At UN, Ban Plans Climate Meet in March with Obama, Sources Say, Africa Trip Awaits Rice

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/ban1climate020609.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 6, updated Feb. 10 -- On Ban Ki-moon's signature issue, climate change, sources tell Inner City Press a plan is afoot for a mini-summit at New York in the third week of March, slated as Barack Obama's coming out party at the UN. It is timed to precede the G-20 London Summit at the beginning of April. The US Mission to the UN, which for eight years conveyed George Bush's critiques of the UN, now negotiates photo opportunities beneficial both to the new President and Ban Ki-moon.

Update of February 10 -- Ban Ki-moon in response sought to diminish expectations, unprompted, during his press conference on Tuesday, click here for analysis.

Similarly, even the UN Security Council defers in its planning to the new U.S. Ambassador. A planned Council trip through the Great Lakes region of Africa, slated for April, is now on hold pending confirmation with Susan Rice's schedule. "She is an Africa expert," a Council source told Inner City Press. "We're waiting to here back from her."

Ban Ki-moon's senior advisor Kim Won-soo alludes to planned meetings between South Korea's mission to the UN and Ms. Susan Rice. He was seen trying to pass unrecognized in the UN Coffee Shop, under the Visitors' Entrance.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/ban1climate020609.html

At UN on Sri Lanka, Russia Blocked Mexican Request for Briefing, Ban's Contradiction

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/unsc1srilanka020509.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 5 -- While in Sri Lanka the army's assault on Tamil Tiger areas continues, in closed door UN Security Council meetings this week Mexico asked that the Council get a briefing about the situation in Sri Lanka. The Permanent Representative of a Council member favoring Mexico's request tells Inner City Press that the request was formally opposed by Russia, which argued that Sri Lanka is not on the agenda of the Council. "Russia in January tries to intimidate the new Council members," this Ambassador told Inner City Press.

This month's Council president, Yukio Takasu, said he would engage the two sides -- Mexico and Russia -- in bilateral consultations. Now Mexico has said it will raise the issue again next week. But on the ground, how many more civilians will be dead?

Russia may not be the only Permanent Five member of the Council wanting to keep Sri Lanka off the Council's agenda. Inner City Press asked United Kingdom Ambassador John Sawers, when he spoke about Sudan's assault of a South Darfur town held by rebels of the Justice and Equality Movement, to explain the difference between Sri Lanka and Sudan. They are not comparable, Ambassador Sawers said, adding that the Tigers are on sanctions lists. Video here.

But the Justice and Equality Movement is known by the UN to have recruited child soldiers, including for its offensive that reached Omdurman just outside Khartoum.

So to state the obvious, the UK likes the government of Sri Lanka more than the Sudan's. But a requested Council briefing on the situation in Sri Lanka is being blocked, on a technical assertion it is not on the agenda. Zimbabwe wasn't on the agenda, until the UK pushed to have it included under the name "Peace and Security in Africa." How about "Peace and Security in Asia"? What's in a name?

The UN's Ban Ki-moon spoke with Sri Lanka's president, and after Inner City Press requested it, his Spokeperson's Office provided this meager read-out of what he talked about:

Subj: Readout of the SG's phone call with the President of Sri Lanka
From: unspokesperson-donotreply [at] un.org
To: Inner City Press
Sent: 2/5/2009 3:52:35 P.M. Eastern Standard Time

The Secretary-General spoke by phone on Thursday with President Mahinda Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka. They discussed the humanitarian situation in the country.

(Further to that, the Secretary-General's position on Sri Lanka was described most recently in a statement issued last week.)

Ban raised only the "humanitarian situation in the country," the same phrase used by the UK's John Holmes? For comparison's sake, Ban called for a ceasefire in Democratic Republic of the Congo on October 10, 2008:

10 October 2008 – Voicing "increasing concern" at developments in the border areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on rebels and the Congolese Government to immediately observe an effective ceasefire and cooperate with United Nations peacekeepers to achieve a separation of forces.

Ban called for a ceasefire in Gaza on January 15, 2009:

15 January 2009 -- My demand is just to stop fighting now - immediately - cease fire immediately. You can discuss this matter to make the ceasefire durable and sustainable, which can be respected fully by the parties concerned. If you take more time then more people will have to be killed. That is an unacceptable situation. We are almost 20 days since this fighting began. The number of casualties has reached an unbearable point. There is a strong wish and expectation and call from the international community that this fighting must stop and establish a durable, sustainable ceasefire so the Gazan citizen population can live in peace and security.

As it turns out, Ban back in March 2007 called for a ceasefire in Sri Lanka:

27 March 2007: The Secretary-General is disturbed by the extensive and escalating violations of the cease-fire in Sri Lanka, which now includes an air attack this week by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). He deeply regrets that air raids, military confrontations on the ground, and suicide bombings have become a daily occurrence, prompting massive displacement and suffering for civilians. The Secretary-General appeals to the parties to the conflict to break this vicious cycle of attack and retaliation, which only leads to more bloodshed and victims. He urges them to return to the negotiating table as soon as possible, without preconditions.

That was then, this is now. On February 4, Ban's Deputy Spokesperson when twice asked by Inner City Press if Ban is asking for a ceasefire declined to confirm such a call. Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/unsc1srilanka020509.html

On Sri Lanka, UN Won't Confirm its Own Reports or Call for Ceasefire

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1srilanka020409.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 4 -- In Sri Lanka, civilians are trapped as the government moves in on the rebel Tamil Tigers. At UN headquarters on Wednesday, Inner City Press asked the Deputy Spokesperson for Ban Ki-moon, Marie Okabe, if Ban has called for a ceasefire. His position is clear, Ms. Okabe said. Since Inner City Press exclusively reported Ban met with the Sri Lankan president's senior advisor, a follow-up question was required: is Ban asking for a ceasefire, or just allowing it to run its course? I don't have anything more on that, Ms. Okabe said.

Since Sri Lanka's foreign minister earlier in the day claimed that the UN had apologized for accusing it of using cluster bombs, Inner City Press asked Ms. Okabe if that was true. Ms. Okabe said, for the UN, that "some of the UN staff on the ground reported today that cluster munitions had been used close to their positions. These reports have not been confirmed." Video here, from 20:14. Transcript here.

So the UN recites but declines to confirm its own reports?

The UN's contorted position on Sir Lanka stands in contrast to its statements about other conflicts.

In Sudan, for example, when the government moves in on a rebel-held town, the UN loudly denounces it, tells the government to back away, and reports on every bomb that falls. In Sri Lanka, the government has been shelling rebel-held areas and the UN has spoken in convoluted ways, declining to answer direct questions if it is calling for a ceasefire, declining to confirm its own staff's reports about cluster bomb use.

Is it okay or not for a government to attack rebels inside its borders, in ways that put civilians are risk? For the UN, the answer seems to turn on which governments and rebels are involved. While it is to be expected that individual countries will have foreign policies that are not necessarily consistent, the UN should not have a foreign policy, certainly not one driven by particular powerful states. If the UN is for civilian protection, it should speak the same way in Sri Lanka and Sudan. If anything, since the international media and major powers put more of a spotlight on Sudan, the UN should do more in Sri Lanka. But it does not.

Footnote: we neglected to include one tidbit in our report on Team Ban's meeting with the Sri Lankan president's senior advisor (and brother). The brother of Vijay Nambiar, Ban's affable chief of staff, is reportedly Satish Nambiar who served, including as a consultant, in and to Sri Lanka. More on this to follow.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1srilanka020409.html

UN Has No Answers in Myanmar or N. Korea, Peacekeeping Losses from Poland, Ivorian Rebels

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/ossg1febwk020609.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 6 -- From Ivory Coast to Pakistan, peacekeeping to security, at UN headquarters it was a week of questions pre-screened and evaded, or answered sometimes late. On February 2, Inner City Press asked UN Deputy Spokesperson Marie Okabe four questions, from Myanmar to Sri Lanka, Quetta to Niger. None were substantively answered.

To criticism of UN envoy Gambari's trip to Myanmar, there was no response. Nor would Ms. Okabe say if the UN is even trying to determine who is responsible for the hospital bombing in Sri Lanka. The security phase in Quetta, she said, is confidential. And on the disappearance of Robert Fowler in Niger, she said she had no news, would provide it as soon as she had it.

On February 3, four new questions and again no answers. Did Gambari asked to meet Myanmar's strong man Than Shwe? Okabe said she had nothing on that. On fighting in the Ivory Coast among the New Forces rebels, any comment from Ban Ki-moon's envoy Mr. Choi? No. Was India asked to contribute more peacekeepers in the Congo, even though Congo has said they don't want troops from that country? Okabe said the Department of Peacekeeping Operations would answer, but three days later it has not. There are other questions pending there. On the reported refoulement at sea of refugees from Myanmar by Thailand, nothing.

After Tuesday's briefing, Inner City Press was approached and asked to submit questions to the UN Spokesperson's office before and outside of the daily noon briefing. While this can't be required, Inner City Press then e-mailed some questions, on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning to the Spokesperson's office. But the majority of questions weren't answered. That wasn't the point, it was explained, to turn the Office into a "one stop shop" to ask questions to. The point was to pre-screen the questions to be asked at noon. But even those weren't answered on February 4

On Poland's announcement of pull-out from UN peacekeeping missions in Chad, Golan and Lebanon, Ban hadn't yet spoken with the Poles. Apparently, two days later he has still not spoken, because no response has been provided. Did the UN apologize to Sri Lanka for alleging cluster bombs? Not known. In the face of the UN's silence, the Sri Lankan government has trumpeted an apology online.

Other still-unanswered questions include security, and

- i-Seek says that Mr. Choi of ICT reports 'to the executive office of the SG". Will he have a "management compact" between himself and the SG?

- who are the vendors associated with PACT at UNHQ in para 25 of A-63-605.pdf?

Inner City Press asked, "is there a UN statement on reported killing of 25 civilians by UNISOM inSomalia more than 24 hours ago?" For the UN system's response, click here.

On February 5, Spokesperson Michele Montas returned. Of three questions asked by Inner City Press, one was answered: the Secretariat's use of the word "Georgia" in its Abkhazia report was intentional and will continue until ordered otherwise by the Security Council, which itself has stopped using the word in connection with the observer mission, even in the monthly program of work. Could Ms. Montas confirm the receipt of a reported seven-page letter to Ban from Jamaat ud Dawa? No, she'd look into it. A day later, no response. Any response to North Korea's move to test a long range missile, which South Korea says violates a UN resolution? No comment.

[We'll stop here to report that Kyoto News' report last weekend of the U.S. and Japan ordering UNDP to pull back from North Korea now appears to have been false, denied by a U.S. diplomat speaking under that name, and by Japan's Ambassador on the record. The correspondent is new, Inner City Press was told, and chided for missing the scoop of UNDP's pre-missile return.]

Finally on Friday, again only one question of of the four that Inner City Press asked was answered, and that one only partially. No, Ban Ki-moon is not calling for a ceasefire in Sri Lanka, only for the government's military operations to be conducted in compliance with international law. Ms. Montas said she hadn't heard of the controversy about the UN's envoy to Somalia's anti-press remarks, and was unable too of UN-affiliated journalist Heby Aly's expulsion from Sudan. Is the UN in favor of Liberian mercenaries who fought in Ivory Coast getting paid, and if so by who? It's under deliberation, Ms. Montas replied. We will follow all this next week. Compare to a week in November 2008, here. Are things getting better?

Footnote: in fairness, many correspondents spread the blame to what they call the 38th floor, including the Department of Political Affairs, which keep the Spokespeople in the dark, and can't even fax down their statements until 12:15 or 12:20. Also, the Spokesperson's Office was left to read out the UN Mission in the Congo's categorical denial of Doctors Without Borders' report on MONUC's failings in North Congo -- which MONUC later quietly qualified in a letter to the NGO. More generally, if the Department of Peacekeeping Operations answered questions in real time some of the load would be lifted from the Spokesperson's Office. Still...

And see, www.innercitypress.com/ossg1febwk020609.html

At UN Security, Prefixed Promotions, Whistleblowers' Dog Days

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/undss1chaos020609.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 6 -- Unanswered questions swirl around UN Security, from accountability for lapses in Algeria, Niger, Pakistan and Somalia, to irregularities in hiring and promotions and even discpline. On February 4, Inner City Press formally asked two members of the Office of the UN Spokesperson a series of questions about UN Security, including what is the status of the much-promised disciplinary action against UN officials for their inattention to duties in the run-up to the Algiers Bombing, as documented by the Zacklin Report? Does the Secretary-General think that a Zacklin-style accountability panel should be set up to examine the security failures that have taken place in recent months, including the lack of security clearance and security protection of Mr. Robert Fowler, the abduction of the UNHCR official in Quetta, Pakistan, and the killings of UNDP staff in Somalia?

Two days later, not a single answer has been provided. Nor has the UN said anything about replacing Sir David Veness, who months ago announced he was resigning as the sole case of accountability following the Algiers bombing. He is still in charge of DSS.

On a seemingly more mundane but not unrelated level, whistleblowers have provided Inner City Press with a list of UN Security "Possible Transfers and Assignments / Reassignments." These sources say that this list undermines the credibility of interviews that are being conducted, implying that some decisions have already been made. They say as a matter of belated transparency, the list should be released. They allege favoritism in promotion, false resumes and misuse of UN vehicles, retaliation against those who complain, even of physical abuse.

Sometimes the public news about UN Security is negative, but the exoneration is much more quiet. Take the case of Gamal Ibrahim, exposed on Fox News and elsewhere for alleged abuse of a dog in the UN's Canine Unit. Last month, the UN Headquarters Joint Disciplinary Committee recommended that the charges be dropped, as the evidence was not conclusive.

As recited in Confidential Report 216 in Case Number 2008-14, Numbered Copy 1 attached,

"On July 3, 2007, DSS Management was informed of allegations of improper conduct... It was alleged that Mr. Ibrahim had physically abused his canine partner Buddy... On 21 January 2008, the case was referred to the JDC.... Mr. Ibrahim responded to the charges... The redness on Buddy's skin has always existed and is part of his skin and hair complexion...

The [2 July 2007] incident at the Security Council appears to have been misinterpreted... Buddy was playful and rest his two front legs affectionately on my shoulders on that occasion. To calm him I gave hand and verbal commands, which had nothing threatening for him... SS/O Mascioli has a reputation for harassment, fabrication and extrapolation, besides taking occasionally a free lunch from vendors... the rationale for their false allegations was essentially triggered by a spirit of retribution against me, as a result of my whistleblower role."

Since the allegations were found to be without corroboration, is this the case the UN Security whistleblower whose dog didn't bark? To be continued.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/undss1chaos020609.html

As Somalis Are Killed by Peacekeepers, Censorship Urged by UN's Ould Abdallah

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un3censorsom020609.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 6 -- In Mogadishu the week began with Ugandan troops of the AMISOM mission firing into a crowd of civilians and killing between 25 and 40, after the explosion of a roadside bomb. In New York, UN Deputy Spokesperson Marie Okabe read out dozens of UN statements, but nothing on Somalia.

Inner City Press asked, "there are reports from Somalia that African Union peacekeepers there firing into a crowd and killing some say 25, some say 39, is the United Nations aware of that, does it have any comment on that?" Deputy Spokesperson Okabe replied, "I don’t have any comment on that today, but we can certainly ask them for you." Video here.

But when Ould Abdallah spoke about the incident, he blamed the media for reporting it, even comparing them to the radio station in Rwanda convicted of stoking up genocidal hatred. Ould Abdallah said

"What happened is to divert attention from what is going on here, and as usual to use the media to repeat Radio Mille Colline, to repeat the genocide in Rwanda. There is a need to have a truce, one month truce in reporting on Somalia.. till there is double, triple checking, because Somalia is exceptional. We have to have exceptional checking of the news."

So the UN's top envoy to Somalia, a country the UN and international community have mis-served for more than a decade, is calling for censorship of reports of Somali civilians killed by international "peacekeepers."

Despite Inner City Press' request at UN headquarters for the UN's statement on the shooting, Ould Abdallah's comment have not been repeated from the UN podium. Calls are growing for him to retract the statement, for him to step down.

Inner City Press has obtained a copy of the media strategy designed by Ould Abdallah and his spokesperson, a former BBC correspondent named Susanna Price, and puts it online here.

When Inner City Press attended the surreal negotiations in Djibouti between the UN-supported Transitional Federal Government and London-based supposed opposition leaders in mid- 2008, it left written questions with Ms. Price about who had paid for the hotel bills at the Kempinski in Djibouti. The question was never effectively answered. Now comes word that the re-invented Sheikh Sharif Sheik Ahmed has recently paid with many of his supporters' plane tickets. With what money?

The press strategy for the Somali diaspora, which Inner City Press is putting online here, presaged Ould Abdallah's February 3 comments:

"There has been some extremely negative reporting about the UN for example... with regards to UNDP. There is a perception that the UN is partial and is supporting the TFG and that it is helping the security services."

The irony is that comments like Ould Abdallah's on February 3 are a part, but only one part, of why "there is a perception that th UN is partial." Rather than modify his partiality, at least to the extent of acnknowledging and trying to avoid pro-TFG soldiers' killing of civilians, Ould Abdallah has decided to try to silence the media by outrageously mis-playing the Rwanda genocide card.

The UNPOS strategy also contradicts Ould Abdallah's call to censor media outside of Somalia in praising the impact of pro-UN members of the Somali diaspora:

Apart from their financial input, the diaspora have important ties back home with their clans and political groups and wield much influence on affairs inside Somalia. A number attended Arte and Mbagathi conferences and became MPs. Many of the MPs, and the leaders from the Government and opposition side in the first round of Djibouti talks were, like the Prime Minister, UK passport holders.

Their support is extremely important for the UN and can help to change perceptions.

The largest numbers of Somalis in the West are in UK (London, and other cities) and North America (Toronto, Minneapolis, Columbus Ohio) with slightly smaller concentrations in the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Australia. There are also significant numbers in Kenya, South Africa, Saudi Arabia and they are one of the largest immigrant communities in Dubai

It is very important to let the Diaspora know that we value their contribution, support and input and we want them to be involved and informed. We also need the Diaspora to recognize the work that the UN is doing in Somalia and to inform them that the UN is working inside Somalia for the benefit of the country.

This last may be a definition of propaganda, which UN Spokesperson Michele Montas last month said is not allowed in UN press briefings. What will happen to UN envoy Ould Abdallah? Watch this space.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un3censorsom020609.html

Challenged on Gaza School Bombing Story, UN Attacks the Press, Confirms Staff Strike

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/gaza1unclarity020509.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 5 -- Despite a widespread perception, created in part by the UN, that the civilians killed by a June 6 shelling by the Israeli Defense Forces in Jabaliya were inside a school run by the UN Relief and Works Agency, the UN has since had to issue a "clarification" that the shelling was entirely outside of the school. Inner City Press on Thursday asked UNRWA's John Ging if he has re-thought any of his public statements in the bombing's wake, for example that "those in the school were all families seeking refuge." Video here, from Minute 30:31.

Ging responded that he wouldn't change a word he'd said, and instead blamed the Globe and Mail newspaper for a "sensationalist headline." Ging said that "all reputable media" -- he listed the New York Times, the Jerusalem Post, the Guardian -- had "gotten it right." But the Jerusalem Post article, for example, "noted that in two previous reports, the UN had stated that the IDF attack had been against the school and not outside the school." Ging's UN colleague Chris Gunness has accused the Jerusalem Post of misquoting him.

During the hot-phase of the conflict, Ging and the UN bemoaned the absence of international media from the conflict zone. As one wag put it Thursday, be careful what you wish for. Beyond the mis-statement in the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs January 7 report, the UN said nothing as the incident was widely described as a bombing of a UN school.

In fact, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on January 17 said "Today, another United Nations school was hit by Israeli Defense Forces. I condemn in the strongest terms this outrageous attack which is the third time this has happened." This quote is on the UN's own ReliefWeb, here.

Then a quiet "clarification" in a UN Field Report:

Clarification: While correctly reported on 6 January that Israeli shells landed outside an UNRWA school in Jabalia, resulting in an initial estimate of 30 fatalities, the Situation Report of 7 January referred to ‘the shelling of the UNRWA school in Jabalia.’ The Humanitarian Coordinator would like to clarify that the shelling, and all of the fatalities, took place outside rather than inside the school.

One might have thought, given the controversy, that Ging would address it in his opening statement to the UN press corps on Thursday. He did not. Upon questioning, he acknowledged that the school was not hit, except by shrapnel, and that the school was not damaged. That was not the perception, and from this perspective the Globe and Mail is to be congratulated for dogged reporting, not denounced as "unreputable" by the UN. Click here for a more recent Globe and Mail story quoting the UN on the disappearance of its stealth envoy to Niger, the Canadian Robert Fowler.

In fairness, the UN also mis-lead the press, or allowed misleading stories to stand uncorrected, earlier in the conflict when the UN's John Holmes equated civilian casualties with only those who were children and women (of the latter group, he said that they too might be with Hamas). How ever begrudgingly, Holmes acknowledged the controversy and amended his reporting, without denouncing the media which called him on it. Ging has been working hard, but attacking the press, or particular reporters, for zeroing in on inconsistencies would put Ging more squarely in the UN spin mold than has been the case so far.

Inner City Press also asked Ging about reports of a strike by UNRWA workers in the West Bank. Ging confirmed the "industrial action," but denied that money was shifted to Gaza from the UNRWA West Bank budget, calling the staff union leadership ill-informed on this point. He said that now UNRWA and the Red Cross can get cash into Gaza, but no one else, including it seems the Palestinian Authority. Reportedly, Hamas brings in cash through tunnels from Egypt. Ging emphasized the blockade of "plastic pellets to make plastic bags," and of paper to print UNRWA's human rights curriculum. The blocking of construction materials, including even plastic PVC pipes, seems equally serious. We'll have more on this.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/gaza1unclarity020509.html

Murky Water Conference in UN, Ban Panned, Suez in the House

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1murkywater020409.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 4 -- Water is life, the UN and its water partner Jay-Z have said. Water too can be death. That is the theme of a conference at the UN that began Wednesday night with a reception over the East River. To the sounds of a classical music trio, a woman bragged that she represents Halliburton and Tyco. She asked, Do you know Doctor Oh?

Harold HyunSuk Oh is the founder of the conference sponsor, the World Water Organization. Inner City Press asked Dr. Oh, how is WWO funded? Private donations, he said.

A supporter of WWO explained to Inner City Press that Dr. Oh was an oil trader who later went to divinity school and then became an academic. Inner City Press asked Dr. Oh directly, and he confirmed the trajectory, adding that he was a fundamentalist pastor even before going into business. Inner City Press asked him what he thinks of Ban Ki-moon's Secretary-Generalship so far. The UN talks a lot, he said, but it does not implement.

With Mr. Ban in Pakistan, his Deputy Asha-Rose Migiro was supposed to come to the reception. WWO's Deputy Chairman said that "Miss Mygro," as he called her, was also unable to come due to pressing business at headquarters, but should be delivering remarks the following morning.

On the schedule, awards were supposed to be given to financial services representatives of Hope Finance, S.A.. This did not happen. Apparently they did not come either. There was an elaborate sound system, but it was hardly used at all. The M.C. was Elaine Valdov, who a WWO supporter said was "big in the NGO world at the UN," having headed the DPI-NGO some years ago. A more recent DPI-NGO honcho is slated to speak on Thursday -- and the conference program also lists CNN's Anderson Cooper.

"If you have even one high level UN person supporting you, you can get anything there," a WWO supporter said, requesting anonymity. It brought to mind the booking of the UN's North Lawn for a fundraising benefiting, among others, the Kabbalah Center of Los Angeles, booked by Ann Veneman, the director of UNICEF (which is holding its executive board meeting this week, complete with informal consultation on card and gift sales, a matter of some controversy).

Inner City Press asked Dr. Oh who his rabbi, so to speak, is at the UN. "Someone in DESA," he said, "social and economic affairs." But who?

Dr. Oh is affiliated with the New York Institute of Technology. "Not just the one by Columbus Circle," a supporter pointed out. There is a huge campus on Long Island, and other campus in China and India, he stressed. NYIT along with WWO sponsored an earlier water conference at the UN in mid 2008, co-sponsored by UNICEF and the UN Development Program and the World Bank. Another WWO supporter snarked that at an upcoming World Bank water event, the UN "won't even be invited, since they don't do anything."

Among the speakers this week are the former NYC environmental commissioner, Joel Miele, and his acting successor Steven Lawitts. There is also representation by the private firm Suez, responsible for controversial water privatization projects from Jakarta to Atlanta, Puerto Rico and Argentina to Manila. A supporter of water privatization, over the wild rice and bow tie pasta served at the reception, tried to convince Inner City Press that opposition to water privatization in Stockton, California -- near Ann Veneman's home town of Modesto -- was misguided, including by the General Assembly President's water advisor Maude Barlow. Even Cochabamba, Bolivia was defended: the locals, the WWO supporter said, just don't understand.

Inner City Press' further inquiry into the origins of WWO was led by a connector who says he introduced Dr. Oh to a water expert, in front of a church. The rest is history, and Dr. Oh confirms that a World Energy Forum is next, already incorporated. Inner City Press is told that moves are afoot to re-open the UN's Millennium Development Goals in order to add a new one: energy. But there are other issue-groups lined up.

So what is this conference, of water privatizers, held inside the UN? Perhaps the next two days will tell.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1murkywater020409.html

UN Accused of Inaction As LRA Kills in Congo, Denies But Without Specifics, No Bosco

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
www.innercitypress.com/drc1msf020409.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 4 -- Following the deaths of hundreds of people in Northern Congo, and a report by Doctors without Borders (MSF) blaming the UN for failing to protect civilians there, the UN on Wednesday denounced the MSF report as "totally unfounded." UN Peacekeeping officials have admitted to Inner City Press that they pulled forces out of Northern Congo to focus on another part of the Congo, the Kivus. So Inner City Press asked UN Deputy Spokesperson Marie Okabe if her categorical denial of the MSF report meant that the UN takes issue with MSF's report that UN peacekeepers stayed inside their base near Dungu during the attack by Lord's Resistance Army on November 1, 2008. Video here, at Minute 13:58.

"I don't have anything specific on that," said Ms. Okabe, who had just denied the whole MSF report as "totally unfounded."

Since the UN has used a figure near 600 for the civilians killed in the area, Inner City Press asked if the UN disagrees with MSF's figure of 900. "I don't have the number killed," Ms. Okabe said. As part of her scripted denial, she had said that UN Peacekeepers support the Congolese army by providing "casualty evacuation." Video here, from Minute 12.

MSF specifically faults the UN for not taking injured civilians out of the area, as the UN does even in Sri Lanka. Inner City Press asked Okabe about this. She replied that her statement had said that "casualty evacuation" is part of the UN Mission's mandate. But are civilians being taken out? MSF says no.

The UN's main news on Congo for Wednesday was to brag about Hutu rebels it is repatriating from the Kivus, including the surprising news that Mai Mai fighters, some of the most vicious and disorganized, are being integrated into the Congolese Army, which the UN has chosen to support. Not mentioned by the UN was that Bosco Ntaganda, indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court, appears also to be on the verge of integration into the Congolese Army. We'll have more on this.

News analysis: since the UN knows it should be doing more to protect civilians in Northern Congo, why do its spokespeople call a report to that effect by a respected humanitarian group "totally unfounded"? Why not admit that more could be done, and put at least some of the ball and blame back in the court of the Security Council? But like the worst of corporate Public Relations, the UN mechanically defends even the indefensible.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/drc1msf020409.html

After Bailout, ING's Kok Blames Regulators, Food Inflation and Social Inclusion Questioned

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1bailouting020409.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 4 -- Wim Kok, the chairman of the audit committee of Dutch bank ING, which received a $14 billion bailout, Wednesday at the UN blamed "the institutions entrusted with regulating" for not having "prevented financial speculation." Inner City Press asked Kok how to allocate blame for the crisis between the regulators and the banks and their directors. Did the regulators make ING buy, and Kok to presumably oversee the buying of, subprime mortgage and other derivative securities? Video here, from Minute 19.

Kok acknowledged that he saw the crisis and bailouts "like all of us," but also "from a special position," then blamed not only the U.S. regulators but also the "climate" and the "bonus and compensation culture." Video here, from Minute 20:02.

But what was Kok's own compensation? Kok said that "in all fairness, it is too early to give an accounting of how it happened." But why then did the UN, and its Commission on Social Development, present Kok as the one to read out the blame-the-regulators speech? Yes, Kok served as Dutch prime minister. But a director of a bank receiving a multi-billion dollar bailout should not be surprised to be questioned about it.

"In all fairness," to use Kok's own phrase, Inner City Press asked him about the role of financial speculation in driving up food prices in part of 2008. Kok replied that while prices have declined, they could rise again due to inflation caused by, yes, the bailouts. As to how speculation could be stopped by the UN system, he did not answer. Whether ING itself speculates in food or agribusiness stocks, as with Kok's compensation, is not known at deadline.

Appearing along with Kok was the chairwoman of the CSD, Finland's Ambassador to the UN Kirsti Lintonen, who answered Inner City Press' question about whether the theme of the CSD conference, social inclusion, meant that indigenous groups should be "integrated," whether they consent to it or no. Ambassador Lintonen replied that the new Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples provides protection. Afterwards, a representative of the Madrid Club, on whose behalf Kok had formally be speaking, told Inner City Press that the word integration wouldn't even have to be used if it were achieved.

On the podium, scowling at the indigenous inclusion question but not responding to it was the UN's coordinator of the Permanent Forum on the indigenous, Elsa Stamatopoulou. Not present, but listed on the press release, was a representative of the African Union. Downstairs in the conference room where the conference is taking place, a representative of Sudan speechified about the connection between social development and human rights. Only at the UN, one wag said, only at the UN.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1bailouting020409.html

As UN Plans $100 Million Bunker in Iraq, UNrest in Haiti and Cote d'Ivoire

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/dfs1iraq020309.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 3 -- The UN's envoy to Iraq Staffan de Mistura Tuesday painted a rosy picture of local elections in Iraq, and described the UN's planned $100 million campus there as a signal that the international community believes in the future stability of Iraq. Inner City Press asked about reports of voter confusion and corruption in Ninewa province, particularly in Mosul, and about the curfew in effect in Anbar province.

De Mistura countered with a rise in Sunni turn out from two to 42 percent, and did not comment on corruption. Nor would he say how much the new UN headquarters would cost. Rather, he emphasized that it would not be "luxurious," but more than "campers or containers covered with sandbags." Video here, from Minute 12:30.

While sources have raised questions to Inner City Press about the ability of the UN and its Department of Field Support to manage a $100 million project in such an environment, DFS chief Susana Malcorra on Tuesday afternoon told Inner City Press it is the UN Mission in Iraq, UNAMI, which will run the project, with DFS and the Procurement Division in New York providing oversight. She disagreed that this would be DFS' largest project -- the so-called Super Camps in Darfur come to mind.

Inner City Press asked Ms. Malcorra about reports of staff unrest in the UN Mission in Haiti, MINUSTAH, about which a question has been pending with the UN for five days. Malcorra shook her head, yes there is tension there, that she thinks can be resolved. Sources tell Inner City Press that international UN staff face a reduction in benefits.

Also on Tuesday, UN deputy spokesperson Marie Okabe announced that still the UN Mission in the Congo is understaffed. Inner City Press asked if India has been asked for peacekeepers, given that Congo has said it does not any more troops from India.

Inner City Press also asked if the UN has any comment on renewed fighting by rebels in the Ivory Coast, alongside the planned removal of 300 French solider there. On both counts, Ms. Okabe answered, "Let's ask DPKO." Yes, let's. For five days, the Haiti and unrest questions have been pending, along with one about the UN's purported grown in Afghanistan. We will wait for answers.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/dfs1iraq020309.html

Japan's Month Atop UN Security Council Starts with N. Korea Confusion, Somalia Short Shrift, Seikos Given as Gifts

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/unsc1japan020309.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 3 -- As Japan through its Ambassador Yukio Takasu took over the Presidency of the Security Council for February, many issues were left of its program of work until acknowledged in response to questions. North Korea, for example, was not listed.

But when Inner City Press asked about that nation's break of relations with its southern neighbor and renewed saber or missile rattling, Ambassador Takasu said that, "putting on his Japanese chapeau," these issues are of concern and may arise this month. When asked about reports in the Japanese press that Japan is moving to limit the UN Development Program's re-entry into North Korea, Ambassador Takasu responded as if he had not seen the stories, launching into a justification of supporting UNDP's re-entry. So are the stories, here and there, wrong?

In describing the footnotes of his program, Amb. Takasu said that "peace and security in Africa" meant the Djibouti - Eritrea conflict. But when Inner City Press asked why Zimbabwe was not listed, Amb. Takasu said that the phrase included Zimbabwe as well.

No mention was made of the Council's endorsement of the Congolese - Ugandan and South Sudanese offensive against the Lord's Resistance Army, which has gone afoul and led to a slew of massacres by the LRA.

And at the stakeout on Tuesday, after Takasu recited that the Council condemns violence in Somalia against the AMISOM force, Inner City Press asked if for a response to reports that AMISOM peacekeepers just killed at least 25 civilians. That did not come up, Ambassador Takasu said.

At the UN's noon briefing on Tuesday, Inner City Press asked UN Deputy Spokesperson Marie Okabe if Ban Ki-moon or his envoy to Somalia had any comment on this killing of civilians. I don't have anything on that today, Ms. Okabe said. We'll be waiting.

Earlier in the month, Takasu held an hour-long briefing about Japan's goals on this Security Council. None of the other four new members held such a briefing; in fact, they've yet to even speak at the stakeout.

In his January 9 briefing, Ambassador Takasu said that the Council should first of all be efficient, and transparent only in the service thereof. Some have an ideology of transparency, he said, adding "I'm not sure." Inner City Press asked about the scandal at the UN Information Center in Tokyo. Video here, from Minute 37:39. Ambassador Takasu said "we are very concerned by the report of the board of auditors, we want a very clear investigation and conclusion [and] full accountability." Video here, from Minute 42:02.

But in the weeks since, nothing has been said. Nor about a similar scandal at another UN center in Japan. The analysis is, Japan so wants a permanent seat on the Security Council, it will allow or cover-up irregularities and even the theft of its taxpayers' money, in order to play nice with the UN.

Ambassador Takasu is articulate, and has seen the UN from a variety of position, including with UN Peacekeeping from 1993 to 1997. He's set some goals for February, to be timed by the Seiko watches he gave Tuesday to all Council members. We'll monitor progress on the goals.

Update on UNIC from Tokyo: There was an important development regarding the financial irregularities of UNIC Tokyo at the Parliament, House of Representatives Standing Budget Committee on 13 January. The issues of UNIC Tokyo were taken up in the questions by Representative Mr. Nobuto Hosaka to which the Foreign Minister expressed “regret” over UNIC Tokyo’s keeping a 5 million yen time deposit for many years, which originated from Japanese contribution to UNIC Tokyo, and announced that the Japanese government has decided to cut approximately 10 million yen from next year’s voluntary contribution to UNIC Tokyo’s Trust Fund, PJA.

Mr. Nobuto Hosaka, Member of the House of Representatives of the Social Democratic Party of Japan also raised the issue of procurement of plane tickets by UNIC Tokyo for DPKO from 1999 to 2007. The tickets were for Japanese PKO travelling to UNDOF in which every bid (around 16 million yen annually) was granted to the same travel agent by UNIC Tokyo.

As noted, Amb. Takasu working in UN DPKO from 1993 to 1997. If he wants to get to the bottom of this one, and to be transparent, this would be the month. Developing.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/unsc1japan020309.html

As Charles Taylor Case Winds Down, Africa-Only Focus Clouds ICC's Future

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1justrapp020209.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 2 -- The prosecutor of Charles Taylor came Monday to New York to brag about this case, a full year before he expects a verdict. Charles Rapp, previously with the International Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda, said he expects a motion to dismiss but predicted it will be rejected by the judges of the Special Court for Sierra Leone.

Inner City Press asked about defense arguments that prospective defense witnesses are afraid of being put on the UN's travel ban and asset freeze lists. Rapp was dismissive of this as well, saying that those already on the lists can, upon notice, travel to testify. But what about those not on the list, who think that any open testimony in support of Taylor's defense would land them on the list? Rapp did not answer this. Video here, from Minute 10:57.

Inner City Press asked about the impact of the conviction, in Federal court in Miami, of Taylor's son for torture. Rapp said this helps give assurance that Liberia will remain "Taylor-free," as he put it. He noted that there were two witnesses in the U.S. torture trial who brought "Sierra Leone" facts to the case otherwise about torture in Liberia itself, including a Sierra Leonean rebel who had fled to Liberia.

Broader, Inner City Press asked Rapp to respond to the criticism, most recently by the African Union's Jean Ping, that international criminal justice is disproportionately targeted at Africa, and excludes, in the four examples Ping gave, Gaza, Georgia, Colombia and Iraq. Rapp first defended his court, pointing out that other than Taylor, the other defendants were tried in Africa. Then he went broader, arguing both that since more African nations than others joined the International Criminal Court, the result was to be expected, and that the ICC's first three cases were "on invitation" by the Congo, Uganda and the Central African Republic. Video here, from Minute 20:25.

But ICC prosecutor Jose Moreno Ocampo has bragged that he invited the African leaders to refer these cases to him. To respond to an African critique by saying, African nations joined, brings up the possibility of countries deciding to unjoin. Moreno Ocampo has said he is looking at Colombia, but he's also said he's impressed with Colombian justice. Now ICC indictee Bosco Ntaganda has appeared at a press confernce with Congolese officials, and appears on the verge of being integrated into the Congolese Army. Where is Moreno Ocampo? As he reportedly bungles the Congo's Lubanga case, his eyes are on Sudan.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1justrapp020209.html

UN Abductions in Pakistan, Like Fowler's in Niger, Shrouded in Security Secrets, Selective Disclosures

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un6fowler020209.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 2 -- As the UN maintained its silence on the disappearance of its Canadian envoy Robert Fowler in Niger on December 13, Monday it shielded another abduction in secrecy, that of John Solecki, an American representative of the UN refugee agency in Quetta, Pakistan, during which another UN employee, Syed Hashim, was killed. Three days after reporting the background statement of a Permanent Five Ambassador of the UN Security Council that Fowler "is alive," Inner City Press asked the UN to confirm that is its understanding. "I have nothing further to add," UN Deputy Spokesperson Marie Okabe said. "As soon as I have news I'll let you know." Video here, from Minute 22:08.

But Ms. Okabe's associate Farhan Haq was quoted in the Canadian press that Ban Ki-moon met with Fowler's wife Mary, a piece of news that was never said at a noon briefing nor conveyed to Inner City Press or others. Inner City Press on Monday asked if Ban had met with the families of Louis Guay or driver Soulmania Mounkaila. Despite Haq's on the record comment as to Fowler, Ms. Okabe did not answer about the other two.

Regarding Quetta, Inner City Press asked what the UN's security phase is. "That's not something we'd make public," Ms. Okabe said. Video here, from Minute 21:55.

But the phase in Quetta was disclosed in an October 2008 news article which stated that

"recommendations enhancing the Security Phase were sent to the UN headquarters in New York. They said the Pakistani authorities concerned tried to convince the UN not to enhance the Security Phase in Pakistan, as it would hurt the status of the country internationally. But they failed to convince the UN headquarters and the secretary-general eventually approved enhancing the security phase in some parts of Pakistan from phase-II to phase-III. A senior UN official, when contacted by The News, said following the declaration of Security Phase-III in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, nine districts of Balochistan, including the provincial capital Quetta, the spouses and children of the international staff of the UN would be required to be relocated temporarily."

What security did Messrs. Solecki and Hashim have?

What was and is the UN Security phase in Niger?

Why was there no UN security with Fowler and his two companions as they traveled through Niger?

The questions pile up, and the UN stays silent.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un6fowler020209.html

UN's Capital Master Plan Might Drive Press Out, From Bid Openings to Cost Overruns, Master Planner Adlerstein Speaks

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/cmp1pressout020209.html

UNITED NATIONS, February 2 -- As the plan to renovate the UN's headquarters plods forward, it remains $97 million over-budget, not counting $160 million in late-arising "associated costs." The director of the UN Capital Master Plan, Michael Adlerstein, briefed the press on Monday, reading the $97 million figure from notes and acknowledging the associated costs only in response to questions.

At least he answered that question. When Inner City Press asked Adlerstein about the proposal that the UN for the first time impose rent charges on journalists, which would have the effect of driving smaller, independent and developing world media out of the UN, he said he would not comment on camera, nor take a position on the matter. Video here, from Minute 44:52.

Likewise, after he had described ostensibly transparent procurement actions by the UN's general contractor, Skanska, he was asked if the Press can observe the bid openings. "We don't invite the press to bid openings," Adlerstein answered. Video here, from Minute 57:44.

But the Procurement Division allowed Press attendance at the bid opening for the privatization of a portion of the UN Pension Fund. How much more so the expenditure of $1.87 billion in global taxpayers' funds, overseen by a UN-selected contractor not only described as "Skanska scandal" in Argentina, but more recently sued for by a worker for lung cancer? Click here for that.

While not asked of Adlerstein during his press conference, the UN's expenditure for a ventilation system for cigarette smoking in its basement Vienna Cafe -- where Adlerstein said the Security Council stakeout will be -- now seems all the more wasteful when signs have gone up directed smokers to their designated area, down a long hall and overlooking the East River. Smoking has continued, with no end in sight. Under the CMP, regular staff will work in bullpens while high UN officials will get private offices. All the better to smoke in. Adlerstein called the UN's relations with the City of New York complicated but positive. We will continue to follow this.

Footnotes: Inner City Press first reported on this move by Ban Ki-moon's UN to charge rent to the press in connection with the head of UN Management, Angela Kane, click here for that. At the time, the Press was told that such a move without not be made without agreement by the chiefs of the Department of Public Information. Now Adlerstein is in the mix, but won't comment on camera. Who then will be making this decision? We will continue to follow and report on it.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/cmp1pressout020209.html

Banker Allison of BB&T in Meltdown Misdirection, Subprime Loans Were Shielded

Byline: Matthew R. Lee of Inner City Press on Wall Street
www.innercitypress.com/cra1allison020109.html

SOUTH BRONX, February 1 -- Given the hundreds of billions of dollars being thrown at banks in response to the subprime lending-triggered meltdown, holding accountable those who turned American finance down the subprime path would seem to be important. Conservatives blame the Community Reinvestment Act, saying that this law enacted in 1977 to combat the redlining of and refusal to lend in inner city areas was something of a time bomb, set to explode 30 years later.

But the explosive growth of subprime lending took place in parts of financial holding companies which are not covered by CRA, like Citigroup's CitiFinancial and similar consumer finance subsidiary in Wells Fargo and HSBC, purchased as Household International. The subprime loans were securitized by investment banks not only like the defunct or swallowed Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns and Merrill Lynch, but also Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, entirely outside of CRA, before they ran to the Federal Reserve to get their bailout money.

One tier down the world of finance, the chairman of regional bank BB&T John Allison gave a speech on January 29 in which he blamed the CRA for the financial crisis. This is more than a little ironic, given BB&T's engagement under Allison in subprime lending. When the Bronx-based Fair Finance Watch documented to the Federal Reserve that BB&T's banks referred turned-down loan applicants to their high-cost subprime affiliate Lendmark Financial Services, during the public comment period on BB&T's application for approval to acquire Georgia's Main Street Banks, the Federal Reserve ignored the issues. Click here for 2006 coverage from Inner City Press, and here in 2009 for Lendmark's own website, still reciting "non-conforming mortgage loans" from "104 branch locations throughout Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Delaware."

Click here for the Federal Reserve approval order, which recited from the comments of Fair Finance Watch

"concern about referrals of loan applicants to Lendmark Financial Services ('LFS'), a nonbank subsidiary of BB&T that makes subprime loans. BB&T has represented that it might refer to LFS applications denied by a BB&T subsidiary bank that do not meet the bank's underwriting guidelines. Before making a referral, however, these applications undergo an internal second-review procedure. In addition, BB&T notes that LFS has a policy to refer applicants who meet the Freddie Mac underwriting guidelines to BB&T's subsidiary banks."

But as Inner City Press noted, BB&T's referrals up and down do not use the same standard. On fringe finance the Federal Reserve said that Fair Finance Watch

"expressed concern about BB&T's relationships with unaffiliated pawn shops and other nontraditional providers of financial services. As a general matter, the activities of the consumer finance businesses identified by the commenter are permissible, and the businesses are licensed by the states where they operate. BB&T has stated that it does not focus on marketing credit services to such nontraditional providers and that it makes loans to those firms under the same terms, circumstances, and due diligence procedures applicable to BB&T's other small business borrowers."

BB&T admitted in its responses into the record before the Federal Reserve relationships with 45 payday and other fringe financiers. BB&T under Allison ran headlong into subprime -- as Fair Finance Watch and then the Fed noted, in its order

"A commenter asserted that the Board should, in the context of the current proposal, review BB&T's recently announced plans to acquire the assets of FSB Financial Ltd. ('FSB'), Arlington, Texas, a nonbanking company that purchases automobile-loan portfolios. The FSB acquisition is not related to the current proposal. Moreover, if the FSB acquisition is consummated under authority of section 4(k) of the BHC Act, the acquisition would not require prior approval of the Federal Reserve System. BB&T would require prior Federal Reserve System approval if the acquisition were proposed under sections 4(c)(8) and 4(j) of the BHC Act, and the transaction would be reviewed in light of the requirements and standards discussed above."

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 amended the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 and made it easier for subprime lenders to be acquired with no prior review by the Federal Reserve, no public comment period, no CRA review. BB&T John Allison's fulimations notwithstanding, that deregulatory GLB Act, passed in part to legalize after the fact the merger that created Citigroup, is the statute investigators should be looking at. And the acts of subprime-hungry bankers like John Allison of BB&T. We'll have more on this meltdown misdirection, in the spirit of accountability.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/cra1allison020109.html

With UN Silent on Fowler, Ambassador Whispers, "He's Alive" in Niger

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un5fowler013009.html

UNITED NATIONS, January 30 -- With the UN's silence about the disappearance of its envoy to Niger, Robert Fowler, growing stranger by the day, Inner City Press on January 29 made inquiries in and out of the UN. Outside the Security Council chamber, Inner City Press asked outgoing Council president Jean-Maurice Ripert of France if Fowler and his colleagues were raised in that morning's closed-down session on international humanitarian law including the protection of UN personnel, or earlier in the month. "Not publicly," Ripert answered.

Later, at a reception a block from the UN, Inner City Press and a colleague asked the lead Ambassador of a Permanent Five member of the Security Council about Fowler's status. He was asked, "is Fowler alive?"

"Yes," the Ambassador answered.

"How do you know?"

"You asked, and I answered. I cannot say more. But we do not have immediate fear for Mr. Fowler's safety. But no one speaks about it. It's quite extraordinary."

[Ed.'s note: the above was quickly picked up, without attribution and therefore double UNsourced, here.]

Inner City Press has asked about Fowler at the UN's noon briefing a half a dozen times. Responses have ranged from "please respect the privacy of his family" to "we have nothing new to report." See December 19 video here, from Minute 10:45. Afterwards off-camera, a senior UN official told Inner City Press to stop asking, it might make "insurance problems."

The UN Development Program, whose driver Soulmania Mounkaila along with Louis Guay was also abducted, has refused comment, including on why no UN security accompanied the trio on their way to and from a Canadian-owned gold mine.

There are theories about French nuclear power deals in Canada and Nigerois uranium; some point to President Manadou Tanya's crackdown on anyone thought to be in communication with the Tuareg "Mouvement des Nigeriens pour la Justice" (MNJ). The Permanent Five ambassador who told Inner City Press on January 29 that Fowler and presumably his colleagues are alive said, "it's complicated." But the UN is not making it any better.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un5fowler013009.html

At UN, of Somalia and Sandwiches, Susan Rice at France's End of Presidency Shindig

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/dag1rice013009.html

UNITED NATIONS, January 30 -- A week after Sudan's mission to the UN invited hundreds of guests to a river-view reception to celebrate its take-over of the Group of 77 UN voting bloc, France's mission held a relatively smaller and more exclusive shindig, to mark the end of its Security Council presidency. Sudan's event was inside UN headquarters, catered by Aramark in the Delegates' Dining Room, complete with lobster tails and a Sudanese flag made of ice. France invited Council Ambassadors and select bureaucrats and journalists to its 44th floor office a block from the UN in 1 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza.

"This is from the best caterer in New York," French Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert said, gesturing at the macaroons and chiding a reporter who confused them with meringue. Waiters, one of them German, circulated with champagne. The buzz of the evening was the wait for Susan Rice. We have to tell her, Ripert said, that most Ambassadors leave after the first hour.

Hour three of the reception approached when Susan Rice showed up. Jounalists quickly swarmed around her. Her staff had promised Q&A outside the Council in the morning, which then never took place. But now the questions were personal. One reporter asked if her husband worked at NBC. Ms. Rice shook her head. ABC, she said, with George Stephanopoulos. She noted that she is the only female Permanent Representative on the Council.

Inner City Press asked about Somalia, the incongruity of the Obama administration being less willing to vote to send UN peacekeepers to that country that Bush in his final days.

Ms. Rice asked, why incongruous? The US has a history in Somalia. And so does Susan Rice.

When Inner City Press asked about the Somali Transitional Federal Government's loss of control of Baidoa, Rice said, what is this, a press conference? She's yet to hold one. We hope to explore these issue on the record at the stakeout, and not then at receptions. At this one, Rice jokingly asked for canape recommendations; Inner City Press noted again that Zagat's Mark Kornblau is said to be the pick for the US Mission's spokesman, as memorialized for now in this one and only report. To that we can add this tidbit from a source inside the mission: the Zagats are big donors to the Democratic Party.

Rice's deputy Alejandro Wolff, who also attended last week's Sudan event, chatted with UK Permanent Representative John Sawers, then with Ripert in French about the wonders of Los Angeles. Ripert said that during France's six months atop the European Union, there were 650 meetings of internal coordination. "C'est un travail de fou," he said: it's work for a crazy man. The UN's head of management Angela Kane came and went. Outside the city lights swirled. It felt like a new era.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/dag1rice013009.html

UN's Gambari Is Not Sure to Meet Than Shwe, Myanmar Refugees Are Sold Out as Courtesy by UNHCR

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/undpa1myanmar013009.html

UNITED NATIONS, January 30 -- The UN on January 30 confirmed that envoy Ibrahim Gambari is traveling to Myanmar from January 31 through February 4. What they would not say, however, is who Gambari will meet with. Inner City Press asked if, unlike Gambari's last trip, he has an appointment with regime strongman Than Shwe. UN Deputy Spokesperson Marie Okabe said only, senior government officials. But how senior?

Earlier in the month, Inner City Press asked for the UN's response to the National League for Democracy, that they will not discuss the planned 2010 election without discussion the 2008 constitution, adopted during the chaos after Cyclone Nargis. The UN does not want to answer that question publicly. Perhaps it will be like Gambari's last trip, with embarrassing questions piling up while the UN remain silent.

This is a pattern with the UN. Agence France Presse of January 30 reports that the UN's refugee agency UNHCR refused to comment on the condition of teenage refugees from Myanmar held in Thailand, out of "courtesy" to Thailand's government. Inner City Press asked Ms. Okabe to confirm or deny the AFP account. Ms. Okabe said, you have yesterdays' hand-out. Yes, but is the AFP not true? Does UNHCR decline to tell the truth out of courtesy to governments? It wouldn't be the first time.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/undpa1myanmar013009.html