ICP, Who Corrects?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, August 19 -- Two days after Lakhdar Brahimi was named Joint Special Representative on Syria and a wire service called him "a Nobel Peace Laureate," and a day after Inner City Press twice questioned this designation, the Nobel Foundation has told Inner City Press that Brahimi "has not been awarded a Nobel Prize and should therefore not be referred to as a Nobel Laureate."

  The Nobel Foundation's public releations manager Annika Pontikis also said that, until Inner City Press' question, no one had asked her this question.

  So the initial wire story wasn't fact checked -- in fact, that Brahimi is not a Nobel laureate is clear from a simple search of the Nobel web site -- and those who ran it did not check either. 

  The "Brahimi as Nobel Peace laureate" phrase continued to proliferate, from Reuters to SABC, Malta Today,Euronews, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, Eyewitness News, Channel 4

  As Inner City Press has previously asked without answer, how are these things supposed to work? 

  There is the media, then there is the source or subject. Should Brahimi, personally involved in his public relations machine, have reached out to correct the inaccurate description of himself receiving a prize he never received?

  Inner City Press before and just after Brahimi took the job wrote that it would be a form of "Nobel Prize lottery" for him - if anything good happens, he might be in line for the Nobel Peace Prize; if not, expectations are low.

  Further lowering expectations, Brahimi did phone interviews: first with French state media France 24, telling them that the UN only cares about helping the Syrian people.

   On August 18 Brahimi called Reuters, which then wrotefor yet another time that Brahami is "a Nobel Peace laureate." 

  Finally, Inner City Press asked the Nobel Foundation "whether former UN official (and incoming Syria envoy) Lakhdar Brahimi was or is a Nobel Peace laureate" and "if others have asked you this." The reply:

From: Annika Pontikis [at] nobel.se
Date: Sun, Aug 19, 2012 at 1:26 PM
Subject: SV: Is Lakhdar Brahimi a Nobel Peace laureate?
To: Matthew R. Lee [at] InnerCityPress.com

Dear Matthew Lee,

As you probably know the United Nations, as an organization, has been awarded the Nobel Prize. This, however, does not mean that persons affiliated to the UN can call themselves Nobel Laureates.

The person referred to below has not been awarded a Nobel Prize and should therefore not be referred to as a Nobel Laureate.

I have not received this question from others.

Kind regards,

Annika Pontikis

   As Inner City Press wrote before this answer, a "Nobelwas given in 1988 to UN Peacekeeping, but if that makes Brahimi a Nobel laureate many others can claim that same prize. So why the designation? We'll wait and see." And now we see. What next? Watch this site.