Sudan Blames UN Dues & Voting Spat on US as Host Country, Lack of NY Bank Account

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive

 

UNITED NATIONS, February 1 -- Amid reports that Sudan is again banned from voting in the UN General Assembly because it's behind on paying dues, Sudanese Permanent Representative Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman on January 31 proffered to Inner City Press a new reason.

  Because Sudan has had difficulty getting or maintaining a bank account in New York, Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman exclusively told Inner City Press, the country convinced the UN to accept dues payments through the UN Resident Coordinator in Khartoum. He said the payments were being made, but there were logistical problems.

  Previously on January 4, Inner City Press asked the UN if Sudan was behind on dues, and if it was now banned from voting under Article 19. Late that afternoon the UN told Inner City Press

 

From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Fri, Jan 4, 2013 at 4:21 PM
Subject: Re: Question on Sudan
To: Matthew Russell Lee [at] innercitypress.com

 

On arrears: At the start of 2012, Sudan was in arrears under the terms of Article 19 of the Charter (loss of vote in the General Assembly). However, sufficient payment was made in 2012 to take Sudan out of Article 19. As of 4 January 2013, Sudan has arrears (amounts due for 2012 and previous years) of approximately $1 million.

  That's what the UN said on January 4 -- but later in the month it was reported that Sudan was again banned from voting.

  Inner City Press has previously reported on the difficulty of some countries in opening bank accounts for the UN Missions in New York, in contravention of the Host Country Agreement between the US and the UN.

   The UN, most recently through the Controller, has repeatedly said it was close to solving this issue. But at least according to Sudan's Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman, the problem has not been solved. Watch this site.