By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, July 29 -- Three days ago, inquiring into financial practices and favoritism in the UN, Inner City Press asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's outgoing deputy spokesperson Eduardo Del Buey about Room S-310 being locked up by the UN Correspondents Association, used for "briefings" only publicized to those who pay it money -- on that day, about Syria.
Del Buey replied, "we’ll check on that and get back to you." But three days later, still with no answer to that simple financial question, word leaks or oozes that UNCA is at it again, this time even lower down the food chain.
The "Club des Chefs des Chefs" -- literally, 25 of those who cook for heads of state -- will set up shop in the room the UN gives UNCA, along with an also locked-up pantry, a separate office and even a focus booth used by a non-journalist UNCA intern to whom at the request of UNCA's 2013 president Pamela Falk of CBS the UN gave a "P" Press pass.
Falk then made the introduction to Ban's deputy Jan Eliasson as "one of our interns."
This breaking news, or breaking eggs, event was of course not announced even to all UN accredited resident correspondents. It was "leaked" to the Free UN Coalition for Access by one of UNCA's disgruntled members.
Then it was confirmed on the Twitter feed of a long time UNCA officer followed by a mere dozen UN correspondents, but at least two anonymous accounts set up by UNCA Executive Committee members to troll Inner City Press. (UNCA's anonymous social media campaign picked up on Saturday July 27).
The UN Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit also followed. Its boss also in charge of UNTV -- which they screen the chefs, as UNCA asked them to do for Syria oppositionists? -- told FUNCA that Room S-310 would be left unlocked and the "UNCA Pantry" was just a notation on a blue print. Right.
Worse, UNCA first vice president Louis Charbonneau of Reuters truly leaked an internal anti-Press document to this UN Accreditation official, three minutes after promising not to do it. Audio here, story here; document headed "you didn't get this from me" here. This has still not be acted on.
This is called spying for the UN. There is something rotten cooking in this kitchen, alongside the gushed-out presence of "White House top chef Chisteta Comerford and, yes, "Her Majesty the Queen's chef Mark Flanagan." The murky finances and spying poison the atmosphere. Watch this site.
Footnote: the talk of chefs for heads of state bring to mind the Europeans who sauced up human flesh for France's Central African Republic strongman Bokassa - more on this in connection with the Mads Brugger film "The Ambassador," which UN staff say includes, yes, Inner City Press, which reports on CAR and the ongoing CAR Alarm...
