As UN Council Meets on W. Sahara, Ill Haidar Is Freed, Inner City Press Told by Sources

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive
www.innercitypress.com/un6wsahara121709.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 17, updated -- As the UN Security Council kept the request for a briefing on Western Sahara in the shadows on Thursday, word reached Inner City Press that seriously ill hunger striker Aminatou Haidar is being released and will return to Western Sahara. "It's good news," the well placed diplomatic source told Inner City Press.

Moments later, a Security Council ambassador emerging from the closed door consultations told Inner City Press of a cable from Spain, that the plane has left.

Asked if the Council will continue to consider the request for a briefing, the source said yes. But several non-permanent Council members told Inner City Press that "Costa Rica doesn't have nine votes" in favor of its request, if it called for a procedural vote.

Inner City Press asked U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice, as she stood at the Council stakeout microphone, for the U.S. position on whether the Council should have a briefing on Western Sahara. Ambassador Rice walked away from the microphone, the question hanging in the air. "You have your answer," another correspondent told Inner City Press. A request to Mission staff on Wednesday likewise yielded no answer. Watch this site.

Update: as the Council consultations got out, an Ambassador who favored a briefing on Western Sahara said there will now be one. "When they can't defeat you, they go along," he said. The French Ambassador Gerard Araud is said to have adamantly opposed the briefing -- but lost. Of course, the decision came after Ms. Haidar was freed. Inner City Press is told she is returning to Western Sahara on a Spanish plane, with her doctor and sister.

The U.S. said it was at a "sensitive" moment, and asked for delay. Three days or so, although it's left up to the Burkina Faso presidency. Before the end of the year -- when Burkina Faso leaves the presidency, and the Council...

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un6wsahara121709.html

UN's Doss Claims Email Was to Clarify, But It Asked for Rule Breaking, Nepotism

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/doss8boot121609.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 16 -- Five months ago, the UN announced it would investigate a request by the head of its Mission to the Congo Alan Doss to be shown "leeway" so that his daughter Rebecca Doss could be given a job at the UN Development Program.

Having fruitlessly asked the UN's top peacekeeper Alain Le Roy last week for the status of the investigation of Doss, who Le Roy supervised, Inner City Press on December 16 asked new UN spokesman Martin Nesirky for the status, and why it would take the UN five months to investigate a five line email. Mr. Nesirky directed Inner City Press to "ask Alan Doss."

This seems strange, since even at the UN Doss does not openly control the investigation of himself. The investigation of nepotism was assigned to the UN's own Office of Internal Oversight Services as well as UNDP. At to the latter, UNDP is investigating itself, as Rebecca Doss was in fact given the job, and the requested "leeway" shown.

Doss appeared at the Security Council stakeout on Wednesday, initially fending off questions about his seeming support of war criminals, asserted by UN experts and human rights groups. Inner City Press asked for the microphone to ask "a question about corruption."

While Doss took the question -- video here at Minute 15:08 -- he deferred his answer to the absolute end of his stakeout appearance, when he could make a statement and leave without any follow up. He said that he understands the investigation as "being completed... in due course."

Then Doss said, for the cameras, that "my email was not sent to get my daughter a job but to clarify my contractual status with UNDP." Video here, from Minute 17:40.

It is time, as they say, to go to the video tape. Doss' email, first obtained and published by Inner City Press in July, was sent on April 20, 2009 to Ligia Elizondo, the Deputy Director of UNDP's Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific. The email stated:

"Dear Ligia,

This is just to inform that I have advised UNDP in writing that I will transfer to DPKO effective 1 July 2009. I have also spoken to Martin and advised him that I cannot transfer before that date because the new DPKO contractual arrangements only come into effect on the 1 July. He informed me that the ‘deadline’ for the ALD contracts is 15 May so the period of overlap would only be 6 weeks (assuming Rebecca’s ALD would come into force on the 14th May at the latest). I have asked for some flexibility, which would allow a very long serving and faithful UNDP staff member a little lee-way before he rides off into the sunset.

Becky is very excited about the prospect of going to work for you so I hope that it will work out. With my warm regards and thanks,

Alan.

Alan Doss
Special Representative of the Secretary-General United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo"

E-mail in docx text format - download

Doss mischaracterized this email in his December 16 statement. In the email, he did not simply "clarify his contractual status with UNDP." Rather, he acknowledged a contractual status that, by the rules, made it illegal for UNDP to hire his daughter. Then he asked that the rules be ignored: "I have asked for some flexibility, which would allow a very long serving and faithful UNDP staff member a little lee-way before he rides off into the sunset."

The email presupposes that his daughter would get the job.

Given Doss' high position in the UN, while such an assumption might have been accurate, it and the message were entirely inappropriate. That the UN has done nothing yet calls into question not only Mr. Doss' leadership of MONUC, but the UN's credibility. Watch this site.

Footnote: what is perhaps worst or most telling in l'affaire Doss is that the person whose job was taken to be given to the Congo envoy's daughter, when he complained, was pepper sprayed and, after he fought back, arrested. He is still being prosecuted. And highly placed Alan Doss has done nothing.

Another indication of this is MONUC's inaction on reports that its aid to the Congolese army is being diverted and re-sold. How can the UN demand good governance when this is the head of its largest peacekeeping mission?

Since beginning this series in July, Inner City Press has heard from current and former UN staff who served under Doss in Cote d'Ivoire and Liberia as well as Congo. Nearly all speak of rule breaking by Doss, often in the context of his wife, of the misuse of UN resources, of "a fish rotting from the head." That such behavior was rewarded, with the top post in the UN's largest and most controversial peacekeeping mission, speaks badly of the organization, as does its continuing inaction. Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/doss8boot121609.html

Western Sahara and Aminatou Haidar's Failing Kidneys in UN Half Light Limbo, Of Embassies

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/un5wsahara121609.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 16 -- Through the half light outside the UN Security Council, Morocco's Ambassador Mohammed Loulichki passed on Wednesday afternoon. Inner City Press asked him, "How about a briefing?" The reference was to the request, first made by Costa Rica, supported by Uganda, Austria and to varying degrees others, for a briefing on Western Sahara in light of the extended hunger strike of human rights activist Aminatou Haidar.

"There is no need for a briefing," Morocco's Ambassador replied. "Everyone knows everything in the UN... transparency."

Further inquiry by Inner City Press finds that after Costa Rica made its proposal, and even suggested it would call for a vote, Mexico stepped forward for its own reasons with a compromise proposal, that this month's Council president Michel Kafando of Burkina Faso "reach out" to Morocco, the Frente Polisario and envoy Christopher Ross.

The first two visited with Kafando on Wednesday, with the Frente Polisario presenting a letter among other things urging "the Members of the UNSC to immediately intervene to avoid a tragic end which will haunt forever the peace process."

Ms. Haidar, according to an Inner City Press source who viewed a text message she sent on Wednesday, is suffering nausea and pain in his kidneys.

Christopher Ross, UN sources tell Inner City Press, is in California on family business.

Ban Ki-moon, who met without success with Morocco's foreign minister asking for some humanitarian move, was in Copenhagen, speaking

We have more, as well, on Mexico's position, on which we reported yesterday. The Frente Polisario maintains an embassy in Mexico, despite Moroccan pressure to close it.

Perhaps due to language as well as historical leftist and anti-colonial ties, Polisario is on the move in Latin America, opening embassies in Panama and Uruguay. Meanwhile, it had to close its embassy in Kenya, due it is said to pressure not only from Morocco but also Saudi Arabia.

To return full circle to Wednesday afternoon's meeting, Burkina Faso was part of a move, driven by Morocco and France, to ejected Western Sahara from the African Union. It didn't work, but it happened.

The second of the Burkina Faso presidency's two meetings ended with two options on the horseshoe table: no briefing, as urged by Morocco, or a briefing about Ms. Haidar and the wider situation. How would the choice be made between the two, and what role would be played by France, which in other circumstances has demanded briefings about Myanmar human rights activist Aung San Suu Kyi? Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un5wsahara121609.html

UN's Doss Won't Explain His Support of War Criminal, Playing Out the Clock in Congo

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/doss1kimia121609.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 16 -- The head of the UN Mission in the Congo Alan Doss, under fire for assisting and covering up war crime by former rebel units of the Congolese Army, tried to defuse the critique on Wednesday by renaming the so-called Kimia II operation. While the UN said its Mission will now only "hold ground" in Eastern Congo, Doss' testimony to the Security Council acknowledged MONUC will still "undertak[e] focused interventions" -- that is, targeted strikes.

MONUC works with units of the Congolese army which the UN's own experts as well as human rights groups say are war criminals. Inner City Press asked Doss, directly, why he has continued to work with Colonel Innocent Zimulinda (a/k/a Zimurinda), accused for murder and rape by UN rapporteur Philip Alston and illegal mining by the UN Experts.

Doss did not answer why he continues to work with Zimurinda. Inner City Press asked about a list of 15 presumptive war criminals in the Congolese Army that MONUC itself drew up and gave to the Joseph Kabila government, but whom MONUC still supports. While saying it is the government's role to discipline, Doss did not explain why he continues to work with the unit commanders on his own list of human rights violators.

Similarly, when asked about the leaked UN Office of Legal Affairs memos, two of which Inner City Press has put online, Doss claimed that the memos offer opinions that MONUC had to put into practice. But the memos say Doss should have had a policy much earlier on, and should suspend support to whole operations with violations, which he has not done.

Doss himself is the subject of a nepotism investigation that will be the subject of a separate article.

But sources in MONUC describe his leadership as compromised, and say that the UN investigation is being drawn out until Doss leaves, perhaps in March. Human rights groups favor new leadership, circulating the names of former peacekeeping chief Jean Marie Guehenno among others.

While the Council is now considering a resolution which would extend MONUC's mandate for only five months, Inner City Press is informed that permanent member China, which now has a large mining and infrastructure deal with Joseph Kabila, was urging a mere "technical roll over." Others blame Doss' support of human rights violators on the push by his native UK, as well as the U.S., to destroy the FDLR rebels at any cost. We will have more on this.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/doss1kimia121609.html

As Western Sahara's Aminatou Haidar Starves, Mexican Diplomats Call It Sensitive -- For Them

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/un4wsahara121609.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 16 -- A day after this month's UN Security Council president ducked the Press after consultations on Western Sahara and the hunger strike of Aminatou Haidar, Inner City Press on Tuesday got him on camera explaining what took place. Through a translator, Ambassador Michel Kafando of Burkina Faso said that while some members want a briefing on Western Sahara, others oppose it. As a compromise, he is reaching out to UN envoy Christopher Ross, who is traveling to New York. Video here.

Afterwards, Inner City Press asked Mexico's Ambassador Claude Heller for his country's position on the briefing. We have to be cautious, Heller said. As such, his position differed from that of Costa Rica, Uganda and Austria, which have requested the briefing.

Subsequent reporting by Inner City Press gleans that Western Sahara is an issue for opposition parties in Mexico. It's not so much that the Frente Polisario has a crack diplomatic corps overseas. Rather, the issue of independence for Western Sahara is iconic for the Left. Hugo Chavez has spoken on the issue; that Cuba supports the Frente goes without saying.

So governments like Mexico's, by no means the worst in this regard, just want to stay out of the cross hairs. When they call the Western Sahara issue "sensitive," they are not referring to the dynamic between the parties, but rather to their own domestic politics.

Lost in all this is that the people of Western Sahara were promised a referendum on independence, under UN administration. The promise has been broken. And the stink will not go away.

Footnote: Earlier this year, while Mexico initially raised in the Security Council Sri Lanka's "bloodbath on the beach," after Sri Lanka made reference to the "sensitive, internal" matter of Chiapas, Mexico in fact gave some assurances to the Sri Lankan government that it would modify its position. This is how the Security Council works, or doesn't. This is how and why the members make decisions.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un4wsahara121609.html

As Killing of Those Seeking to Surrender in Sri Lanka Is Alleged, Will UN Investigate?

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/lanka1warcrimes121409.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 14 -- In the final days in Sri Lanka of what even the UN called the bloodbath on the beach, there were reports that when some in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam sought to surrender with white flags, they were killed by the Army. The UN's Vijay Nambiar, it was reported, had urged the LTTE officials to come out waving white flags.

Now, General Sarath Fonseka has confirmed that Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, presidential brother and Defense Secretary, ordered his forced to execute even those seeking to surrender, in violation of the Geneva Conventions.

Months ago the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who has met with all three Rajapaksa brothers, spoke vaguely about an independent international inquiry into war crimes in Sri Lanka. While he seemed to count on the Rajapaksas to credibly investigate themselves, this has not happened.

Even since killing of tens of thousands of civilians in Sri Lanka in the first five months of this year, Ban has sent a group of UN investigators to Guinea to probe the killing of 157 civilians there.

While his excuse for the seeming double standard is that neighboring African states requested the Guinea inquiry, can the UN accept that human rights only matter if the neighbors say so? Watch this site.

Footnote: the North Korean cargo airplane found full of weapons in Bangkok, in violation of UN sanctions, reported had a Sri Lankan connection. Will the UN remain silent about this, too? Ban Ki-moon was asked about the North Korean plane during his end of the year press conference on Monday -- the questions above were not allowed -- and Ban said it is up to the Security Council. And so the buck passing continues.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/lanka1warcrimes121409.html

UN Installs Cameras to Film Reporters' New Offices, No Whistleblower Zone

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/un1panopticon121409.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 14, updated -- As UN correspondents were moved over the weekend to smaller offices without floor to ceiling walls, the UN's lack of respect or understanding for independent media became clear. Directly above the journalists' cubicles, Inner City Press discovered a spherical black security camera. Even investigative journalists meeting with UN whistleblowers would be filmed under this arrangement.

One long time correspondent, when Inner City Press pointed out the camera, called it "creepy." Another asked how it is different than the UN bugging journalists' telephone conversations or reading their mail.

UN 360 degree security camera over journalists' cubicles

Those in charge of the relocation space for the media during the UN's Capital Master Plan renovation have problematic relations with independent media.

CMP chief Michael Adlerstein, for example, demanded of the Press "did you make a mistake" regarding reporting of a death at the UN, and asked "how should you be punished?" He has also barred the Press from his Town Hall meetings about the CMP.

The head of the Department of Management, Angela Kane, convened and summarized a meeting in May 2009 at which the UN's top legal officer, spokesperson and speech writer strategized on legal threats against three publications, including this one, which they sought to be removed from the Google News data base.

As one Greek correspondent has confirmed, with documents leaked from within the UN Department of Political Affairs, the UN system including the UN Development Program pays and controls many of the journalists which cover it.

But to actually monitor and film in their offices the journalists who are trying to hold the UN accountable to member states and the public is a new low. Watch this site.

Footnote: one wonders, too, if this means that Ambassadors and other diplomats will also be surveilled.

Update I: a UN official with responsibility over the swing space into which UN correspondents are being moved has argued to Inner City Press that the cameras are only there to film the doorways, to see who enters. But they are round and film 360 degrees. Watch this site.

Update II: one of the surveillance cameras has been moved, after a threat to cover it with paper or disable it. But if one has thus been moved, shouldn't all be moved or removed? Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1panopticon121409.html

UN Violates Law in Congo, Leaked UN Legal Memo Shows, Doss on Grill in NY

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/ola1monuc121309.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 13 -- What are the consequences if the UN violates international law, as defined by the UN's own Office of Legal Affairs? The question is now squarely raise by an October 2009 memorandum to the UN Mission in the Congo (MONUC) from chief UN legal office Patricia O'Brien, obtained by Inner City Press and published online here.

In the October 12 memo, marked "Priority Confidential" and addressed to top UN peacekeeper Alain Le Roy, MONUC's policies for providing assistance to the Congolese army (FARDC) are found to violate international law. Specifically, MONUC's policies, then and now, do not provide for suspending assistance to operations of the FARDC in which laws are violated, but rather only partial suspension to particular units.

OLA notes that MONUC, even in the cases (so far only one) in which is suspends assistance to a particular unit, might just increase support to other units in the operation. Before publishing this memo, Inner City Press asked UN Spokesman Martin Nesirky for an answer, and received a three paragraph UN Peacekeeping response which does not even address OLA's critique of the lack of a policy for initiating support to an FARDC operation.

The UN's own Special Rapporteur on extra judicial execution Philip Alston has noted that MONUC worked with - and continues to work with - units under Colonel Zimulinda, which he charges with murder and mass rape.

These decisions are made by the chief of MONUC Alan Doss, embroiled since the summer in a nepotism scandal in which as exposed by Inner City Press he asked the UN Development Program to show him "leeway" and give his daughter a job, in violation of applicable rules.

Doss is scheduled to be in New York from December 14 on, to brief the Council -- but perhaps hide from the Press -- on December 16. In the interim there will be press conferences about among other things MONUC's violations of international law under Doss' tenure. Watch this site.

In Congo, UN's Doss under fire, legal violations not shown

As noted, Inner City Press before publishing this October 2009 OLA memo asked the UN about reports its own Office of Legal Affairs advised MONUC not to work with units of the Congolese army involved in these and other crimes. The response:

Subj: your question on the DRC
From: unspokesperson-donotreply [at] un.org
To: Inner City Press
Sent: 12/10/2009 1:33:20 P.M. Eastern Standard Time

I. The tasks carried out by MONUC are determined by the Security Council. The mission has a mandate to provide support to the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC) in disarming illegal armed groups while protecting the civilian population. MONUC continues to give the highest priority to protection of civilians.

II. In furtherance of this mandate, MONUC and DPKO requested advice from the Office of Legal Affairs regarding the conditions governing their collaboration with the FARDC. In full transparency, the Secretariat and the Mission advised the Security Council of the risks involved and potential consequences of cooperating with the FARDC. The Security Council has repeatedly expressed their unanimous support for MONUC and for the joint operations with the FARDC against the FDLR, with full respect for International Humanitarian, Human Rights and Refugee Law.

III. After extensive consultations between the Secretariat the Mission and OLA, a policy was developed, setting out the conditions under which the Mission would support FARDC. This policy was transmitted to the DRC Government in November. It specifies that all MONUC participation in FARDC operations must be jointly planned and must respect international humanitarian law, human rights and refugee law. The policy also includes measures designed to improve FARDC performance as well as to prevent and sanctioning violations. This 'conditionality' provision is why the Mission suspended support to a specific FARDC unit believed to have been involved in the targeted killing of civilians in the Lukweti area of North Kivu.

But this response does not address the October 2009 memo, which says that MONUC should have had a policy before begin to support FARDC operations, and should suspend assistance to entire operations, rather that particular unit. Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/ola1monuc121309.html

IMF Studies Congo Deals by India and China, Quid Pro Quo by Canada at Paris Club on Mining, UN's Kivu Spin

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/imf1congo121109.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 11 -- The Congo battles for and is embattled by its natural resources, the International Monetary Fund made plain on Friday, perhaps inadvertently. During a press conference call explaining the IMF's $550 million facility to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the IMF's Brian Ames put the DRC's external debt at $13 billion.

Inner City Press asked about new debts to China and prospectively India, about conflict and mining in the East, and Canada's use in the Paris Club of debt relief to strong-arm for two of its mining firm.

Ames, who traveled to Kinshasa to negotiate about what he called the "China deal," described how with IMF pressure the deal decreased in size from $9 billion to $6.2 billion, with "only" $3 billion guaranteed by the Congolese government.

Even this guarantee, he emphasized, could only become due in 25 years. Still, the IMF urged the restructuring of the China deal. Inner City Press asked about a newly reported loan proposal by India to the Congo, for $263 million.

Ames said that was just an announcement, when Congolese officials were in India. To Inner City Press, a connection with the Congo's loud demand that Indian peacekeepers leave the UN Mission in the Congo, MONUC, is inescapable. India is paid by the UN and makes money on these peacekeepers. How does this sum relate to whatever concessional rates India will offer to the Congo?

Inner City Press asked what the IMF thinks of Canada's delay of a Paris Club vote on debt relief to the Congo based on contracts canceled to Canadian mining firms. Ames agreed that this had happened, saying it was really about 1st Quantum. But what about Toronto-based Lundin Mining, whose 24% stake in the Tenke Fungurume mine and its $1.8 billion contract are being "re-negotiated"?

After Ames said that Canada had, after a week's delay in November, agreed on a conference call to go forward with debt relief, Inner City Press him if 1st Quantum's contract was restored. No, he answered, but the Congolese government, which already won a round of litigation in its own courts, has agreed to international arbitration.

Ames' colleague, whom Ames instructed to "earn his paycheck," added the 1st Quantum has other mines in the Congo, that the dispute involves only one mine. Yes, but that is the $553 million Kolwezi copper and cobalt project.

Inner City Press asked if the IMF has concerns, similar to those evidence on the China deal, about the prospects of an Indian infrastructure loan. It is just a proposal, Ames said, adding that it would be for two hydro electric projects and one water project. Actually, the third would be $50 million towards the rehabilitation of the rail system in Kinshasa.

When Inner City Press asked about reports, including by the UN's Group of Experts, of illegal mining in the Kivus, Ames said that since this revenue stream has yet to go to the government, its diversion does not have an impact and is not considered. Actually, the UN Group's report shows that units of the Congolese army are involved in the illegal mining.

Inner City Press asked the UN about reports its own Office of Legal Affairs advised MONUC not to work with units of the Congolese army involved in these and other crimes. The response:

Subj: your question on the DRC
From: unspokesperson-donotreply [at] un.org
To: Inner City Press
Sent: 12/10/2009 1:33:20 P.M. Eastern Standard Time

I. The tasks carried out by MONUC are determined by the Security Council. The mission has a mandate to provide support to the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC) in disarming illegal armed groups while protecting the civilian population. MONUC continues to give the highest priority to protection of civilians.

II. In furtherance of this mandate, MONUC and DPKO requested advice from the Office of Legal Affairs regarding the conditions governing their collaboration with the FARDC. In full transparency, the Secretariat and the Mission advised the Security Council of the risks involved and potential consequences of cooperating with the FARDC. The Security Council has repeatedly expressed their unanimous support for MONUC and for the joint operations with the FARDC against the FDLR, with full respect for International Humanitarian, Human Rights and Refugee Law.

III. After extensive consultations between the Secretariat the Mission and OLA, a policy was developed, setting out the conditions under which the Mission would support FARDC. This policy was transmitted to the DRC Government in November. It specifies that all MONUC participation in FARDC operations must be jointly planned and must respect international humanitarian law, human rights and refugee law. The policy also includes measures designed to improve FARDC performance as well as to prevent and sanctioning violations. This 'conditionality' provision is why the Mission suspended support to a specific FARDC unit believed to have been involved in the targeted killing of civilians in the Lukweti area of North Kivu.

Let's remember that the IMF is ostensibly part of the UN system. We will continue to follow this -- watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/imf1congo121109.html

At UN, Asbestos Abatement Shutters Gift Shop, Tourists in the Dark, CMP Bumbles On

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/cmpgift1asbestos121109.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 11 -- Already embroiled in asbestos abatement snafus, the UN's Capital Master Plan reconstruction has hit a new low, literally. In the basement under the General Assembly on December 10, plaster fell in front of the UN Gift Shop while tourists were using it. Inner City Press was informed, but after UN spokespeople had left for the day. An article written that night contained what news there was.

On December 11, the gift shop as well as the book and coffee shops were all closed. Behind yellow "caution" tape, sheet plastic flapped. Tourists milled around, some asking Inner City Press why the book shop was not open.

While the CMP had canceled the day's noon briefing, Inner City Press went to the Spokesperson's Office, in the process of being dismantled, and asked for the UN's position on why the gift shop had been closed.

The UN provided Inner City Press with two statements, below.

First,

"On the GA-1B level a small amount of plaster fell down from the ceiling in front of the gift shop. As a precaution measure, since it was not immediately clear whether the plaster had been replaced before, or if it was still the original plaster which could contain asbestos, the area was evacuated and the fans in the area shut down. Our environmental consultant took samples of the material, and it turned out that the plaster that had fallen down does not contain asbestos. As a precaution the plaster around the spot where the material came down will be abated as soon as possible. After that the area will be reopened."

Then

"The asbestos abatement work was done faster than expected. All the necessary air samples were taken and analyzed, and the GA-1B Visitors' Concourse is ready for reoccupancy as of now. DPI and FCSC/CAS have been informed. They will decide when to reopen facilities, since the set-up for the work is still there. It will be removed starting at 1 p.m., but in any case the area is safe for reoccupancy."

The question is, with so many snafus by the UN, will the City of New York, which has already stopped public school children from entering the building, continue to allow public tours of the General Assembly? Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/cmpgift1asbestos121109.html

Galbraith Claims Disclosed Oil Interest to UN, Eide Leaked Before Leaving? Successor Tales

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/unama1leak121109.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 11 -- As the Norwegian press reports UN envoy to Afghanistan Kai Eide will leave the post in March if not before, the conflict between Eide and his former deputy Peter Galbraith has taken a new twist.

In an e-mail to Inner City Press, Galbraith claims that he disclosed to the UN his interest in a Kurdish oil field, and expresses "surprise that a Norwegian tabloid happened to write a story about it within a week of my Washington Post Outlook piece describing Kai Eide's role in downplaying the fraud in the Afghanistan elections."

The implication, spelled out by Galbraith's supporters, is that the UN and perhaps Kai Eide himself leaked Galbraith's financial information to the Norwegian press. Galbraith has refused, however, to release a copy of the financial disclosure form he filed with the UN.

Inner City Press has asked the UN if Galbraith disclosed the oil interest. UN Ethics Officer Robert Benson responded that Galbraith filed a form, but that its contents will not be disclosed, even to the UN's executive 38th floor, apparently. The financial disclosure forms are filed with PriceWaterhouseCoopers. It is unclear who in the UN system vets them for conflicts of interest.

Additionally, the Norwegian media which reported Galbraith's interest were following a story between the oil company DNO and the Kurdish Regional Government. During their course of their inquiry, they stumbled on documents reflecting an interest in the oil field by a company which only later was discovered to be controlled by Galbraith.

Still, UN officials have bad mouthed Galbraith both on and off the record. At a press conference at UN headquarters, the number two official of UN Peacekeeping Edmond Mulet said that Galbraith had an ulterior motive which would later be revealed. And a senior UN official from the 38th floor called UN correspondents to make them aware of the Norwegian stories.

While Eide unilaterally announced he will stay until March, the word from the 38th floor -- read, deputy chief of staff -- is that Eide will leave after the conference on Afghanistan.

A question is, who's next for the UN in Afghanistan? While Inner City Press joked on Friday with former Nepal envoy Ian Martin -- "next stop Kabul?" -- the smart money is on former UN envoy to Iraq Staffan de Mistura. The reasoning is telling: if the UN puts someone higher profile in, they will have to spend more on security. One wag also wondered whether de Mistura would bring his previous chief of staff with him.

Jean Marie Guehenno was said to be in the running, but apparently France is not lobbying for him. Inner City Press sought to question Mr. Guehenno at an event on the Congo one week ago, but he declined to answer questions. Zut alors!

Galbraith wrote to Inner City Press that:

Subj: Re: Press Q from UN: did you disclose oil interest
From: Peter Galbraith
To: Inner City Press

Dear Matthew,

I did disclose all financial holding and interests to the UN including the fact that I had a breach of contract claim in arbitration against DNO. (This is the accurate description of the interest and not as described in the NY Times.) The contents are confidential and, for lots of reasons, I intend to keep them that way. The key accusation in the NYT story--that I pushed through constitutional provisions for my own benefit is untrue and illogical. I was a private citizen and had no ability to push through anything. The NYT provides no source for this allegation and, in a breach of any standard of fairness, never asked me to respond to it.

My arrangement with DNO dates back to June 2004 or more than five years ago. I do find it surprising that a Norwegian tabloid happened to write a story about it within a week of my Washington Post Outlook piece describing Kai Eide's role in downplaying the fraud in the Afghanistan elections. But, I also find the UN's ever shifting public explanations for my firing also to be curious. Not one of them was ever mentioned to me at any time. And they all smell of desperation to come up with some rationale for firing a senior UN official who had a private disagreement with boss about whether UNAMA should be concerned about massive fraud in a UN funded and supported election.

On the chapter 6 stuff, you are all wet. If you read carefully the questions and answers, you will see they were replies to questions sent both to Amb Redman and me. They reflected the views of the US government, which I represented and not me personally. Since they were questions to the record, I may not have even seen them before they were submitted. (At this stage, I can't recall). The USG took the same position on enforcing the arms embargo as the UK, France, Germany and Russia. None felt legally obliged to report on violations. The only difference is that we were asked our view by the Croatians and the others were not. But their position and behaviour was the same. (except for Russia which was a major source of arms going to Croatia and Bosnia, in spite of the government's pro-Serb tilt.)

I appreciate very much your doggedness in pursuing the issue of how the UN handled the Afghan elelection fraud. Keep up the good work. Peter

Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/unama1leak121109.html

As Bloomberg Jokes of Media's Death, UN's Ban Lives It, Asbestos Links the Two

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/unnyc1holidays121109.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 11 -- Both the UN and New York's City Hall are covered by fewer and fewer mainstream journalists. At a December 10 event at Gracie Mansion, Mayor Michael Bloomberg joked that there were gatecrashers like at the White House, the proof being that they said they were with the New York Times Metro section, "clearly fake."

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, at a similar event on December 4, did not joke about the increasing flight of the press from the UN. That was left for master of ceremonies Richard Roth of CNN, who joked that soon the UN would only be covered by "the bearded blogger."

At the Gracie Mansion event, the joke by the New York Post's David Seifman was that there were only eight reporters present, the rest being publicists. Inner City Press, which attended both events because it covers both beats, was pitched even during Bloomberg's jokes by a promoter of hotels, from Crosby Street to Eighth Avenue and 44th Street and even the Bronx' City Island.

A running joke throughout the December 4 event was that the already begun gut rehabilitation of the UN building is releasing not only rodents but asbestos. As it happened, by December 10 the UN's contractor was furiously testing for asbestos release right by the UN's gift shop, which is open to the public.

Bloomberg's sister, the City's liaison to the UN, has already barred public school children from touring the UN's Conference Building. One wonders if she knows of the suspected release by the UN gift shop: some gift.

CNN's Roth got laughs, for example by suggesting that outgoing spokesperson Michele Montas go on a vacation to Club Med in Sri Lanka with this publication.

Seifman's jokes at Bloomberg included a Bronx reference, a gift certificate for Kingsbridge Armory which he called the Ruben Diaz Junior Mall. Seifman said Bloomberg would need the Bronx Democrats' American Express, available from Reverend Ruben Diaz Senior.

While at the UN there is discussion of a law pending in Uganda which would criminalize homosexuality, one wonders what the Reverend Diaz thinks of it. Inner City Press asked for Ban Ki-moon's position, and the first line was, "we have no specific opinion about domestic legislation" -- not true in the case of the cap and trade climate change proposals in the U.S. Congress. We will have more on this.

While Mr. Ban stood next to a blinking disco ball and used a TV screen, Bloomberg handed out gifts, for example a "Spanish by Bloomberg" dictionary and a City University of New York football helmet for a reporter heading into academia at CUNY. Ban joked that as his spokesperson he has wanted this reporter, but ended up with Martin Nesirky.

Nesirky, during his speech, said he had brought a gift from Austria: Mozart's golden balls, which he awarded to your truth for having, well, balls. Bloomberg's spokesman Stu Loeser joked that both his boss and Sarah Palin said that if God hadn't wanted people to eat animals, He wouldn't have made them out of meat.

As he handed out gifts, Bloomberg joked that he can buy anything -- read, the election. Afterwards, a UN official to whom Inner City Press compared the two events noted that Bloomberg is a billionaire. Perhaps the jokes too were bought.

The Gracie Mansion event avoided at least one obvious topic, Dominick Carter. Until recently the go-to TV show for NY politicians, now with the host convicted of domestic violence / attempted assault, there's a pothole on the Road to City Hall. Why no reference? Why no jokes? We will try to find out, watch this site.

Update: on Friday morning in the UN General Assembly basement, the gift, book and coffee shops were closed, yellow "Caution" tape blocking the way, sheet plastic flapping. Visitors wandered around asking Inner City Press why the shops were closed. We will seek an on the record answer.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/unnyc1holidays121109.html