By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, July 1 -- On Libya, the UN Secretariat's approach under Ban Ki-moon has been stealth to say the least. When Ban appointed Al Khatib as his envoy, he wouldn't say if Al Khatib was still getting paid by Jordan, where he remains a Senator, or even if Al Khatib is a UN staff member.
Then Inner City Press learned that Ban has appointed Ian Martin as an Special Adviser on “post-transition” Libya. But Ban's spokesperson's office declined to confirm the hiring, or even to say if Martin is an Under Secretary General.
Now Dartmouth College has announced that
“Dirk Vandewalle, associate professor of government and adjunct associate professor at the Tuck School of Business, has been appointed Political Advisor to United Nations Special Advisor Ian Martin. Martin is coordinating the U.N.’s post-conflict planning for Libya. Vandewalle’s task through July 2011 is to provide expertise and advice on initial and final drafts of proposals made by U.N. departments.”
On July 1, Inner City Press asked Ban's acting deputy spokesman Farhan Haq to confirm the hiring of Vandewalle, an author on Libya who has testified to the US Congress, and to describe the recruitment process.
Haq would not or could not even confirm that Vandewalle had been hired by the UN, something already announced by Dartmouth. We'll have more on this.
Haq again said “Ask France.”
But earlier on June 1 when a correspondent approached French Ambassador to the UN Gerard Araud and asked about France's weapons drop into Libya, Araud told the correspondent “I have nothing to say on that.” (With France-friendly media, Araud has spouted defenses of the weapons drop.)
If Ban's Secretariat's involvement in the military action in Libya was supposed to make it more legitimate, it may not be working out: Ban is not requiring even notification, is not transparent about when notifications are received, and won't even confirm the hiring of an adviser on post-transition Libya. Watch this site.
