On Syria, US in Washington Post Credits Russia Shift to Ban Ki-moon Pre-Judging Chemical Weapons Report He Hadn't Yet Seen

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 16 -- That Ban Ki-moon serves the US as Secretary General of the UN has been UNdoubted from his first day on the job. But now the US repays the favor, crediting Ban -- anonymously, of course -- with bringing about a shift in Russia position, how ever small, on Syria.

Today's Washington Post reports:

"As Kerry appealed to Lavrov, he mentioned a breaking story in the media. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, meeting with a women’s group in New York, had been quoted as saying that U.N. inspectors who had investigated an alleged Aug. 21 chemical attack outside Damascus had significant evidence that it had taken place and that it was massive, and would report their findings to the Security Council on Monday. The Americans 'sensed a small shift on the Russian side,' the official said, and Lavrov left the meeting, saying he was going to the nearby Russian embassy for consultations with Moscow. He returned and said he would stay for an additional meeting the next day."

  There's a problem, however, with this revisionist tale. As Inner City Press first reported, watching the closed session of the Women's International Forum on Friday, Ban's comments on the Sellstrom report that he had not yet seen were only in response to a question from the floor.

  That is to say, Ban would not have called the report he had not seen "overwhelming" unless the question was asked. So who did the questioner work for? Or, shouldn't the questioner be credited?

  The question to Ban was, why don't you strip Assad of Syria's seat as Gaddafi was stripped of Libya's UN seat? The answer, not given by Ban, is that Ban had nothing to do with that: it is the Credentials Committee of the UN General Assembly.

In the case of Libya, deputy Dabbashi and then Perm Rep Shalgam jumped ship and renounced Gaddafi whom they had for years worked for.

In the case of Syria, Bashar Ja'afari has not similarly jumped ship. No shift of seat is on the horizon. But the Washington Post reports none of this, just the US' post deal spin. We'll have more on this.

   

On Syria, After Inner City Press Report Ban Ki-moon Jumping Gun on Report, UN Won't Say Who Else He Spoke With

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 13 -- The UN had few explanations Friday afternoon on why Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in the late morning passed judgment on the Syria chemical weapons report he said he had not seen.

As Inner City Press first reported, in the question and answer session of an abruptly closed lecture to the Women's International Forum on Friday morning, Ban said the UN's forthcoming report on Syria will be "overwhelming" and will show that chemical weapons were used, that Assad has committed many crimes against humanity and will face accountability. Video here, from Minute 34:35.

"I can't say this publicly," Ban said, until I get the report.

But he DID say it, putting the bragging about the report by French foreign minister Laurent Fabius and UK officials in a new light.

At the noon briefing that followed, Inner City Press asked Ban's associate spokesperson three times about what Ban said. Haq said it won't be transcribed, Ban made some off the cuff remarks but he'll still look at the report with fresh eyes WHEN HE GETS IT.

But how could call it overwhelming and says what it will conclude if he hasn't seen it?

Inner City Press asked if Ban had passed these same conclusions to France's Laurent Fabius and to the UK, whose officials were quoted in the Times of London speaking on what the report shows.

Haq again refused what the Free UN Coalition for Access has requested, that the UN at least list which countries Ban has spoken with about Syria and the report, for example in the past week.

Haq would not even say if the UN would put the video of Ban's Q&A answers on its website, calling that a technical question.

Inner City Press asked, since it now strongly looks like Ban was willing to pre-judge the report and pass his conclusion not only to the Women's International Forum but before that to France and the UK, how does the UN respond to this showing of Ban's gun-jumping?

Haq declined to list Ban's calls, saying his diplomatic work continues. Clearly. Watch this site.

   

Ban Ki-moon Says "Overwhelming" Report To Show Chemical Use in Syria, in "Closed" Meeting

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 13 -- In an abruptly closed lecture by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to the Women's International Forum on Friday morning, Ban said the UN's forthcoming report on Syria will be "overwhelming" and will show that chemical weapons were used, that Assad has committed many crimes against humanity and will face accountability. Video here, from Minute 34:35.

"I can't say this publicly," Ban said, until I get the report.

But he DID say it, putting the bragging about the report by French foreign minister Laurent Fabius and UK officials in a new light.

Ban's lecture to WIF was listed in the day's UN Media Alert, but when Inner City Press went to cover it, the sign said "closed." On behalf of the Free UN Coalition for Access@FUNCA_info, Inner City Press asked for an explanation from the UN Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit and its boss, Stephane Dujarric. But no explanation came.

   A UN Television staffer, however, told Inner City Press to look for the event on in-house UN EZTV, under Conference Room 2. And there it was, with Ban saying things about Syria using chemical weapons that even he said "I can't say publicly." But he did say it. And now the leaks become clearer.

Ban's associate spokesperson Farhan Haq refused to confirm these when Inner City Press asked at noon:

Inner City Press: not just Mr. Araud, but Laurent Fabius said openly that the report should come out Monday and that it will implicate Mr. [Bashar al]-Assad. And then Mr. Araud said that France, I don’t know if it was him, was told this by the Secretary-General last night. So I am asking, what I e-mailed you, he is a Permanent Representative for France; what does that mean? Are you saying it’s not true?

Associate Spokesperson Haq: I don’t know what precisely he has said. What I can say is that the Secretary-General has not received the report thus far. We will let you know once the report has been received. But I cannot confirm what day that will be.

Inner City Press: Did he speak to France last night, as Mr. Araud said?

Associate Spokesperson: He has been in touch with a wide number of Member States…

Inner City Press: Did he speak to Russia?

Associate Spokesperson: He has been in touch with a wide number of Member States over the previous days about the crisis in Syria, a wide number of Member States, but in any case, the report has not been received.

Later in the briefing, Inner City Press asked more formally, in the spirit of the Free UN Coalition for Access, for disclosure:

Inner City Press: Because France has said that it heard from the Secretary-General on the topic of the report, I would like to make a request that you at least disclose whether Ban Ki-moon talked to all five members of the permanent five. So I just, that’s a request.

Associate Spokesperson: He has been speaking sporadically in recent days with all of the five members, of the five permanent members.

Inner City Press: But it’s pretty important. Given what Mr. Fabius said, it’s pretty important, I’m just making that request.

  Now with UK officials claiming even more detailed knowledge of the report, it becomes even more important. The UK and France, ostensibly such fans of the UN (if only because their Security Council veto rights magnify their power) are in fact shredding its credibility or its claimed impartiality.

  The UN Secretariat has done this itself, too -- given that this UN issued a report exonerating itself for bringing cholera to Haiti, and clings to that even after the scientists who delivered the false report now disclaim it, why should the UN's report on chemical weapons be treated as a sacred cow?

  A Nordic Ambassador on Thursday night argued to Inner City Press that Sellstrom is a good man. Fine. But if it's not him leaking, is it Ban? Araud said the Secretary General told France. Watch this site.

   

As UN Starts Its Syria WMD Probe, Judith Miller Speaks at UN with Qatar's Ex-Ambassador, Iraq Echo, No Press Allowed

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 1 -- Just as the UN starts up a probe of chemical weapons in Syria, a blast from the past search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq Judith Miller spoke at the UN on Monday, in an event only partial disclosed in the day's UN Journal. Photo of sign on door, here.

The Journal entry said only

Women’s International Forum: Meeting on “Arab Spring or Islamist Winter? A journalist’s perspective of the Arab Spring now” (sponsored by the Executive Office of the Secretary-General) Monday, 1 April 2013 From 13:15 to 14:30, in Conference Room 6 (NLB).

[Delegates and Secretariat staff are invited to attend. Please click here for further information.]

The printed Journal didn't say who the guest was. But online, click took one to the home pagehttp://womensinternationalforum.org/, on which was Judith Miller's portrait, and a bio beginning, “Judith Miller is an author and a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter formerly with The New York Times.”

  You don't say. Wasn't it Judith Miller who used or was used by anonymous sources to report that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?

  The website goes on, “Founded in 1975, the Women's International Forum began with a group of UN spouses who wanted to know more about UN and global issues. Today, the WIF is a highly-respected organisation with members from the diplomatic community, from the ranks of international civil servants and UN-affiliated non-governmental organizations, and women from the New York area.”

Judith Miller's talk was not open to the press (though, strangely, all delegates and Secretariat staff were invited.) The website says, "Lectures are only open to members and their guests."

  Inside was former Qatari Ambassador then President of the General Assembly, now UN official Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, who in the former two roles railed against Syria. (Qatar is supporting the armed rebels, who also stand accused of using chemical weapons.)

   Here is a photo near the end of the session, which Inner City Press exclusively staked-out.

  For the record, Inner City Press has in the past attended and reported on sessions of the Womens International Forum, invited by then Ugandan Ambassador Rugunda. 

 That was then; this is now, at today's UN. Watch this site.

At UN, Uganda Ambassador Tells Colleagues Wives of Iran, Nuclear Monsters

By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/wif1nuclear050610.html

UNITED NATIONS, May 6 -- Answering a question about Iran on Thursday the UN Ambassador of Uganda, a member of the Security Council, said "we should not let the development of science makes nuclear weapons move faster than us, who are trying to stop these monsters of mass destruction."

Ambassador Ruhakana Rugunda, who invited Inner City Press to his session with Women's International Forum, fielded questions from the wives of Ambassadors to the UN from, for example, Bosnia and Mali. The latter, Mrs. Amalle Baba Lamine Keita Daou, asked "what about Iran?" (Click here for Inner City Press' question and answer with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.)

Ahmadinejad recently traveled to Uganda, in what was reported as a trip to lobby for Uganda to vote against nuclear sanctions on Iran. Afterwards, Uganda's position was that it would confer with other African nations, which it represents on the Security Council, and would seek "clarification" from the Obama Administration in the US.

Some read this as putting Uganda in the camp of Brazil and Turkey, for example, said to be skeptical of sanctions on Iran. But Uganda's Ambassador Rugunda on Thursday thundered against even non-weapon nuclear developments unless they could be closely monitored. He is a medical doctor, graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, and a member of a group against nuclear weapons.

Rugunda was also his government's representative at the talks in Juba, South Sudan with the Lord's Resistance Army. He was asked about this, and characterized the LRA as reduced to groups of four or five "causing trouble." There are, however, reports from the Congo of massacres of 100 and even 300 civilians at a time by the LRA.

In the WIF audience on Thursday was Madam Yoo (Ban) Soon-taek, the wife of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. Rugunda was introduced, quite formally and informatively, by his wife Jocelyn. While Thursday's session was productive, some thought the grouping a bit anachronistic, asking, are their any male spouses of Permanent Representatives, for example those of Brazil, Luxembourg, the U.S. and one other Permanent Five Security Council member? The group will hear next month from New Yorker author Adam Gopnik. The group's webmaster is leaving. So... watch this site.

Footnote: the Security Council members are set to dine Thursday evening with Iran's Foreign Minister Mottaki at the Iranian resident on Fifth Avenue and 84th Street. France will be represented by its "Charge d'Affaires." It is not clear who will be representing the United States. We'll see.

Update of 5:44 p.m. -- word on the street (84th Street, that is) is that since Susan Rice of the US is not going, the UK's Mark Lyall Grant is not, either, nor is his deputy Philip Parham. Apparently it is too late to talk...

Or, the UK PR and DPR will be drinking away their sorrows at Labour's loss, or celebrating the Conservatives' failure to gain a majority. One wondered if the Germans -- the one in the P5 Plus One -- are invited, at least for dessert.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/wif1nuclear050610.html