On Myanmar, Team Obama Dodges, Critiques, Resigns Itself to Chinese and Indian Dominance

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, September 26, 2010 -- The Obama administration's less critical stand on the military government in Myanmar has been on display of late.

In the run up to the September 27 meeting at the UN of the Group of Friends of the Secretary General on Myanmar, Inner City Press has been asking a range of Obama administration officials what the US position in the meeting, and on Myanmar, will be.

First, Inner City Press asked the Myanmar question to a senior US official who gave a briefing to preview the General Debate. The official, who has spoken about Sudan, Iran and a range of other topics, said they hadn't been briefed on Myanmar.

Then at an on the record session with US State Department spokesman PJ Crowly on September 21, Inner City Press asked about the “meeting of the Group of Friends and the Secretary General on Myanmar – Burma on Monday. With the NLD dissolved, like what’s the U.S. in this UNGA trying to accomplish on Burma?”

PJ Crowley said, “I’ll take the question of our involvement of that particular meeting and have that for you at our next briefing.”

But two days later, still no answer had been provided. After another US briefing, about President Obama's two speeches at the UN, Inner City Press tried again to get the US position.

As transcribed below, the State Department spokesman's presentation to Inner City Press of the US position on Myanmar and the meeting initially seems strong, critical of the military government of Than Shwe and other generals, but ultimately uses the support of China and India for Myanmar as a reason not to push for much.

Some point out that the Obama administration, loudly, does not allow Chinese support for Sudan to stop it from publicly speechifying about Sudan, and being seen to “apply pressure” to the al Bashir government.

Why has the US, as some see it, given up on Burma? Watch this site.

Here is the transcript of what State Department spokesman PJ Crowley told Inner City Press on September 23:

Inner City Press: Do you remember my Myanmar question. Did I miss a briefing of yours?

Crowley: No. There is a friend of Myanmar meeting on Monday. We will be participating. And we'll go through a full range of issues. Obviously our concerns about the human rights climate are well known. We have been encouraging Myanmar to open up political space. Clearly they have failed to do that. We have been encouraging them to have a serious dialogue with the various ethnic groups which compose their population. They haven't done that. The electoral laws that they've passed for the election later this fall we believe will not lead to a credible result. Just taking generals out of uniform and making them civilians is not enough. Part of the challenge with Burma is also working more collaboratively with other countries some of whom do have strong relations with Burma. To settle on a common approach and then see if we can't together demonstrate to Burma there are definitely things that they have to do.

Inner City Press: You mean India as well as China?

Crowley: yes

Inner City Press: There's this call for an international inquiry into war crimes in Burma which was made by the UN rapporteur. France has just said there's going pursue it in this GA. It was never clear to people if the Obama administration joined that call There were some articles where a senior US official said they supported the call but it was never.. I don't know what that meant. Do you know what I'm referring to?

Crowley Yeah I do. I don't know if that's going to be brought up at this meeting or not. Let's wait and see.

If the Obama administration were really behind this call for an inquiry into war crimes in Burma, it seems unlikely that the State Department spokesman would say “let's wait and see” if the issue comes up at the September 27 meeting the US is participating in. Watch this site.

UN's Invitation to Eritrea for Somalia Meeting Was Revoked at IGAD's Demand, Sources Say

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, September 26, 2010 -- The Somalia meeting at the UN on September 23 featured a little noticed last minute disinvitation. The UN's Department of Political Affairs had invited Eritrea, which has at least in the past been a member of the regional group IGAD which has hosted the leaders of the Alliance to Reliberate Somalia and detractor say supports the Al Shabab rebels.

But the other IGAD members wanted Eritrea excluded. They prepared a draft Communique which criticized the UN for inviting Eritrea. To avoid the criticism, the UN unceremoniously disinvited Eritrea, just before the meeting began.

Little was said about this. In fact, the political coordinator of a Security Council member told Inner City Press he had not heard about the disinvitation, but saw Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's chief of staff Vijay Nambiar whispering to Eritrean Permanent Representative Araya Desta, and then his disappearance from the meeting room.

This Security Council member told Inner City Press his country thinks excluding Eritrea was a bad idea. They are a player, he says. Not having them present makes resolution less likely.

Analogy has been made, as it has with respect to most Security Council members other than the US, France and UK being willing to meet with Sudan's Omar al Bashir, to Slobodan Milosevic's participation in the Dayton peace process.

But several IGAD members told Inner City Press Eritrea is such a “spoiler” or troublemaker that it would be a “mockery” to have them present.

Uganda's Permanent Representative Rugunda confirmed to Inner City Press, let's just say, Eritrea was not present when the meeting actually happened.

Whatever one thinks of the wisdom of disinviting Eritrea, it is surprisingly how little has been said or reported about it. Hence this exclusive report, and questions which will be forthcoming. Watch this site.

As Sri Lanka Quotes UN Ban Undermining His Panel on War Crimes, UN Questioned

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 26 -- Shortly after the spokesman for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon issued a “read out” of Ban's September 24 meeting with Sri Lanka's Mahinda Rajapaksa which did not mention the UN panel on war crimes in Sri Lanka, Rajapaksa issued a statement that Ban told him the UN panel is “in no way empowered to investigate charges against Sri Lanka.”

Three obvious questions at least arise. First, if Ban did in fact say this to Rajapaksa about the UN panel, why did Ban's read out mention only Rajapaksa own commission, and not the UN's? Can one believe in and rely on the UN's summary of Ban's meetings?

Also, if Ban said what Rajapaksa attributes to him, isn't this totally undermining any power the panel had?

Third, if Ban didn't say this, when is the UN going to request a retraction or correction from the Sri Lankan government?

As Inner City Press reported on September 24, the UN's summary of Ban's Sri Lanka meeting took significantly longer to issue than their summary of their meeting with the President of Nigeria, Ban's meeting just before Rajapaksa.

Inner City Press' understanding of the process, from the shifting explanations given by UN officials, is that if a summary only includes what Ban said, it is issued without conferring with the government he met with.

If the summary, like the September 24 UN summary of Ban's meeting with President Rajapaksa, includes something that the President said, it is a “joint” statement, negotiated and agree to with the government. In these cases, both sides -- UN and government -- are supposed to issue the same agreed to statement.

But as it has done before, Sri Lanka got Ban to issue an inordinately positive, some think inaccurate “joint” summary -- and then nevertheless issued their own summary, including a quote in which Ban undermines the mandate of his own panel.

How will the UN respond? Watch this site.

Compare this

“UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had yesterday told President Mahinda Rajapaksa in New York for the sessions of the UN General Assembly that his committee on Sri Lanka ``was in no way empowered to investigate charges against Sri Lanka, but was solely to advice him on matters relating to Sri Lanka,’’ according to a news release from the president’s office.”

to Ban's own summary:

Subject: Readout of the Secretary-General's meeting with President Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply
To: [Inner City] Press
Date: Fri, Sep 24, 2010 at 4:42 PM
Subject: Readout of the Secretary-General's meeting with President Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka

Readout of the Secretary-General’s meeting with President Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka

The Secretary-General’s discussion with President Rajapaksa focused on the need to move forward expeditiously on outstanding issues covered in the joint statement of May 2009, particularly a political settlement, reconciliation and accountability. The Secretary-General underlined that the President’s strong political mandate provided a unique opportunity to deliver on his commitments to address these issues. The President underlined that development and education in the North were integral to national reconciliation. He gave examples of progress made on reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in this regard.

The President updated the Secretary-General on the work of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission.

And what about the answers promised long ago by Ban's spokesman Nesirky about Ban's personal relationship with Rajapaksa, including prior to becoming Secretary General? Watch this site.

At UN, Morales of Bolivia Contradicts US Crowley on Obama Aid Cuts, ALBA Wash

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 25 -- When Bolivian President Evo Morales appeared September 21 for the first of his two press conference at the UN, Inner City Press asked him about reductions in aid from the US.

Based on his answer, Inner City Press went later than day to the US Mission to the UN and asked State Department spokesman PJ Crowley about Morales' statement “that the U.S. and the Obama Administration has cut a lot of aid to Bolivia. He tied it to the failure to fall in line in Copenhagen and to a variety of issues.”

Pressed, Crowley answered that “we went through some restructuring of aid that was needed, where Bolivia did not qualify for certain kinds of aid based on conditions on the ground there. But we pledge to work with Libya to see if we couldn’t improve Bolivia’s track record to be able to qualify, once again, for some conditional aid that is provisional based on certain specifications and performances by the host country. So this is an issue that we’ve pledged to continue to work with Bolivia on.” (This is from the US transcript; the reference to Libya seems strange.)

But this happy talk on Bolivia was contradicted by Morales on September 24. Inner City Press went to his second press conference and conveyed what the US had said, asking for response. In Spanish, Morales totally disagreed.

Morales said that the US cut off funding under the Millennium Account -- but that Bolivia had turned to Brazil. He said that the US made tariffs on textiles less favorable -- but that Bolivia turned to Brazil, Argentina and “especially Venezuela," leader of the Grupo Alba. He denounced immunity for US diplomats, and said he had no regrets about expelling the US Ambassador from Bolivia.

Atmospherically, Morales was galant, calling on “las damas” -- the ladies -- first, then “los varones” (the boys). In response to a question about freedom of the press and a pending law which would allow the stripping of the license of any media engaged in racism, Morales told how his mother was precluded from walking on the sidewalk, had to walk “with the horse.” He said, “Now WE are in the palace.”

On Cyprus, Two Views of Downer, “No Right to Be Exhausted,” Disclosure Still Lacking, Lobbying Not Precluded

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 25 -- The President of Cyprus Dimitris Christofias, and leader of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Dervis Eroglu, talked at cross purposes to the Press at the UN on September 24 and 25.

Inner City Press asked each about the performance of UN Special Adviser Alexander Downer, a former Australian diplomat who now moonlights with the business consultancy Bespoke Approach.

Eroglu had been quoted that the Greek Cypriots are “exhausting Downer's patience.” When Inner City Press asked Christofias about the quote, he replied that “Alexander Downer has no right to be exhausted. He's a Special Adviser of the UN Secretary General for two years, maybe less than two years... We have to be patient.” Video here, from Minute 18:15.

Inner City Press waited until the next morning to ask Eroglu the same question. Eroglu denied his quote in the Turkish Cypriot daily Kibris, by way of Famagusta Gazette, adopted the more diplomatic position that Downer must be and is neutral. This was said in Turkish, through an interpreter. Eroglu added in English, to Inner City Press, that Downer is “young.. enough.”

In fact, Downer was walking jauntily about the UN this week. Some wondered whether his ubiquity was entirely related to his Cyprus portfolio for the UN, or might be related to or assist in his private for profit work for the clients of Bespoke Approach.

Inner City Press has several times asked Downer to disclose his outside business interests and clients, so that possible conflicts of interest could be assessed. Downer has refused, insisting that his work for example for Chinese firms wanting to do business in Australia has nothing to do with Cyprus.

But consider this: a part time Special Adviser or Special Representative like Alexander Downer, or Tony Blair, or Matthew Nimitz, is given full access to the UN. People including world leaders will take these people's call, sometimes in part due to the UN connection. Can this be abused? Should there be disclosure and then reform? Watch this site.

Footnote: Eroglu's stakeout took place before 10 a.m. on Saturday in the UN's Temporary North Lawn Building. While security outside on First Avenue and 42nd Street was post-Obama being dismantled, inside the UN buzzed with bilateral meetings.

Inner City Press spoke, for forthcoming stories, with for example the Permanent Representatives of Uganda and South Africa, in the midst of bilateral meetings, and the Foreign Minister of Indonesia. The mood was collegial, with an air of relief that the most tense part of the General Debate is over. The Permanent Representative of Malaysia asked Inner City Press, “Working on Saturday?” Yes. Watch this site.

On Sudan, Border & Abyei Issues Fester, AU Says Accountability Is Not Everything

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 24 -- As the UN's Sudan meeting ended Friday night, African Union Commission President Jean Ping and top UN Peacekeeper Alain Le Roy took questions from the Press. The Communique just issued differed slightly from the near final draft Inner City Press exclusively put online earlier on Friday. Among the changes: the phrase “human rights” was cut from the final paragraph.

Inner City Press asked if the border demarcation and Abyei issues including regarding oil would be resolved before the January 9 referendum date. Le Roy said “hopefully” they would be resolved. Jean Ping intervened to, essentially, instruct the Press to not be negative, like predicting an earthquake.

About Darfur, Inner City Press asked what Le Roy was doing to ensure that UN Peacekeepers can and do leave their bases and protect civilians, as did not happen in the Tarabat Market earlier this month. Le Roy said things are getting better, and to the side of the stakeout UNAMID chief Ibrahim Gambari nodded vigorously.

Inner City Press asked why UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had Gambari and his UNMIS counterpart Haile Menkerios go to the inauguration of Omar al Bashir, indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and genocide.

Le Roy began the party line -- the Secretary General takes accountability seriously -- when Jean Ping broke in to chide those who are only about accountability. Peace is important, he said.

The AU's position is clearer than the UN's. Watch this site.

As Ban Meets Sri Lanka Rajajaksa, UN War Crimes Panel Not Mentioned, Summary Delayed

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 24 -- When Mahinda Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka met with the UN's Ban Ki-moon on Friday morning, Ban did not raise the slow starting UN panel of experts on war crimes in the country.

Five hours after the meeting, the UN issued a terse summary of what was discussed. It mentions only Rajapaksa's own “Lessons Learnt” panel, and not the UN's.

Inner City Press, covering the meeting on Sudan later on Friday with a “free range” UN pass, noted Sir Lanka's Minister of External Affairs G.L. Peiris seated on the North Lawn's second floor, reading.

In his previous trip inside the UN, Peiris refused to take any questions from the Press. In Washington, he walked out of a session at the National Press Club when he thought tough questions might be asked.

Neither he nor Rajapaksa have scheduled any press availability at the UN, unlike, only on Friday, the Presidents of Bolivia, Cyprus and Nigeria, to all of whom Inner City Press asked questions.

While Ban met with Nigeria's Goodluck Jonathan before he met with Rajapaksa, the UN's summary of the Nigeria meeting was issued hours before the Sri Lanka one. Does this reflect greater checking with or push back by Sri Lanka? Or, some ask, ineptitude in the UN's Sri Lanka team?

Its last read out about Sri Lanka came out at 10 p.m. When Inner City Press asked if it had been checked with the government, spokesman Martin Nesirky said no, there had just been a technical snafu. But how come a snafu on Friday as to Sri Lanka, and not Nigeria? And what about the answers promised long ago by Ban's spokesman Nesirky about Ban's personal relationship with Rajapaksa, including prior to becoming Secretary General? Watch this site.

Obama Does Not Mention Bashir, Whose VP Taha Praises Obama at UN Sudan Meet

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 24 -- The open portion of the UN Sudan meeting was as surprising for what was not said as for what was. US President Barack Obama in his ten minute speech did not once mention Sudanese President Omar al Bashir, indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and genocide.

Sudan's Vice President Ali Osman Taha on the other hand, or perhaps in reciprocation, praised “the next direction and the emergent spirit of the United States of America of positive and constructive engagement.”

Inner City Press was allowed in the meeting for the first four speakers, and got the first copy of Taha's prepared speech. That the praise of Obama was in the prepared text may imply that Taha and his government knew that Bashir would not be mentioned.

Similarly, after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Taha earlier in the week, Inner City Press asked her spokesman PJ Crowley about Bashir, and specifically whether he would require a meeting and photo op if the UN Security Council visits the country as initially planned on October 4 to 11, Crowley said Bashir “did not come up” in the meeting.

After being asked to leave Friday's Sudan meeting after Ban Ki-moon, Obama, Taha and Salva Kiir spoke, Inner City Press asked a Security Council Ambassador if any progress had been made on scheduling the Council trip to Sudan, which members such as Austria and Mexico want.

No, the Ambassador said, maybe after the meeting. Asked by Inner City Press about Obama not mentioning Bashir, the Ambassador nodded and added, “it will be interesting to see how many of the African heads of state present mention Bashir and how.” Yes, it will.

Rwanda's Paul Kagame left the meeting after the first four speakers, as did Nick Clegg of the UK. The EU's Catherine Ashton left while Salvia Kiir was talking, after having sat near the back of the room typing on a laptop. It is expected that top UN Peacekeeper Alain Le Roy will take questions from the Press after the meeting is over and the Communique is issued.

Obama, UN's Ban and Le Roy on Sept 24, Bashir not shown, (c) M.R. Lee

Earlier today -- before the meeting -- Inner City Press published a near final draft of the Communique. At Friday's noon briefing at the UN, Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky to describe the role of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations and Department of Political Affairs in the Communique. Nesirky, who should answer this question, has yet to. Watch this site.

UN Sudan Meeting Has Weak Communique, Little Darfur Focus, “Big-Footing” by US, Other Nations Say

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 24 -- This afternoon's closed door meeting on Sudan at the UN has been presented as a watershed, a highlight of this year's UN General Assembly. US President Obama's “14 minute speech” has been hyped by his Special Adviser Samantha Power, when Inner City Press asked why Obama had not mentioned Sudan in his General Assembly speech.

The UN Secretariat has bragged to reporters about its role in putting together the Communique to be issued after the meeting.

Inner City Press has obtained a near final draft of the Communique and it putting it online here in advance of the meeting. Of its 14 paragraphs, three deal with Darfur and one with Eastern Sudan. The Communique is a surprisingly weak statement, human rights advocates say. “How could this be the highlight of the US' involvement?” one asked Inner City Press.

Sudan's Vice President Ali Osman Taha will participate in the meeting, and is slated to speak to the Press afterward. The day before, Inner City Press asked African Union Commission President Jean Ping what the AU hopes to come out of the meeting.

Ping said the AU takes a “holistic” approach, which some view as a codeword for “drop or suspend the International Criminal Court indictment of Omar Al Bashir for war crimes and genocide.”

Less than four hours before the meeting, Inner City Press asked Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan what if he thought the meeting -- and by implication, the Communique -- dealt sufficiently with Darfur, where Nigeria has peacekeeping battalions controlled by former Nigerian diplomat Ibrahim Gambari.

President Jonathan spoke about Darfur but also about the referendum, saying that the borders should be clear before the vote, scheduled for January 9, 2011. It seems unlikely that the borders, much less the division of oil revenue, will be decided before then.

While the US “big foots,” as one advocate put it, nearly unilaterally stalling a planned Security Council trip to Sudan due to a reticence for the US Permanent Representative to meet or take a photo with Omar al Bashir, smaller non-Permanent Council members try to do what they can.

Mexico is on record as favoring the Council trip to Sudan, even if “some P-5 Ambassadors stay in their hotel rooms.” Austria has offered legal expertise to both sides, in meetings Friday with Khartoum's foreign minister Ali Ahmed Karti and two ministers from South Sudan.

When told by Inner City Press of this work and these complaints by non Permanent Council members on Sudan, a senior UN official this week replied, “I'd hate to be a small member state.” And so it goes at the UN. We will be Tweeting and live blogging from outside the Sudan meeting: watch @InnerCityPress

On Somalia, UN & AU Defend Shelling of Markets & Mosques, Museveni Denounces UN Security Council for "Donating" Somalia to Terrorists

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 23 -- Since African peacekeepers in Somalia are paid less than three-quarters of what the UN pays elsehwere, "they all want to go to Darfur," African Union Commission President Jean Ping told Inner City Press on Thursday.

Outside a closed door ministerial meeting at the UN on Somalia, Ping and UN envoy Augustine Mahiga both defended the AU troops' shelling of markets and mosques in Mogadishu.

Inner City Press has asked about the call by the UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights for an investigation of the AU peacekeepers' shelling of civilian areas.

Mahiga said that all what is being called for is a "Mapping Exercise" -- the same term used for the report on genocide in the Democratic Republic of Congo which has led Rwanda's Paul Kagame government to threaten to pull its troops out of Darfur.

Days after the Prime Minister of the UN-based Transitional Federal Government resigned, Inner City Press asked the two men what this portends for Somalia.

Mahiga said that a new Prime Minister will be named. But that has happened before.

Inside the meeting, three separate sources tell Inner City Press, Ugandan President Museveni said that the UN "Security Council has donated Somalia to a terrorist organization." When Inner City Press asked Mahiga about the quote, he said it was another way of saying that the international community should do more. Ya might say. Watch this site.

Italy to Patrol Off Yemen, Frattini Confirms Before Stealth Meeting, UK Too

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, September 23 -- Italy will give Yemen an “integrated satellite Coast Guard system” to patrol the waters between its coast and Somalia, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told Inner City Press on Thursday night at the UN.

As Frattini left a closed door meeting about Somalia, Inner City Press asked him if Italy among with the UK is making such an offer to Yemen, at the Group of Friend of Yemen meeting.

“Yes,” Frattini answered, “we will confirm them tomorrow.” He said Italy is coordinating with the UK, offering not only patrols but also to “train coast guard officers” with “technical expertise.”

Inner City Press asked if this was directed at militant, presumably from Al Shabab, or would also sweep up refugees. Frattini paused and said Italy would “help the legal authorities of Yemen” to “better assist refugees.”

Little has been heard about the Group of Friend of Yemen meeting, compared to the meeting on Sudan the same day, or even the Somalia meeting Frattini was leaving from. Some say that while Yemen is fighting insurgencies -- even that it has lost control of large segments of its territory -- it wants to stay off the UN agenda, and does so successfully, including Inner City Press is told by using its chairmanship of the Group of 77. The meeting may not even be held in the UN. Watch this

As Obama Omits Sudan in GA Speech, Trip “Is Dead,” Power Speaks of Kitchen Sink

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 23 -- The UN Security Council's long planned trip to Sudan in early October “is dead,” a non Permanent member of the Council told Inner City Press on Thursday.

Sudan insisted that Council members meet with the country's President, Omar al Bashir, who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and genocide. To the US, at least the US Mission to the UN, this was a non-starter.

Inner City Press asked US Presidential senior adviser and Senior Director for Multilateral Affairs Samantha Power about the trip, and the absence of the words Sudan much less Darfur from President Barack Obama's speech to the UN General Assembly on Thursday morning.

Ms. Power acknowledged the absence of Sudan from the speech, saying that “he didn't mention it, you're right, in the General Assembly today” but “the truth is the President is giving a very substantial set of remarks on Sudan tomorrow, so the judgment was, let's do this right, you'll hear alot about Darfur, a lot about the CPA.”

But it's not either - or: if Sudan is so important, it could have joined such topics as Poland and former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe in the speech.

On the trip, Ms. Power said “the details and logistics are still being worked out, it's still very much in play, as part of this drumbeat...pretty much the kitchen sink is being through at this challenge, the trip is being seen in this light.”

But multiple sources tell Inner City Press that the trip is dead, killed by the US' resistance to meeting with Omar al Bashir. Several Council members expressed frustration to Inner City Press, that the US and UK monopolized the deliberation on the trip. Some said the US wants to get all the credit if things “somehow work out in Sudan” -- a “strange multilateralism,” one called it.

In terms of Obama delivering a 14 minute speech at the September 24 meeting, the UN's planners of the meeting, bragging about Ban Ki-moon's role and five minutes speech, have indicated they hope all participants keep themselves to five minutes. The US now seems to think that's good to know.

There is a dispute about whether the opening of the meeting will be open and can be filmed. The US seems to want there to be footage of Obama talking about Sudan at Friday's meeting. But he could have done it in the General Assembly on Thursday. We'll see. Watch this site.

As Obama Is Booed at Fundraiser, Chinese-Only Briefing, Sri Lanka Protest, MDGs

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 22 -- The diplomatic action moved outside of the UN on Wednesday night, as the MDG Summit ended with a whimper.

Journalists in the UN Media Center were told they'd have to leave a half hour after the General Assembly session stopped, so that power could be turned off and checked after Tuesday's power outage which canceled the press conference of the Middle East Quartet.

Inner City Press set sail out to Lexington Avenue, where in the first floor Stuyvesant Room of the Marriott Hotel it had been invited to cover a press conference by the Press Center of the Chinese Delegation. Inside there were perhaps a dozen reporters, all Chinese. The moderator asked, “Do we have to do this in English?”

US President Obama, meanwhile, went to the Roosevelt Hotel to raise money. He was booed by AIDS activist and a man chanting about “Don't Ask, Don't Tell.” There was a $15,200 dinner with Presidential “photo reception.” Present were Nancy Pelosi and Charlie Rangel, as well as Barbara Streisand and James Brolin.

Earlier in the day on 47th Street and First Avenue, Tamils bussed in from Canada held pictures of bodies charred in the Sri Lankan government's “bloodbath on the beach” of May 2009. They spoke of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's slow to begin panel of experts, hoping that it might expand its mandate and do justice. One hope they aren't holding their breaths.

They spoke of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, staying in the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in a surprisingly large number of rooms. Over at the Waldorf, an entire side street was shut down, as diplomats from smaller countries milled around looking for restaurants and other entertainment.

The “debate” on the MDG Summit outcome document continued in the General Assembly past 9 pm, with Observers speaking about conservation, the Order of Malta, democracy and even the Olympics. Only at the UN.

What will be accomplished at Friday's Sudan meeting? What will be said at Iranian President Ahmadinejad's press conference, now re-scheduled for Friday at 11 am at the Warwick Hotel on 54th Street and Sixth Avenue? Watch this site.

Footnote: again in Wednesday, many press conference and stakeouts were unceremoniously canceled. Chile's new President Pinera canceled his presser, such that questions of the Mapuche could not be raised.

Ukraine's President Yanukovych changed his stakeout from 7 pm to 6 pm then canceled it, allowing for no questions about the IMF, EU or beaten journalist Furmanyuk in Donetsk. Then again, the Middle East Quartet canceled a much larger press conference, due to the power outage. At Wednesday's noon briefing, Inner City Press asked:

Inner City Press: On the switch question about power lines. I mean, I understand things happen.

Spokesperson Martin Nesirky: Yes, they do.

Inner City Press: But given that the building is totally brand new and quite a bit of money was spent building it, is there some reaction from the UN that on probably its most important day so far in the new building, that such a thing could happen; that the Quartet press conference would be cancelled? I mean what steps are being taken to find out? Is there some recouping of money from Skanska, or who made the mistake that led to the cancellation of the Quartet press conference?

Spokesperson: Well, let’s look at the big picture here, Matthew. Yes, it was not desirable that the journalists who had been expecting a press conference were disappointed that the press conference did not take place. But there were many other meetings that were taking place in that building at that time where people were working without microphones in some cases; meetings that had already started and continued after the power failed. So, it’s a bigger picture. Nobody is thrilled that, as you say, yesterday of all days that there was a technical glitch of that kind. And I know that people are looking into this. It was a short-circuit — if you want to get technical — in a major circuit breaker box, and there was also a failure in a rented back-up generator. And the short-circuit was caused by a cable with damaged insulation. And I can tell you that people were working from when this first happened, at 1:20 p.m., working very hard to solve this and to fix it, and power was eventually restored throughout by 8:00 in the evening. So, people…

Inner City Press: [inaudible]

Spokesperson: I never was very good at do-it-yourself, so I don’t know the details. But on your specific point, we can ask CMP, the Capital Master Plan people, what the score is.

What is the score? Watch this site.

On MDGs, UN's Ban Won't Comment on Debt, Tax Havens or Zapatero Dodging Kagame

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 22 -- With the Millennium Development Goals having been discussed at the UN for three days, Inner City Press asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to respond to a critique that the MDGs look only at the symptom and not causes of poverty. UN transcript here and below.

Over $500 billion is owned by poor countries in foreign debt. Over $124 billion a year flow through offshore tax havens. Inner City Press asked Ban about both of these.

Ban said “those issues which you raised have been the subjects which have been discussed in the international community. I think it's not appropriate for me to discuss those matters here at this time.” If not now, during the MDG Summit, when?

Earlier on Wednesday, when it suddenly became clear that questions would be taken at the meeting of Ban's MDG Advocacy Group, Inner City Press ran from the UN correspondents' area over the library, through the garage and a metal detector check, through the General Assembly lobby and media room, only to be stopped by security. Armed with a floor pass, Inner City Press proceeded, reaching the ECOSOC chamber ten minutes before the Q&A session ended.

But Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky shook his head, running his finger across his throat, it's over. Nevertheless he called on Jeffrey Sachs to issue a duplicative answer to a question.

When Inner City Press wanted to asking, as well as about debt and money laundering, was the sudden departure of co-chair Zapatero of Spain. In the first Advocacy Group meeting in Madrid, Zapatero refused to meet with his co-chair Paul Kagame of Rwanda, who is being sued in Spain for war crimes.

This time, Zapatero left to return to business in Madrid. Nesirky did not allow the question during the Advocacy Group's media availability. At noon in the briefing room, he told Inner City Press to asked the Spanish Mission about Zapatero's departure.

But can Ban's and the UN's MDG Advocacy Group function with two co-chair who won't meet? Watch this space.

Footnote: Inner City Press asked Michelle Bachelet about the Advocacy Group, in which she served until being named head of UN Women. Bachelet dodged on the Zapatero Kagame relationship, as well as on Inner City Press' question if she would finally bring zero tolerance to sexual abuse and exploitation by UN peacekeepers. Watch this site.

From the UN's transcription of September 22:

Inner City Press: On the MDGs, there's a criticism made by the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Mr. [Olivier] de Schutter, where he says that the MDGs may be just treating the symptoms. He points to things like off-shore tax havens, and the ability of leaders to take money out of their countries, and he points to debt relief, the debt service by poor countries adding up to about $500 billions. So he says that there is danger of focussing on charity as opposed to structural things that hurt poor countries. I wanted to have your response to that, also, one thing I noticed this morning is that, of your two co-chairs, Mr. Zapatero left. I know that in Madrid, the two didn't meet because of sort of war crimes and other issues. Have those issues been resolved and could the two men work together to promote MDG Advocacy Group?

SG Ban: There should be no mix-up between development and politics. Prime Minister Zapatero explained to me two days ago that because of his very urgent domestic issues, he had to go back. That I understood. Because, every leader, they may have certain domestic issues on which they have to put priority. The MDG Advocacy Group meeting today was, I think, a great success. You have seen such a strong commitment among, not only MDG advocates, champions, but all other leaders participating in that. And for other matters, I think all those issues which you raised have been the subjects which have been discussed in the international community. I think it's not appropriate for me to discuss those matters here at this time.

Amid Kyrgyz Crackdown & Failure to Protect, Obama Meeting May Miss Human Rights, OSCE Police Assistance Group

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 22 -- Three months after the pogroms in southern Kyrgyzstan, US President Barack Obama is set to meet with Kyrgyz interim leader Rosa Otunbayeva on Friday in New York.

It is one of President Obama's few bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the UN General Debate, but when Inner City Press on Tuesday asked State Department spokesman PJ Crowley whether the President will raise issues of human rights and the protection of civilians, Crowley responded only in terms of regional stability, which most took to mean the maintenance of the US base in the country.

Meanwhile, Otunbayeva's government has refused to follow through the sign the memorandum of understanding allowing the deployment of the international Police Assistance Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in advance of the October 10 parliamentary election.

Inner City Press asked Crowley if Obama would be raising this. Crowley said that he wouldn't speak for the President in advance of the meeting.

Ethnic Uzbek human rights defender Azimjon Askarov only a week ago was sentenced to life imprisonment for alleged involvement in the death of a police officer in Bazar-Kurgan after a trial dominated by a second round of mob violence. Inner City Press asked Crowley if the President would be raising this case in the meeting. Again, there was no answer.

There has still been no outside investigation of the causes of the pogroms against ethnic Uzbeks in southern Kyrgyzstan. Rather, as of August the Kyrgyz prosecutor's office said that of 243 people in detention, fully 214 were Uzbek. The UN, after mentioning the word accountability, has done little to follow through. Will the US?

In the run up to Obama's visit to the UN General Assembly, his advisor Samantha Power and spokesman Ben Rhodes told the Press of his administration's and Ambassador Susan Rice's many achievements on human rights at the UN. In the case of Kyrgyzstan, the US had yet to do much. Will Obama's bilateral meeting with Kyrgyz interim leader -- and former UN staff member -- Rosa Otunbayeva change that? Watch this site.

Footnote: Kyrgyz leader Otunbayeva abruptly canceled her press conference set for the UN on Tuesday at 2:30. An hour and a half later, Secretary of State Clinton, after her meeting with the Middle East Quartet, was scheduled to appear at a 4 pm press conference at the UN on the topic. The presser was canceled, Inner City Press was told by the UN, due to a power outage. But Clinton's name plate wasn't on the rostrum, even before the lights went dim.

Crowley said that Clinton had planned to meet with Tony Blair. But as one reporter pointed out, Blair's name plate WAS on the rostrum. More than a little strange.

As Clinton Meets Sudan VP, Bashir “Does Not Come Up,” UN Dodges on Darfur

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 21 -- When US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met Tuesday with Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha, somehow the topic of President Omar al Bashir and his indictments for genocide and war crimes by the International Criminal Court “did not come up,” Clinton's spokesman PJ Crowley told the Press.

Some wonder how this is possible, not only given the US' claimed interest in accountability for genocide but also Bashir's importance in the processes in South Sudan and Darfur. Could Clinton meet about Zimbabwe and have Robert Mugabe “not come up”? Could she meet about North Korea and not mention Kim Jong Il?

In fact, the UN Security Council's planned trip to Sudan about the referendum and Darfur, slated for October 4 to 11, is being blocked by the stated concern of the UK, France and the US to not have to have a photo op with Bashir.

On September 19, a Permanent Five Council member Ambassador told Inner City Press that the issue of the trip, and of having to meet Bashir, would be raised with Taha as early as Monday night's dinner hosted by the Sudanese. So how could the issue, and Bashir himself, not come up in Clinton's meeting Tuesday with Taha?

Crowley said that there will be other meetings throughout the week, in the run up to the meeting involving President Obama on September 24. He also to his credit promised answered to other questions at his next briefing in New York. We'll see.

Meanwhile, Inner City Press on Tuesday asked UN Spokesman Martin Nesirky five questions about both Darfur and South Sudan:

Inner City Press: First, can you confirm that some staff members of UNAMID in South Darfur were attacked and injured near Muhajeriya. Do you have anything on it?

Spokesperson Nesirky: I have heard some reports. I don’t have details. I would need to get some details on that. I don’t have that.

Inner City Press: And I guess there is a few, yesterday I had asked you this question…

Spokesperson: Media reports is what I am referring to.

Inner City Press: Right. Yesterday I had asked you this question of whether the Commissioner of the Referendum, the Secretary-General of the Referendum Commission for South Sudan, was a UN staff member previously serving with United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) in Western Sahara. Were you able to get the answer on that?

Spokesperson: I think my colleagues in Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) will be in touch with you. But as I understand it, the person concerned was a UN staff member, but is no longer.

Inner City Press: Right. Okay. And also, I mean, maybe it will be in connection with that. I have heard that, in fact, the UN, while saying publicly that they will be opening 80 monitoring stations throughout South Sudan for the referendums scheduled for January, in fact expects to open no more than 55 or so. That seems the number, the difference between internal and external presentation seems so wide that I wonder if you can confirm that.

Spokesperson: I am not aware of any change in the intention to open the number of monitoring stations that has already been publicly stated. Let me find out if there’s been a change. I am not aware of that.

Inner City Press: And just one last one. This is a Secretary-General question rather than DPKO, I believe. Can you, I guess, confirm that the Secretary-General intends to name this panel of eminent persons, three-person panel to monitor or at least he is attempting to name this before Friday’s meeting? And can you give any sense of what the back and forth is or whether it will contain a Head of State? There is a lot of interest in this panel and not a lot of information.

Spokesperson: Well, I can fully understand that there is a lot of interest in the forming of a monitoring panel, which is something that, as you know, was mentioned in a Security Council press statement last week, if I am not mistaken, that the Security Council supports the request that there has been for such a monitoring panel. This is something that is in the works. We will have something to announce when it is finalized. I think we are getting quite close to that. The intention is to have something in place and the people in place in good time for this to be useful for all concerned.

Inner City Press: Even to participate in Friday’s meeting?

Spokesperson: I beg your pardon?

Inner City Press: Even to participate in Friday’s meeting [inaudible]?

Spokesperson: This I don’t know, this I don’t know.

Inner City Press: Okay.

Spokesperson: More important at the moment is simply to make sure that the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle are in the right place. This is something that is being worked on and I hope that we will have a little bit more to say about this in the next couple of days.

Watch this site.

Footnote: Secretary Clinton, after her 3 pm meeting with the Middle East Quartet, was scheduled to appear at a 4 pm press conference at the UN on the topic. The presser was canceled, Inner City Press was told by the UN, due to a power outage. But Clinton's name plate wasn't on the rostrum, even before the lights went dim.

Crowley said that Clinton had planned to meet with Tony Blair. But as one reporter pointed out, Blair's name plate WAS on the rostrum. More than a little strange.

France, Under Fire on Roma & from Al Qaeda, Hides from the Press at UN

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 21 -- With confirmation that the French uranium workers in Niger abducted last Thursday are being held by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, recent French hijinx at the United Nations are increasingly being questioned.

Two months before this UN General Debate, France's former diplomat Douste Blazy was exposed, including by this publication, for siphoning off $11 million in UNITAID funds to raise a mere $200,000. Still, Douste Blazy appears in this week's MDG Summit.

French President Nicholas Sarkozy was in New York for three days, including his speech Monday to the Summit, but he did not hold any media availabilities with the UN press corps.

Sources say Sarkozy wanted to avoid the inevitable questions about his policy of expelling Romas or gypsies from France. Previously, Sarkozy held a "French only" press conference at the UN, excluding even a Francophone Lebanese reporter for lack of a French passport.

A day before Sarkozy, French Defense Minister Herve Morin came to the UN. In light of the previous day's kidnappings in Niger, Inner City Press specifically asked Morin about his country's war on Al Qaeda, leading to the military action along with Mauritanian troops against northern Mali in July. Video here, from Minute 14:42.

Morin told the Press, that “France is determined to combat Al Qaeda... France is committed to combat this cancer which has invaded the Sahara.” He said France trained troops in Mauritania, Mali and Niger to fight “four to five hundred fanatics.”

Now the five French hostages have been taken from Niger into Mali. France is flying surveillance planes over the desert. Even in New York, the security seems to be high.

French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner, who claims he almost quit over the Roma issue, will host a reception Friday night at the French facility on Fifth Avenue and 79th Street. Even journalists who questioned Morin are not invited, or are specifically dis-invited. Is it fear for security, or fear of questions? Watch this site.