After UN Department of Public Information Ousts Inner City Press, UN Staff Union Says Restore Office & Full Pass

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, February 26 -- After Inner City Press was summarily ejected from the UN, which it has covered for ten years, on February 19, the ostensibly deciding official Cristina Gallach told no less than Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jose Ramos Horta that Inner City Press would still be able to cover the UN.

What she didn't say was that Inner City Press' ability to cover the unfolding UN corruption scandal in which she has played a role would be curtailed under the proposed arrangement - by design.

  Because as a working journalist it needed access to cover the February 25 UN Security Council meeting about North Korea, and only in connection with filing a lawyer's letter telling Gallach and the UN not to touch Inner City Press' office or files, Inner City Press late morning entered the UN with a so-called "Green P" non-resident correspondents pass.

  At the stakeout, after covering five separate Security Council consultations, Inner City Press asked the President of the Security Council for February, Rafael Ramirez of Venezuela, about one of them, and what he thought of the UN's commitment to free press.

"I hope you find your office," the President of the Security Council said. Video here. So who is Cristina Gallach? Another Security Council Permanent Representative told Inner City Press what Gallach did, ousting the Press without due process, was "outrageous."

On February 26, the UN Staff Union's 45th Staff Council adopted and issued a Bulletin calling for the UN to immediate restore Inner City Press to possession of its office and to ensure these abuses not happened again. Full text here; excerpts below:

"The 45th Staff Council of the United Nations Staff Union expresses its solidarity with Mr. Matthew R. long-time journalist of Inner City Press who was summarily stripped of his credential and physically thrown out of United Nations premises by security personnel, reportedly on the instructions of the Under-Secretary-General of the Department of Public Information.

It is shocking and dismaying that at the United Nations, as a beacon of all freedoms enshrined in its Charter, the Administration would blatantly eject a member of the press corps assigned to report on events at the Organization, in an attempt to muzzle and intimidate. Such actions, reminiscent of tendencies seen, sadly, in too many parts of the world, have no place at the United Nations. They are inconsistent with the purposes and principles of the United Nations, which include safeguarding the rights of all peoples and ensuring due process, transparency, accountability and the freedom of the press.

It is inconceivable that the United Nations Administration would seek to silence a member of the press and limit his or her access and ability to report on events at the world Organization, and all the more so given the lack of due process and the manner in which Mr. Lee was treated, simply because Administration officials feel they can do so without any consequences. The actions by the Administration demean all of us, and they demean and undermine the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. Any potential disagreement, misunderstanding or other matter surely can be resolved —here of all places.

It should be recalled that this is not the first time that Administration officials have exhibited less than democratic tendencies. Since the December 2013 elections for the staff representatives to the 45th Staff Council, the Secretary-General has to this day refused to grant facilities and time release to the elected staff representatives on the pretext of an undisclosed “dispute” and, perhaps more disturbing, because he feels that he can. For the Administration to arbitrarily act as if staff elections had not happened is deeply troubling and reflects what seems to be a growing trend at the Organization.

The 45th Staff Council stands for the freedom of the press and the right to due process. Among other crucial principles, these are fundamental to the functioning of a free society and to the achievement of the free, fair and equitable world all of us are working for — Staff, Administration and Member States.
The Staff Council calls for the immediate return of Mr. Lee’s Resident Correspondent credential and forthe Department of Public Information to restore him to full possession of his office space, which he uses to report, immediately and, in any event, not enter his office or touch any files in the interim, as well as to lift any restrictions imposed on the performance of his duties and the conditions of his accreditation. The Staff Council stands united with Mr. Lee and the entire United Nations press corps, and respectfully calls on the Secretary-General to ensure that such a situation does not recur at the United Nations."

Inner City Press Re-enters UN With Legal Letter & 2 Questions, On Use of Force, No Due Process

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, February 25 -- After Inner City Press was summarily ejected from the UN, which it has covered for ten years, on February 19, the ostensibly deciding official Cristina Gallach told no less than Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jose Ramos Horta that Inner City Press would still be able to cover the UN.

What she didn't say was that Inner City Press' ability to cover the unfolding UN corruption scandal in which she has played a role would be curtailed under the proposed arrangement - by design.

  Because as a working journalist it needed access to cover the February 25 UN Security Council meeting about North Korea, and only in connection with filing a lawyer's letter telling Gallach and the UN not to touch Inner City Press' office or files, Inner City Press late morning entered the UN with a so-called "Green P" non-resident correspondents pass.

  At the stakeout, after covering five separate Security Council consultations, Inner City Press asked the President of the Security Council for February, Rafael Ramirez of Venezuela, about one of them, and what he thought of the UN's commitment to free press.

"I hope you find your office," the President of the Security Council said. Video here. So who is Cristina Gallach? Another Security Council Permanent Representative told Inner City Press what Gallach did, ousting the Press without due process, was "outrageous." We'll have more on this.



  With this reduced access pass Inner City Press would later get locked into the Security Council stakeout, trying to edit video while a Zamboni-like vehicle loudly vacuumed the stakeout. But even before that, even from inside, this photo of UN double standards



 At the day's noon briefing, after asking of Burundi, Western Sahara, Darfur and the UN corruption scandals, Inner City Press asked Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Stephane Dujarric two simple question, to which he said #AskGallach. From the UN transcript:

Inner City Press: I'd like this to go smoothly, so I'll do it really quickly.  I noticed that on Monday, when I was not able to attend the briefing, that you had a little Q&A about my accreditation status.  So, I just want to state one thing very briefly.  A legal letter has been received by DPI [Department of Public Information] to not touch my office, not touch any of the files, but I need to cover the meeting this afternoon.  I'm just stating that, because I thought it was inappropriate.  But, my question is as follows:  Is it common UN practice to… to tell a journalist to leave the building and give up Resident Correspondent status without ever once speaking to them?  Is that considered an investigation?  What is the lowest standard that the UN can go to to have something to be considered a review of the facts?

Spokesman Dujarric:  I would encourage you to direct all those questions to Ms. [Cristina] Gallach and to DPI.

Inner City Press:  I have one more question.  What are the rules for the use of physical force by UN security?  Because on Friday evening, I was pushed down the escalator and into the street, and my laptop was thrown on the street, and I… and I was offering absolutely zero physical… physical… so I wanted to know what is the recourse for someone to whom this happens?  That's my question.

Spokesman:  I would encourage you to raise all these issues having to do with your accreditation, your treatment, and so forth to Ms. Gallach.

Question:  What are the rights of people not to be pushed by UN security?

Spokesman:  That's… that was my answer to your question.  Thank you.

  Wait - so the UN has no protocols on the use of force? Or DPI's Gallach is in charge of the use of force, and ordered it?

Inner City Press is opposing all this.

  And so now are a range of people from around the world, who have signed a petition to immediately restore Inner City Press to the UN Resident Correspondent accreditation it had for nine years until, without any due process, the UN pass was physically torn from its chest as UN Security throw its laptop onto the sidewalk in front of the UN (also owned by the UN and immunity from US law including the First Amendment).

Here are just some of the comments of those signing the petition directed to Ban Ki-moon:

UN cover-up artists are taking advantage of the dying months of Ban Ki-moon's tenure to remove a thorn in their side, because they are worried the new SG won't want to start out with a fight. -James Bone, Shelter Island Heights, NY

ICP has been the only voice for the oppressed in #Burundi, #Haiti & #Yemen at #UN. -Eloge Tinya, Lagos, Nigeria

Innercitypress is the voice of many oppressed Burundians and many Africans under dictatorship. I have decided to stand with the oppressed and not the oppressor, UN needs to practice what it preaches by setting free innercitypress to do his work! -Lievin Manisha, Pineville, LA

ICP asked questions that will bring clarity on the agreement the Prime Minister of Dominica signed in Macau on August 25, 2015 together with Ng Lap Seng and a UN official. -Hon. Hector John, Salisbury, Dominica

I am signing for UN to restore Matthew Lee Inner City Press right to access to the UN as a Resident Correspondent to question authorities because it is the fundamental of free speech as the UN preaches to other countries it must first practice itself to set example. -Smret Kibrom, San Gallo, Switzerland

Freedom of press. -Prem Kumar, India

innercitypress defends the human rights of Burundians and help to avoid genocide, please free innercitypress! - MICHAEL Tim, London, United Kingdom

I'm signing because the barring of access to Mr. Lee appears to be at worst motivated by a reluctance to engage with and continue to receive the probing questions he asks, and at best the result of a petty personal vendetta based on unprofessional antipathy towards Mr. Lee by the 'respectable' wing of the United Nations press corps. -Marlon Ettinger, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY

I am signing this petition for Matthew Russell Lee and Inner City Press be restored to the shared UN office and Resident Correspondent accreditation they have had for eight years prior to this pretextual incident. It also requests, as does the Free UN Coalition for Access that Matthew co-founded, that an investigation be launched into how all of this occurred. Moreover to call for aggressive investigative journalism at the UN and to tell the leaders of the UN that the UN, too, must live up to the principles of due process and freedom of the press. -Martha Fassil, New York, NY

Comment l'onu peut agir de sorte alors qu'ils sont comme meilleur modèle de la démocratie, je garde espoir qu'on aura un jour un vrai dirigeants de l'onu pour tous. -Steve Ndacasaba, Montréal, Canada

I'm signing cause, want a real journalist who tells it like it is. No agenda but the truth. I am supporting him for standing up for UN bully. -Paulos Welday, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Han er en journalist som forteller sannheten til verden.
Mussie Tesfay, Oslo, Norway

UN should walk the talk. Practice what you preach - rule of law, democracy, freedom of expression, of press. Reinstate ICP Mathew Russell Lee to full resident reporter. -Seble Ephrem, London, United Kingdom

we need a voice for africa
redae medhane, Kitchener, Canada

Incredible. This banning is the exact opposite of the transparency and accountability that the UN should be defending for all institutions. This must be reversed.
Denis Rancourt, Ottawa, Canada

ICP is the most reliable source of information at the UN. The other corporate media are controlled by the special interest groups. Thus their journalistic integrity is always suspect. ICP is voice of the voiceless - of course unlike the UN and its sponsors and financiers. -tsehaie mahary, edmonton, Canada

I express my solidarity with Mathew, God bless you friend
Mohamed MAYARA, El Aaiun, Western Sahara

Matthew Lee has been a lone voice asking the difficult questions in the UN press gallery. -Martin Field, Geneva, Switzerland

I have seen Matthew only defending the truth. He is a journalist with a genuine journalist ethics. He is also the one of the most intelligent and courageous journalist. He is a model how other journalist should be. He should be given a noble prize for what he does not get banned from the UN. -Yacob Woldehiwot, London, United Kingdom

The UN cannot be dismissive of new media as people get their news from new media.The UN cannot pick and choose media persons according to their whims and fancies. -soraya patel, India

Shame on UN. -ibrahim alhaifi, Sanaa, Yemen

I believe this is censorship of the press. Shameful. -Douglas Smith, New York, NY

I believe this is censorship of the press. Shameful. -Douglas Smith, New York, NY
I'm signing because I believe in ICP to bring balance to the reporting of UN activities around the globe. I also believe in the ability of Lee to investigate, without fear or favour, to keep the UN reputation intact. -Saare Tsehaye, London, United Kingdom

Because this is censorship on free press. Inner City stands for Truth, Justice & Peace !!! -Aman Kubrom, Frankfurt, Germany

How can the UN be so ridiculous?
Feridun Akpinar, Turku, Finland

For Truth & Transparency, there must always be those who Question more. -Auet Melache, Bolton, United Kingdom

I am signing because UN is being unfair and need to take some responsibility. -Lynda Charles, Boynton Beach, FL

He's credible and follows the ethics of journalism to the fullest. -Amanuel Tseggai, Stone Mountain, GA

We need the alternative,independent and investigative media to be present everywhere. -Marja Konttila, Solna, Sweden

I demand the U.N. unconditionaly and ASAP to restore access to Inner City Press`Matthew Russell Lee to the U.N. as a Resident Correspondent. -johannes abraham, Germany

I believe in press giving independant views on ignored issues
Cyrilla Bwakira, Johannesburg, South Africa

Ban is a tool. -Michael Klett, San Francisco, CA

InnerCity Press has been very professional and a life saver. His reports on different issues around the world helped uncover certain hidden truths. If Ban was in #Burundi 2 days ago, I can say it is mainly because of his persistence of bringing Burundi to light from the repression of de facto president
Manirambona Juma, Kirundo, Burundi

Matt spells out the truth and exposes the games protecting the outdated system for what it currently is.Matt actually supports the principle of the UN, those within it, support themselves. -Andy Wren, Littlestone, United Kingdom

Weil ich sihe das innercity einsige unabhengige median vetretete vor
Stimmenloss. -Iassu nugusse, Germany

Matthew Russell Lee, founder of the Inner City Press, is a veteran investigative journalist I have relied upon on UN news for the past six years. He is truthful, and pursues truth in reporting tenaciously and with integrity. We need more journalists like him at the UN to keep us informed. He and his Inner City Press must be reinstated as a fully accredited resident journalist to the UN. -Elias Amare, San Rafael, CA

We need unbiased and impartial reporting from the UN. -David Macilwain, Australia

Does the UN have something to hide? The UN is also obligated by the same principles and norms it preaches. I demand the UN to reinstate Matthew Russell Lee to his desk so he can do what he does best- pure journalism. He is the only honest journalist at the UN compound and being the voice of the voiceless. -Daniel Berhe, Seattle, WA

I am signed because ICP thrown out on the street by the decorator of UN media Personnel with out his belongings Shame UN. -Yakob Tesfaye, Edmonton, Canada

I am signing this because I want to learn about the corrupt UN security council.
TEKLU BAHTA, NORTH CHICAGO,

I respectively ask UNSG and Mr Ban ki-moon to reture Matt to his post us a dedicated reporter in the UN. I have a huge respect for the guy. It would be a travesty of justice if a reporter like matt is out the office of the biggest office in the world when we need a reporter of such kind. -Kibrom tekeste, berkeley, CA

I'am signing because I believe in freedom of speach and Free Press Reporters/Journalists. -Ndayizeye APOLLINAIRE, Gatineau (Hull), Canada

The UN repeatedly acts like human rights protections apply to everyone but themselves. -Betsey Chace, Cambridge, MA

Matthew is the only bona fide journalist reporting on UN. He alone is rectifying the defects created by system of diplomatic immunity. Why makes his job harder? Do you have something to hide from him? He makes UN a more acceptable organization and indeed, by genuinely reporting he makes this world a better place. -T Chan, London, United Kingdom

I am signing for UN to restore Matthew Lee Inner City Press right to access to the UN as a Resident Correspondent to question authorities because it is the fundamental of free speech as the UN preaches to other countries it must first practice itself to set example.
Sara Haile, Alexandria, VA

Matthew Lee is, far and away, the hardest-working and most dogged of any journalist at the United Nations. His arbitrary expulsion is both outrageous and a reflection of the fact that things are not as they should be at the United Nations, and certainly not what YOU would expect. - alberto martin, New York, NY

He is the best one, for the world in the UN which tells us the truth. So if he is out of his work then the UN only remains with out the truth.
ghebreyohanis michiel, bachenbülach, Switzerland

Burundi medias burned by violent/genocidaire regime;our genuine source of information from UN was ICP:fair,not sided.Pls,Reestablish ICP in its rights!
Ange Nganji, Bujumbura, Burundi

I'm signing because I believe in the freedom of the press. I often reads Matthew Lee's work which reports on difficult topics and events that need covering and exposure. He should be reinstated at your earliest convenience.
Rebecca Myles, New York, NY

I'm signing because I'm an advocate for real, independent journalism and condemn the UN's decision to remove Inner City Press's access based on a nonsensical pretext! -Hermon Gebrai, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom

I appreciate Inner City Press' persistent and prepared journalism at the United Nations. -Brian Concannon Jr., Marshfield, MA

Freedom of the press. -Luiz Rampelotto, New York, NY
18 hours ago

The UN needs to be held to standards of openess, transparency and freedom of the press. -Samuel Horton, Silsden, United Kingdom

Lee should not have been expelled, it's a disgrace to the UN. -Richard Johnson, Potomac, MD

It's unfair to throw someone out like that with out hearing from his side of history. -Hermon Tsegay, Slough, United Kingdom

Such a crck down on media in an organization promoting freedom of speech and information is really awkward and clearly disgraceful and unacceptable. -Florent Nduwayo, Kibungo, Rwanda

This is another in a long line of incidents conclusively evidencing the UN's complete and utter disrespect for the laws of its HOST country, the US, in particular the 1st amendment!! UN IMMUNITY = IMPUNITY--END IT NOW!! Journalists are the ultimate whistleblowers, and I am well aware of how UN whistleblowers like Mr Lee are persecuted and suffer grievous harm at the hands of rogue UN officials. The treatment of Mr. Lee is an outrage.

How ironic this has happened just as the US House Committe on Foreign Relations is today, on 24 Feb, holding a hearing about the gross mistreatment of whistleblowers at the UN and WIPO. Congress must act now to cut off 15% of US appropriations to the UN this year on account of its failure to protect and encourage UN whistleblowers like Mr Lee, as provided for in US law, as it already did to WIPO!! -ted beacher, Geneva, Switzerland

ICP is doing a great job. UN should support,respect and promote free speech. -Kalu Thapa, Kathmandu, Nepal

There are more...

 But the UN Correspondents Association, at least its 15 Executive Committee members, issued a February 22 statement in context fully supporting the throwing of Inner City Press into the street, the seizure of passport, the Banning, all of it. We wonder if these scribes' employers know about this.

  For now we reiterate the obvious: the UN Press Briefing Room is presumptively open to all press. If Spokesman Dujarric, or DPI's Gallach, wants to lend it to their friends, at least provide a notice so journalists hungry for news don't get excluded and get nothing.

On Haiti, Inner City Press Asks Venezuela Ambassador Ramirez of UN Silence, He Worries of Coup, Cites CELAC

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, February 12 --  The UN and its MINUSTAH mission in Haiti have been quiet but broke radio silence on February 6, to "note with concern the organized presence of several tens of people in green uniforms, some of them armed." To this has the UN in Haiti been reduced. 

On February 12, the President of the UN Security Council for February, Rafael Ramirez of Venezuela, held a Q&A session at the Venezuelan Mission to the UN; Inner City Press asked about Haiti (as well as Yemen, Western Sahara and tranparency). As fast transcribed by InnerCityPro.com:

Inner City Press: You mentioned Haiti – I haven’t seen the Council do anything. Is there any movement?

Amb. Ramirez: As you know CELAC was there. Our foreign ministers – Venezuela, Ecuador, and another from the Caribbean, Bahamas.. were there.  In our national capacity, we are really worried about Haiti because it’s like they’re changing the constitution to displace Martelly and now a provisional president, and that happened before in Haiti, it was very wrong. We ask to respect the constitution of the country and we expect to have very soon a new election to follow the rule of law, and not more social conflict. Haiti has a lot of problems, and they suffered a lot of political interference from many years ago. The most important is political stability. We are worried to have some kind of coup d’etat, maybe a parliamentary coup d'etat, something like what happened in Paraguay or in Honduras. That process is no good. We know very well that country and that people they are suffering a lot of interference in their political issues. I prefer to wait for CELAC's work to have some reaction from the Security Council.

  Watch this site.

  When the UN of Ban Ki-moon is asked about bringing cholera to Haiti, the answer is usually, “Our position remains unchanged” -- that is, immunity. But when Inner City Press on January 28 asked about a new study that inexpensive precautions could have saved Haitian lives, and could still save lives elsewhere, the UN replied with... a link to a report, Appendix 12 no less. Video here.  From the transcript

Inner City Press:  There's been a pretty detailed study put out by the Yale School of Public Health looking back at the introduction of cholera to Haiti.  And beyond, you know, finding… you know, they believe that it was brought by the UN, this is the part I wanted to ask you about.  They were saying that there's very simple strategies that could be deployed, would have saved lives and would in the future including antibiotic, prophylaxis at a cost of $1 per peacekeeper a week before deployment or screening at a cost of $2.50 per peacekeeper, but they say in their study that neither of these are in place at UN peacekeeping.  Can you… I guess I'm asking you, beyond… you know, the position hasn't changed on Haiti.  Just as a position of UN peacekeeping, given that these highly respected doctors are saying that these very cheap prophylactic measures could save lives, if they're not implemented at the UN, why not?

Spokesman:  Let me take a look at the study, and I'll get back to you.

 And later, this, from the Office of the Spokesperson:

Please see below on your questions at today's Noon Briefing:

1) We refer you to the 2014 Contingent Owned Equipment manual (link below-- please see appendix 12)

http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/documents/2014_COE_Manual.pdf

This says in part, "It is a national responsibility (and at national expense) to ensure that all personnel have received at least the initial dose of mandatory and recommended vaccinations before deployment into the mission area."

  We'll have more on this.

 The UN of Ban Ki-moon marked the six anniversary of the Haiti earthquake with a statement on January 11 mentioning the “lack of access to clean water and sanitation,” but without a word on the cholera that the UN brought there in the earthquake's wake.

   Two UN Police died in Haiti from December 29 to 30.   The announcement of the deaths came on the website of the MINUSTAH mission. 

 Inner City Press asked the UN Spokesperson's office in New York, where UN Peacekeeping is headquartered, for more details but was only referred to the MINUSTAH press release, which did not say the nationality of the decedents (Rwandan) nor their gender (both women). And there has been nothing since, just as the Office of the Spokesperson has not confirmed or denied that UN Peacekeepers in Liberia beat a 13 year old child. 

Five years after the UN brought cholera to Haiti, for Human Rights Day, the UN Security Council got letters from 2,000 victims of its peacekeeping mission in Haiti, MINUSTAH. Inner City Press on December 10, Human Rights Day, asked UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq, video here, transcript here: 

Inner City Press: On Haiti, I wanted to ask you, there were… there were two, some 2,000 letters of victims of cholera that were supposed to be delivered today to MINUSTAH [United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti] in Port-au-Prince.  They’ve also been put online to be read, and the request by those turning them in is that they be turned over by MINUSTAH to Security Council members.  And they asked for the Security Council to urge Ban Ki-moon to take responsibility for the introduction of cholera to Haiti and two other points.

Can you comment on the letters?  I understand that the legal position remains the same, but factually, have these letters been received?  And will MINUSTAH or DPKO [Department of Peacekeeping Operations], in fact, transmit these victim letters to Security Council members?

Deputy Spokesman:  Well, we need to check, first of all, whether the letters have been formally received by MINUSTAH, and so we’d have to check on that. 

TWENTY FOUR hours later, there was NOTHING from the UN. So on December 11, Inner City Press asked again: transcript here: 

Inner City Press: On Haiti, yesterday I asked you about these letters that the lawyers suing the UN for having brought cholera to the country.  They say they were delivered to MINUSTAH and you said you'd check to see if they've been received.  Have they been received?

Deputy Spokesman:  Yes, we can confirm that they have been received, and I believe the mission is exploring what to do next with that. 

 We'll have more on this.

The cover letter, seen by Inner City Press on December 9 and now online here, asks each of the Security Council's 15 members to

1. Publicly call on the UN Secretary-General to acknowledge UN responsibility for introducing cholera to Haiti and apologize to the Haitian people;

2. Commit to creating a fair framework for providing reparations to victims, and to providing the funds needed to compensate victims. This would fulfill the UN’s international legal obligations and ensure that victims’ right to a remedy is finally recognized;

3. Provide the resources needed to install the water and sanitation infrastructure necessary to eliminate cholera in Haiti. The UN announced its support for plan to eliminate cholera in Haiti in 2012, but the plan has received only 13% of the funding needed. Fundraising hasbeen stalled for over one year. During this time cholera infection rates have increased. 

  The cover letter is signed by Inisyativ Victim Kolera Sodo (IVIKSO), Asosyasyon Viktim Kolera Boukan Kare (ASOVIKBO), Òganizasyon Vikim Kolera nan Mibale (OVIKMi), Gwoupman Viktim Kolera Lachapèl (GVIKLA). 

 On December 9 at the UN there was a canned discussion of Ban Ki-moon's “Rights Up Front,” formed after another failure, in Sri Lanka. But this all gets erased, even as the UN barely acts amid the killings in Burundi. Impunity, as with the rapes and cover up in the Central African Republic. And now 2,000 letters from Haiti. Will there finally be some accountability?

Back on October 14, on the morning the UN Security Council was poised to renew its MINUSTAH mission's mandate without taking any responsibility for cholera, the portraits of the diseases (and the UN's) victims were placed outside the UN's 43rd Street entrance. 

Inner City Press tweeted a photograph, witnessed the Security Council extending the mandate of its MINUSTAH mission in Haiti 15-0 with no comments before or after...

   On a daily basis across from the UN's 43rd Street entrance stands a Haitian journalist; Inner City Press' requests to the UN including former spokesperson Michele Montas to get him re-admitted fell on the UN's deaf ears. Now he wants to know the prospective Haitian military force's size.

  Ban Ki-moon dodged service of legal papers; his spokespeople answer every Press question with the same answer, “Our position hasn't changed.” Well, it should. Now Ban is embroiled in a corruption scandal in which business interests from Macau were able to purchase revisions by the Secretariat in official UN documents. But the UN's Haitian victims are outside the gate. 

On Western Sahara, Inner City Press Asks Venezuela's Ambassador Ramirez of Referendum, He on France, Spain

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, February 12 -- After the UN Security Council convened for a closed door meeting about Western Sahara on February 10, Inner City Press asked the Council's President for the month, Venezuela's Rafael Ramirez, if the already once delayed visit by Ban Ki-moon is now "on." 

  Ramirez said that a visit before the Security Council conducts its April review of Western Sahara is desirable. To the side of the stakeout as he spoke, a number of Moroccan diplomats stood watching; one it seems was intent that the Polisario representative not be allowed to speak at the UNTV microphone. (That did not happen.)

 On February 12, Ramirez held a Q&A session at the Venezuelan Mission to the UN. Among other questions, Inner City Press asked again about Western Sahara, including if Ban can visit by April, and the UNSC's so-called Group of Friends. As fast transcribed byInnerCityPro.com:

Inner City Press: And on Western Sahara, can Ban get there by April? Etc

Amb. Ramirez:  about Western Sahara, Morocco has persistence in a diplomatic way, but the Security Council will have a consensus to support the Secretary General because he has the intention to visit Western Sahara. He’s never been there. He has to go, to visit our mission there. It’s very important that the special envoy [Christopher] Ross be approved to go to Western Sahara also. That issue we have to consult... The main resolution refers to the referendum. That’s 25 years trying to prepare some referendum about Western Sahara, and nothing happens. And you know, Venezuela will be chair of the [Fourth] committee about decolonization...

[Follow up on Spain] A: Spain has a lot of responsibility on this question. And when you go to Tindouf,  everybody speaks Spanish. Spain has to help a little bit more. We’re expecting to have this report to help the Secretary General.

 We have the mandate for a resolution, asking for a resolution. And we have to do. We are insistent. Morocco is proposing some kind of alternative. No... the Sahrawi people have to decide.

[Follow up on France] A:  France is pretty close to Morocco. We expect them to move...

  On va voir.

 On February 11, Inner City Press asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric, UN transcript here:

Inner City Press: On Western Sahara, there's been a statement by the President of the Republic or head of Polisario asking the Secretary-General to ensure that no UN official attend this thing, it’s called the Crans Montana Forum in Dajla, which previously, as you know, Douste-Blazy attended, and there was some confusion.  Is the Secretary-General aware of this call, this, you know, request, and has such a message gone out?

Spokesman Dujarric:  I have not seen that request.

Inner City Press:  And also on Western Sahara, yesterday, it was said that… that there was obviously consultations – Mr. Feltman spoke.  It was said afterward that a visit by the Secretary-General before the April review would be ideal.  And I know you don't announce the dates, but is that something that… that… that he's going to be trying to do?

Spokesman Dujarric:  I'm not going to contradict the President of the Security Council.

  To be fair, Inner City Press has been told that Morocco had agreed to a Ban Ki-moon visit in 2015, only to have Ban cancel it because Ban thought he might be able to go to North Korea, apparently more important to him. But now it's 2016, and April is approaching. Watch this site.

  Back on December 8, 2015, neither the briefer, UN envoy Christopher Ross, nor any other official or ambassador came to speak at the televised Security Council stakeout. Inner City Press had asked the UN to ask Ross to "do a stakeout," but none happened.

 Here's the text of Ross' briefing to the Council's closed door meeting, which Inner City Press has exclusively obtained and put online here.

On February 2, Inner City Press asked UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq, transcript here:

Inner City Press:  I've seen a readout [not a UN readout] of a meeting the Secretary-General had with, I guess, a Polisario official about Western Sahara.  Also they're reporting that there's some obstruction to the Secretary-General's long-announced intention to visit Western Sahara.  One, can you confirm that a meeting took place in Addis on the issue… on this issue?  And, if so, what's the readout?  And, two, what is his current plan to travel or not to Western Sahara?

Deputy Spokesman:  First of all, no, there… I wouldn't have a readout of that meeting.  But, second of all, the main point is that the Secretary-General is very firm in his intention to visit Western Sahara and the region.  We do not have a precise announcement on dates to give you right now, but he does intend to do that, and we will announce it when we can. 

  But why DIDN'T the UN issues a read out of this meeting, like it did so many others? Note that Ban canceled his trip to Western Sahara on the off chance he could get to North Korea -- which failed.

 Meanwhile, on January 29, the UN Spokesman threw Inner City Press out of the UN Press Briefing Room then on February 1 made this threat, here. This was echoed on February 2. 

 On December 8, the Security Council meeting scheduled right after Western Sahara, about Turkey and Iraq, drew the larger crowd. 

This remained true afterward, when correspondents crowded around the ambassadors of Russia, Iraq and Turkey. Behind them, Inner City Press saw and Periscoped, France's Deputy Permanent Representative Alexis Lamek whispered with the Moroccan diplomats who'd waited at the stakeout, in what's called the Turkish Lounge.

 The UN itself has to some degree dropped the ball. Inner City Press got confirmed, not from the UN, that Ban Ki-moon was slated to visit on November 25-27 but then canceled, so he could go to North Korea (which he ended up not doing). Priorities. It's worth noting, and we do, that Morocco invited Ban back in November. And now, with Ross? Watch this site.

On November 18, nine days after Inner City Press asked the UN Spokesman about Morocco's foreign minister saying UN envoy Christoper Ross couldn't or shouldn't visit the desert areas of Western Sahara, the UN Security Council finally met about it.

 InnerCityPro.com was the first to report it, mid-afternoon on November 18, as four Moroccan diplomats huddled outside the Security Council consultations, click here for that.  

 When the Security Council's President for November Matthew Rycroft of the UK emerged with a "Press Element" about the Security Council supporting Ross, and after a question which did not provide any insight into what the Council was saying, Inner City Press asked Rycroft to confirm that the Moroccan minister's comments, that Ross can't visit, had been raised in the Council.

 Yes, he said, and the result is the statement of support for Ross.

 Inner City Press understands that Security Council member Venezuela raised the issue, stating that waiting for Ross' briefing in two or three weeks was not good enough. (Angola's Permanent Representative, it was pointed out, was in Washington DC with his minister.) 

  Speaking for Morocco, Inner City Press is informed, was not its main sponsor France -- they like to not be seen in this role, instead using their "implicit" veto, here -- but rather Jordan. Has Jordan been active on the Western Sahara issue? Or is this a question of Kingdoms?

 Even supports of Morocco - and Inner City Press does speak with them -- have said Morocco's current foreign minister is "not the brightest bulb," as one of them put it.

  The UN has been charged with holding a referendum in Western Sahara, but has yet to do it. In October, when there is usually a Security Council briefing about Western Sahara, there was none. 

 Inner City Press was told it was because UN Envoy Christopher Ross was "in the region." Other sources tell Inner City Press the King of Morocco declined to meet with Ross, preferring to wait out the UN, or at least under the next Secretary General (and next US President).

  Still other sources told Inner City Press the King would travel to Western Sahara on November 6; they call it a provocation. Inner City Press asked UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Stephane Dujarric about it; he said he might have something later.

  After the King did visit Western Sahara, and as summarized rejected ceding anything toward a referendum; Ban Ki-moon said... nothing.

  On November 9, Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman this.

  Before the King's trip, when Ban Ki-moon was touring a photo exhibition in the same UN lobby where now indicted Ng Lap Seng sponsored events (even Wednesday night there was another, trying to sell seats at Ban's table at a Wall Street event in December for $6,000), the UN issued a statement.

On November 5, Inner City Press again asked UN Spokesman Dujarric, video here, UN transcript here.

On October 9 when the UN's Fourth Committee took up the “question of Western Sahara," the first order of business was a procedural fight about who could testify, on what request and on what topic. The speakers, over several rounds, were Morocco and Senegal on the one hand, Algeria and Uganda on the other. 

Uganda, when on the Security Council and otherwise, believes there should be a referendum on independence in Western Sahara; Senegal apparently does not.

  Inner City Press ran to cover the dispute, but UN Security said it couldn't enter through the main entrance to Conference Room 4, but to enter the gallery through the UN lobby. But that gallery door was locked. Finally from a media booth about the Conference Room, Inner City Pressfilmed and tweeted as Moroccan diplomats worked the room, running over to speak with Cote d'Ivoire for example.

 After it was resolved - the witness would speak, but should focus on Western Sahara - two countries got up and left: Burundi and Burkina Faso. They had apparently come to support Morocco, or France. They left before the first speaker on Western Sahara (who in his first line called it Moroccan Sahara). There will be more sessions: watch this site.

  There was also testimony about French nuclear tests in French Polynesia, New Caledonia and several rounds between Spain and the UK about Gibraltar: is it or is it not a tax haven? The room was emptying out. This will be continued.

  In advance of the Western Sahara session in the UN's Fourth Committee, SADR Foreign Minister Ould Salak spoke and took questions at Independent Diplomat on 20th Street in Manhattan on October 8.  In his opening he said France uses it veto on the UN Security Council to block human rights monitoring. Inner City Press asked him about the denial of that by France and its previous Ambassador to the UN, now to Washington. Ould Salak replied that France uses the “Group of Friends” -- the P5 minus China but plus Spain -- so it doesn't have to openly use its veto.

  This puts France's “veto restraint” proposals in a different light - but we'll have more on that in a separate story. In this piece, written at ID on 20th Street, we note that Carne Ross called it the “Group of Enemies” of Western Sahara, and the worst form of diplomacy.

   AFP asked if Ban is going to Western Sahara -- seems Morocco is blocking it (with Ban Ki-moon, it doesn't take much); a Spanish journalists asked about the role of Spain, on which he hope to have more. The Security Council was meeting about Haiti, with its own colonial history. We'll have more on this.

On Yemen, Inner City Press Asks Venezuela's Ambassador Ramirez of Air Strikes, He Cites Media Blackout, Feb 16-17 in UNSC

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, February 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. 

 On February 1 Inner City Press asked incoming President of the Security Council Rafael Ramirez of Venezuela about Yemen. Video here. 

 On February 12, Ramirez held a Q&A session at the Venezuelan Mission to the UN. Inner City Press again asked about Yemen. As fast transcribed by InnerCityPro.com:

Inner City Press: You said there’s movement on Yemen. But a lot of people think there’s not much movement, that the envoy can’t even bring the sides together. Are people in the Council satisfied?

Amb. Ramirez: With Yemen, we discussed, during the last consultation about Syria, some countries asked, [about] the situation in Yemen. It’s very bad, the situation there. And as you mentioned, the media has blocked this. Nobody mentioned about that. Everybody is insisting on Syria, a serious, perhaps worse situation. But also in Yemen. And then we agreed to have a consultation about Yemen on 16th, Tuesday. We are going to talk on the humanitarian situation in Yemen. And also, we proposed for the 17th meeting a consultation about Yemen, the Middle East, we are asking to have a briefing in the open session. It’s important that everybody knows what is happening there..  We are introducing the open discussion on Yemen because Yemen is destroyed under the campaign of bombing... the violation of international law and human rights in Yemen is too high. Very bad situation.  Then we will discuss it.

  Inner City Press will cover both meetings, February 16 and 17.

 From the February 1 Q&A, as transcribed by InnerCityPro.com:

Matthew Lee, Inner City Press. On behalf of the Free UN Coalition for Access, we are hoping you will do question and answer stakeouts after Security Council consultations... On Yemen – there’s a lot of talks about the Syrian peace talks. On Yemen we hear a lot less. What’s your understanding of the status of the envoy, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, bringing the parties together? Do you think the report on possible war crimes by the Saudi-led coalition airstrikes will be taken up at any point by the Council? And do you think that the US, UK, others that are assisting that coalition – is there enough oversight of the civilian harm that’s taking place in the air campaign on Yemen?

Amb Ramirez: Thank you. Before anything else, I hope as president of the Security Council to interact with the press, because each time we come out of a meeting of the Security Council , there’s a healthy practice, we’ve always done it that way so we’ll do what’s possible without taking too much time.

On Yemen, in my capacity as president of the Security Council  I can say that all Security Council members are closely following the events which have been escalating and have been affecting the civilian population, which finds itself in an awful situation, in the bombing campaign and the action on the ground of the two parties to the conflict.

It’s our hope that Mr. Ahmed, when he gives the briefing, will give a better picture of what’s happening there. As president of the Security Council I can’t say in advance what the positions will be of the various members fo the Security Council. This will be in closed consultations. 

But I can say that there is a growing concern on this question, and what you say, that the issue of Syria is being dealt with in a constant basis and the issue of Yemen not, is not the case with Yemen, this is something that we have raised. There is a lack of balance in terms of the way the Security Council deals with some issues. Sometimes some issues are pushed forward for political notice, and therefore they’re high on the agenda, they’re always discussed, and then there are others which are on the back burner, which  are reserved.

So today we proposed that in the Yemen briefing the consultations on Yemen should be in the form of a briefing, so that we can hear about the situation from the Special Envoy of the Secretary General, and that everybody can hear, and we can get a picture of the situation over there, what’s the actual situation, and Mr. O’Brien, we’re also asking that he should take part in that briefing, so on behalf of OCHA he would be able to explain what the situation is, what is the humanitarian situation in Yemen.

 We'll be there, on February 17, covering it. On January 29, the UN Spokesman threw Inner City Press out of the UN Press Briefing Room then on February 1 made this threat, here.

 On January 27, Inner City Press asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric, transcript here:

Inner City Press: on Yemen, on this recommendation for a commission of inquiry into war crimes, has the, has envoy... I've been looking at his Twitter feed, but has the envoy, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, does he have any response to this report of, you know, dozens of war crimes [inaudible]?

  Note: the reference was to Saudi airstrikes -- a/k/a inaudible, at the UN.

Spokesman Dujarric:  Whether it's the Special Envoy or the Secretary-General, I think they've all been calling for any crimes against humanity, any violation of international law to be fully investigated.

 Back on January 19, Inner City Press asked Uruguay's Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Jose Luis Cancela, chairing the day's Security Council debate on Protection of Civilians, if the Council does enough to protect civilians in Yemen, including monitoring the effects of airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition. Video here.

 Cancela diplomatically replied that he was not there to comment on specific countries -- inside the Council, there was much talk of Syria, a smattering on Burundi -- but turned the question toward not hitting schools and hospitals, both of which have happened in Yemen.

In the talks in Switzerland, despite the happy-talk Note to Correspondents issued on December 20, UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed was repeatedly accused of merely operating “for the Saudis,” while the Saudi-led coalition took more military action.

 Inner City Press intended to put the question directly to Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, after UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq at the December 22 noon briefing said he would be speaking at the Security Council stakeout after briefing the Security Council.

  But after the Council meeting, in which High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid al Hussein said that of harm to schools and hospitals, "a disproportionate amount appeared to be the result of airstrikes carried out by Coalition Forces" -- Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed did not as promised appear at the stakeout.

 Last time he was at UN Headquarters, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed took only three questions at the stakeout, then went upstairs to the clubhouse of UNCA, now the UN Corruption Association after selling seats with Ban Ki-moon for $6000 and did an interview with the same pro-Saudi / GCC media.

 So where did Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed go this time? Watch this site.

  Inner City Press on December 20 reported that the UN-facilitated talks have been such a failure that there is already a clamor to replace Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed. Sources exclusively tell Inner City Press that among the names being mulled is Germany's Bettina Muscheidt, the European Union's Ambassador to Yemen.

  UN insiders point to Germany having lost a UN post when Kim Won-soo replaced Angela Kane as Under Secretary General for Disarmament Affairs. Achim Steiner was passed over for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees post, in favor of Italy's Grandi.  Germany already "got" Libya with Martin Kobler - why not Yemen too? 

Previously: Inner City Press obtained UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed's documents for the delayed talks in Switzerland, and exclusively put them online here.

 Envoy Ould Cheikh Ahmed proposed that each side have six delegates and six advisers; on December 7 the UN announced eight "negotiators" and four advisers on each side. Hadi announced a seven day ceasefire, December 15 to December 21, or at least that he'd "informed the leadership of the Coalition of our intention to cease-fire." That would be Saudi Arabia, where now Syria armed rebel groups are meeting. Hadi as teacher's pet.

 The UN on December 7 said, "The UN Secretary General's Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed will convene Yemeni stakeholders in Switzerland on December 15 for a series of face to face consultations."

 According to IOCA's ground rules published by Inner City Press, there will be no press access, other than photographs with the Special Envoy at the start. Delegates shall not use social media. Only the Special Adviser can speak publicly, and he is supposed to be seen has neutral. There are “Ground Rules,” also put online by Inner City Press here.  

The ground rules include that the delegations should not speak with the media, or use social media. On December 4, Inner City Press asked UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq about these proposals: are they normal for the UN? Haq said he would not comment on leaks. Video here.

UN Yemen Talks Documents Leaked to Inner City Press, December 2015 by Matthew Russell Lee

Back on November 10, while Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was on the next to last day of his trip to Saudi Arabia to discussed among other things Yemen, Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric to confirm that envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed is not even IN Saudi Arabia with Ban.

 Dujarric confirmed that he is not there, but would not confirm that he is in his native Mauritania, to which Inner City Press is informed he flew on the UN's dime, for a vacation, signed off on by the top of the Department of Political Affairs.

Inner City Press has reported from sources dates on which the UN's envoy went to Dubai, purpose UNknown. Given his follow UN enovy Bernardino Leon's deal with the UAE, this must now be explained and acted on by the UN.

Inner City Press previously reported on and published the Houthis' letterdenouncing UN envoy Ould Cheikh Ahmed as little more than a Saudi tool. Now it's gotten worse: even Kenny Gluck who works for the envoy and went to Muscat trying to meet the Houthis was unable. He waited then returned to Riyadh. 

    The envoy, meanwhile, is said by those who know him to not only be “laughably” cheap -- putting in for reimbursement for an eight dollar taxi ride from the UN to a Mission on 67th Street, for example -- but also still involved in the same business for which Inner City Press previously dubbed him “the Fisherman” or the “Fishy Envoy.”  

  He has traveled on the UN's funds to Dubai, claiming he would meet the Houthis there. Not only will the Houthis not meet with him -- even if they would, they would not be found in Dubai, given that the UAE is part of the coalition. In any event, Abu Dhabi is the capital, not Dubai. There is something... fishy.

  Now we can report what UN sources say are dates of Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed's travel to Dubai: May 11; June 3 and June 5; August 1 and August 4; September 12-15; October 9-11; October 26; November 4; and prospectively November 10 and November 12.  

 What are Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed's trips to Dubai for? Given the UAE's offer to UN Envoy Bernarndino Leon, while he was UN Envoy to Libya, this question must be answered.

  So on November 4, Inner City Press asked UN Spokesman Dujarric,video here, transcript here.

  On October 26 Inner City Press reported that its sources exclusively told it of a new low, that the UN brought into Sana'a what the Houthis call two members of US intelligence, with the cover identification that they work for the company running the former hotel now occupied by the UN. But, the sources say, security in Sana'a recognized the two and they are now detained. 

  On October 30, Inner City Press asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric about it, video here, transcript here and below. Dujarric acknowledged he knew about two "contractors."

 On November 2, amid wire reports derivative and worse, Inner City Press followed up, video here, UN transcript here:

Inner City Press: I understand you're making this distinction that the people flown, you know, worked for a contractor that maintains the building.  Obviously, you're… I mean, the allegation by those detaining them is they were previously with US intelligence.  So, I'm wondering, is it… given that the building used to be occupied by the US Embassy, what is the company?  What is the name of the company that maintains the building?

Spokesman:  It's called DTF… no.  You know what?  I don't have the name of the… I don't have the name of the company.

Inner City Press:  Seems like you probably… can you…?

Spokesman:  No, I don't know about it.

Inner City Press:  You're flying them.

Spokesman:  I'm not flying them.  I'll see what I can do.

Inner City Press:  I read somewhere that… that the UN is trying to get… seeking the release through the DSG [Deputy Secretary-General].  Is that the case?

Spokesman:  You know, the… whichever channels we use are UN channels.  I'm not going to go into any of the details.

Inner City Press:  Right, but there have been… okay.  Here's a more sort of generic one on this day of protection of journalists.  There was this Manama conference in… to which the envoy apparently attended, because he did some speaking there.  And it turns out that the acting Foreign Minister of Yemen, Mr. Yassin, had two, “respected Yemeni analysts” asked to leave, calling them Houthis, which they, in fact, aren't.  It seems, to many people who follow Yemen, this is kind of an embarrassment that people were ejected from a conference, and it showed a lack… and I wanted to know, did the envoy… maybe he didn't say anything that I'm aware of.  But, can you check with the envoy whether he had any view of whether it is positive for the process to have people ejected from this conference?

Spokesman:  "I don't have any facts about this conference.  If I have facts, I will share them with you."

 Meanwhile on November 2 the US Statement Department was referring questions to this UNresponsive UN: "We’re aware of those reports. Due to privacy considerations, I’m not going to comment on them...  I would direct your questions to the UN."

  After Inner City Press' October 26 report and October 30 noon briefing questions, on October 31 Reuters "reported" a piece citing an unnamed UN spokesperson about two "contractors," with no mention of the Houthis claim they work with US intelligence, which by now had also been reported, along with Inner City Press' October 30 Q&A with Dujarric, by Al-Akhbar.

  But it's worse. Reuters initially (mis) reported that "'Two contractors have been detained and the Deputy Secretary-General (Jan Eliasson) is looking into it,' a U.N. spokesman said without elaborating or confirming if the two were American citizens."

  Then a day after that, Reuters blamed the UN for its correction to "'Two contractors have been detained and DSS (Department of Safety and Security) is looking into it,' said a U.N. spokesman."

  It would seem the UN spokesman, left unnamed by Reuters, said "DSS" and Reuters mis-heard it as "DSG," didn't note it would be strange for the UN's second highest official to be on two contractors when lower official Herve Ladsous is the one who made a call for 13 contractors in South Sudan.

 But Reuters, including the Thomson Reuters Foundation Trust.org,running its correction, says "UN corrects source of information in second paragraph." So the UN made the mistake?

 This is the same Reuters which on Friday regurgitated a UN report which Inner City Press had reported and asked the UN about fully two weeks earlier, same Reuters which refused to make public its policies, and tries to censor its anti Press complaints to the UN, here. We'll have more on this. 

 We'll have more on this.

  On September 5 as airstrikes on Sana'a picked up force, there was no comment from the UN or its envoy Ismail Ould Cheihk Ahmed. Nor on September 6. On September 7, the UN finally spoke -- not about the airstrikes but about a leak.

  On September 8, Inner City Press asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujrarric if he was denying the veracity of the UN email Inner City Press published, below. Dujarric did not deny it. Video here. Inner City Press on September 9 asked Dujarric's deputy, below, on September 9 about Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.

  Inner City Press exclusively reported the following: on August 27-28 in Muscat, the US and UK, the EU Ambassador to the UN and Saudi intelligence, met with the Houthis -- without the UN and its envoy present, or even sources say aware of the meeting. These sources say that the UN's Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed was on vacation in his native Mauritania, and was entirely out of the loop. 

  On September 10, Inner City Press asked UK Ambassador Matthew Rycroft if the UK had met with the Houthis and GPC in Muscat, without the UN Envoy present. Video here. 

  Meanwhile Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed says the same parties will now meet with him. Replay?

  On September 9, Inner City Press asked UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq, video here, transcript here. 

  The September 10 briefing by this envoy to the UNSC was requested by the UK - which, it seems, met with the Houthis without Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed.

  Sources also note to Inner City Press that the Saudi have "dissed" Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, relegating him only to meeting with Saudi intelligence, not diplomats as was previously the case with the UN. This too is embarrassing to the UN. 

  On August 7 Inner City Press was informed that as Houthis and Saleh's GPC headed to Oman for consultations on August 8 and 9, the UN's replacement envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed was not even initially invited. He had to beg to get included, which after sweating has been allowed, in the run-up to his briefing on August 12 to the Security Council.

 On August 12, Inner City Press asked Yemen Permanent Representative, outside the Council meeting, questions ranging from the destruction of schools and health care facilities in Sa'ada by Saudi airstrikes to when, according to him, the Houthis might be "driven" out of Sa'ana. Video here. He said in a few weeks - and added that the Oman talks were "not UN."

 So how then might the parties negotiate? UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed was headed back to Riyadh. That seems to be his base, where he works from - and for? Watch this site.

  Oman has received murky thanks for France for facilitating the release of a hostage, who was working for the Social Development Fund there. Did Oman pay for France? Or will others be released, as France brought about in Mali?

  On July 28, Inner City Press asked Saudi Arabia's Permanent Representative about Mokha or Mocha; he replied that previous allegations about Saudi airstrikes on Old City Sana'a and on a palace in Aden once used by Queen Elizabeth had been proven untrue. We'll have more on this.

  Inner City Press asked Yemen's representative about the talks in Cairo involving the United Arab Emirates, allies of former president Saleh and, it's said, the US and UK. He replied that the Yemeni government - in exile - deals through formal channels, the GCC or UN.

  He might have been asked, which foreign minister is he reporting to: the one named by Hadi, or the one - his predecesor - named by Bahah? We'll have more on this as well. 

   After publishing its multi-sourced story, Inner City Press on July 22 asked the UN's Associate Spokesperson about new APC and weapons in Aden, and if Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed is on vacation. Video here. She replied that she would check - but did not revert with any response either way.

  So on July 23, amid reports that without Cheikh Ahmed or any UN presence talks were occurring about Yemen in Cairo, Inner City Pressasked, here.

  Inner City Press asked the UN where Cheikh Ahmed is. UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq told Inner City Press that he has been "planning his travels," soon to Riyadh. Yeah, Inner City Press was told by another less constrained but at least as knowledgeable source: planning his future travels while already on vacation. Another source compared it to then UN envoy to Pakistan Jean-Maurice Ripert going on vacation amid national disasters in Pakisan and then losing his post. 

   The buzz in Sana'a, where Hadi has named a governor in exile described as an Islamist, is that Cheikh Ahmed may well have known of the plans to bring in APC and weapons to those fighting the Houthis in Aden, and so "misleadingly" urged a pause. Another compared this to the UN luring out surrendering rebel leaders in Sri Lanka - to their deaths.

  And so from Aden, photographs of brand new light brown vehicles, American-made, brought in. Will they end up in the hands of Al Qaeda?

On June 25, Inner City Press asked new UN aid chief Stephen O'Brien three questions about Yemen: cholera, the destruction of ambulances in Sa'ada and about international staff. Video here.

  O'Brien replied that cholera is a risk; he had no information on WHO it was that destroyed the ambulances in Sa'ada (we can guess.) On international staff, which the UN evacuated earlier, he spoke of a rise from 17 to 70, with the goal of getting to 200. He would not say if they are anywhere in the country outside of Sana'a, citing security. But at least he spoke - the Free UN Coalition for Access thanked him.