by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack
UN GATE, Aug 1– Amid the coup in Niger, the UN Resident Coordinator Louise Aubin has been out of the country, location undisclosed.
On July 27, Inner City Press in writing asked SG Antonio Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric to immediately state where this UN official is. Dujarric, who along with Melissa Fleming has banned Inner City Press from entering to ask, did not answer. Nor did Aubin.
Instead, ill-informed deputy Nicole Kouassi was streamed into the largely UN Press Briefing Room on July 28. She said that she and UN Niger are not in contact with military. No one let in by the UN asked where Guterres' resident coordinator is.
This echoes other Guterres cronies going MIA - Inger Anderson, for example, as head of UNEP left Nairobi during the COVID pandemic.
It happens all the time, and the UN apparently only lets in those who won't ask about it. So too for an August 1 "press" conference, from which the Press is banned: "1 pm Press Briefing Room, S-237 Hybrid Press Briefing by Leonardo Santos Simão, Special Representative for West Africa and the Sahel, Head of United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), virtually, on situation in Niger." No provision for non-insiders to ask questions, which it is now clear is possible. The UN censors
Inner City Press has applied to re-enter to cover the upcoming UNGA Week, watch this site.
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