By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 22 --
After
Argentina's
foreign
minister
Hector
Timerman met
with UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon on
October 22
about Ghana's
seizure of the
frigate
Libertad by
Ghana, Ban's
office issued
a read-out
that Ban "hope[d]
that both
Governments
will find
a way to
address the
matter on a
bilateral
basis."
With the term
good offices
-- that is,
Ban offering
his "good
offices" to
two sides of a
conflict if
they want to
use them -- in
the air, Inner
City Press on
October 23
asked Ban's
spokesman
Martin Nesirky
about
it.
Specifically,
did Ban offer
his good
offices?
Twice, Nesirky
repeated the
line from the
read out, that
Ban "hope[s]
that both
Governments
will find
a way to
address the
matter on a
bilateral
basis."
And so the
answer appears
to be "no --
no offer of
good offices."
This contrasts
to a recent
answer
Nesirky's
office
provided Inner
City Press in
response to
its question
of whether the
UN plays any
role between
the government
of Colombia
and the FARC:
Subject:
Your question
on Colombia
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Thu, Oct 18, 2012 at 12:32 PM
To: Matthew Russell Lee [at] innercitypress.com
Regarding your question at the noon briefing on Colombia, there has been no request for UN good offices. We shared the following guidance with reporters in August:
The Secretary-General was very pleased to learn that the President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, has confirmed exploratory talks between his Government and representatives of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The Secretary-General hopes that this will be the start of a productive dialogue to address and resolve a conflict which has afflicted the Colombian people for almost five decades. As the Secretary-General has stated in the past, his good offices are available should they be deemed useful.
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Thu, Oct 18, 2012 at 12:32 PM
To: Matthew Russell Lee [at] innercitypress.com
Regarding your question at the noon briefing on Colombia, there has been no request for UN good offices. We shared the following guidance with reporters in August:
The Secretary-General was very pleased to learn that the President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, has confirmed exploratory talks between his Government and representatives of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The Secretary-General hopes that this will be the start of a productive dialogue to address and resolve a conflict which has afflicted the Colombian people for almost five decades. As the Secretary-General has stated in the past, his good offices are available should they be deemed useful.
So Ban Ki-moon
offered his
good offices
to Colombia
(for the
FARC), but NOT
to Argentina
on Ghana's
seizure for
its frigate
for a debt
claimed by the
NML Fund after
Argentina's
default in the
early 2000s.
Why not? Watch
this site.
