At Yemen Talks, UN Security Let Ban Ki-moon Meet US-Listed Terrorist, Then Ejected Press

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive series

UNITED NATIONS, June 17 -- The UN Secretariat's bungling of Yemen mediation has become ever more clear, according to multiple sources and documents exclusively seen by Inner City Press, see below. 

  Now it's getting ever worse.  Not only has Abdel Wahhab al-Humayqani, listed on the US Treasury Department terrorism list, here, been included in the Hadi delegation to Geneva - he was permitted into the UN's Palais de Nations (from which Houthis are so far banned), andmet directly with Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, photo here.

 On June 18, Inner City Press asked Ban's deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq how this could happened, video here, transcript here:

Inner City Press: the meeting apparently between the Secretary-General and Abdel Wahab al-Humayqani, he is on a US Treasury list being affiliated with Al-Qaida.  And my question is you said, you appeared to say it's up to the delegation who they brought, and who came to Geneva is entirely up to the team of [Abd Rabbuh Mansour] Hadi, and who comes into the UN and stands next to Ban Ki-moon, I would think, is up to the UN.  So, I wanted to know, and I'm staring at a photograph of them next to each other with the Special Adviser right next to them, did the Secretary-General know that the individual he was meeting was on the US Treasury Al-Qaida list, and did his security know?  Because we have a lot of security in the UN where people’s passes are disputed, et cetera.  What is the process for the UN in terms of screening people, checking existing sanctions lists before allowing them in the building and to meet with the Secretary-General?

Deputy Spokesman Haq:  It was the responsibility of the parties to determine who their representatives were.  Security is aware of the names of all of the people with whom the Secretary-General meets.  In this case, the name of this particular person was submitted by the Yemeni Government delegation, which is to say the Riyadh delegation, as one of them, and he met with that delegation as he intended to meet with the Sana’a delegation before he left Geneva.

Inner City Press:  So being on, you know, the Al-Qaida or other sanctions list is not a ban to meeting with the Secretary-General?

Deputy Spokesman:  He is not, I believe, on the list of the 1267 Sanctions Committee.  This is a US list you're referring to and you need to take up with the US on that.  But, in this case, he was meeting with the members of the Riyadh delegation.  This was part of his effort to meet as much as he could with all the various parties.  Of course, because of logistical delays he was not able to meet with the Sana’a delegation. 

  Why does Ban Ki-moon have security, if his new Special Adviser brings in a designated terrorist to meet with him? Note that on June 18, Ban's security was used, by UN Peacekeeping chief Ladsous but in front of Ban, to eject Inner City Press from an "open" meeting, video here,story here.

  These questions particularly arises because Inner City Press is informed by exclusive sources that Ban's bungling Adviser Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed has been meeting with the opposition or Sana'a delegation in the hotel they are staying in, insisting they re-agree to only seven seat before they are permitted to the Palais de Nations to speak with the media as the Hadi / "terrorist" delegation does.

  Inner City Press is informed that Cheikh Ahmed was told in this hotel meeting that he is incompetent, better suited to an administrative assistant position. The UN has insisted he is very qualified -- by what, human resources work for UNICEF in Yemen, where he allowed a staff member to be taken hostage due to his own failure to pick up armored vehicles from the airport or to arrange a security escort for the staff member to the airport?

  Now this -- bringing in a listed terrorist to meet Ban Ki-moon, which pleading with Oman for a plane. We'll have more on this.

  At the June 17 UN noon briefing, Ban's deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq tried to say the UN had nothing to do with Abdel Wahhab al-Humayqani. But how did he get into the UN building, and meet and shake hands with Ban Ki-moon? Note that Ban's previous special adviser on Yemen avoided Abdel Wahhab al-Humayqani, knowing he was a listed terrorist. This UN is in decline.

  While UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric at the June 16 briefing at noon in New York said the plane with the Houthis on it had left Djibouti for Geneva, albeit after Ban Ki-moon had left Geneva, ten hours later Inner City Press was exclusively informed by sources that the issues with the Houthis and the other parties was still not resolved.

  The bungling envoy Cheik Ahmed, the sources tell Inner City Press, to try to lure the Houthis and other parties to Geneva promised them more than the seven seats previously announced, and put this on a Facebook page he established.

  Then, pressured by the Hadi / Saudi side, Cheikh Ahmed reiterated the old seven seat offer on a UN website, in English. Meanwhile in desperation, the sources exclusively tell Inner City Press, he reached out to Oman, asking them to intercede with the Houthis - and for a plane.

  The sources say the UN sent more than one plane to Sana'a, but then had to leave. Now those they lured onto the (final?) plane have been in transit for more than 48 hours with no bed to sleep in, becoming concerned they could be rendered to, where else, Saudi Arabia.

  This is the UN? 

Update: meanwhile on June 16 the UN human rights office said its team in Yemen counted 50 civilians killed between June 11 and 15 -- with over 70% (36) killed by the Saudi-led coalition's airstrikes, versus 14 killed by fighting between the Houthis and "local armed groups." So even the 14 are not necessarily directly attributable to the Houthis, compared to the 36 through the air. Where is Ban Ki-moon, and his or the Saudis' Cheikh Ahmed, on this?

 On June 15 in Geneva, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon met the Hadi government and the so-called Group of 16 ambassadors to Yemen - but not the Houthis. Ban said it was a logistical snafu but that now he had to leave. His public schedule at the time of that announcement still stopped at his June 14 Central Asia tour. Here's from what Ban said:
 
"I have taken part in very constructive meetings with representatives of the Government of Yemen.  I have also just briefed the so-called Group of 16-plus Ambassadors to Yemen. As you know, our goal was to have a joint meeting this morning, but logistical issues made this impossible this morning... This is purely a logistical issue that representatives of Houthis and other groupings were not able to arrive yesterday.  I am expecting that they will arrive late this afternoon or early this evening, so they will meet with my Special Envoy.  Unfortunately, I could not wait for their arrival because of unavoidable engagements."

  During the June 15 noon briefing, UN spokesman Dujarric said that the plane with the Houthis on it had belatedly left Djibouti after logistics issued he said involved "refueling." But see above.

  The Organization of Islamic Cooperation has scheduled a meeting of its members' foreign ministers about Yemen on June 16 - while the UN facilitated talks in Geneva are supposed to be taking place. This comes amid reports the the UN plane from Sana'a did not include all participants; typically, the UN has remained silent.

 Here is the OIC's June 14 announcement:

"The General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has finalized its preparations for the convening of an emergency meeting at the level of foreign ministers on the situation in Yemen, at the OIC headquarters in Jeddah on Tuesday 16th June 2015.

"The meeting, which is being held pursuant to a request from the Government of Yemen coupled with the approval of a majority of the OIC Member States, will consider the situation in Yemen and ways to ensure the return of security and stability there. It is expected that the meeting will be attended by a large number of OIC Member States Foreign Ministers."

The OIC has told the Press that at 3 pm, after their meeting, there will be a press conference.

Back on June 6, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced a new round of talks to start June 14.

  Then in a statement issued on June 12, the date was pushed back to June 15 --while maintaining a Ban photo op with the Gulf Cooperation Council on June 14. Here's the UN's Note to Correspondents:

"There has been a change in the timing of events related to the Geneva Consultations on Yemen. Due to unforeseen circumstances, one of the Yemeni delegations will now arrive in Geneva on Sunday evening, 14 June. 

Therefore, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and his Special Envoy, Ismail Ould Chiekh Ahmed, will begin consultations with the Yemeni delegations on Monday morning, 15 June, 2015. 

Accordingly, there will not be a press stakeout by the Secretary-General on Sunday evening, as previously announced. That press stakeout will now take place on Monday morning, after the beginning of the Consultations. 

Please note that we still expect that there will be two photo-ops on Sunday afternoon, time to be confirmed, with the GCC and the Group of Sixteen.
The press corps covering the Consultations are again invited to the planning meeting in Room III on Sunday 14 June at 13:00, when we expect to announce exact times and procedures."

 So both the GCC and the Group of 16 will be there. Who else? Watch this site.

 On June 9, Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric a simple question: which Yemeni political parties have been invited to Geneva? Even this, he refused to answer on June 9. Video here.

 But on June 10 he returned with a read-out, which Inner City Pressphotographed and Tweeted it and now reports it in its two-sentence full text here:

“Ismael has now said publicly that seven seats have been allocated for both sides and that he expects representatives of the Houthis and the General People's Congress party, as well as the Socialists, the Nasserites and Islah party

  “The government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi will also be represented."  We'll have more on this.

 On June 3, the UN Security Council got a briefing about Yemen from new UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O'Brien. Inner City Press staked-out the meeting and was told that O'Brien would speak. But when he emerged, he begged off. 

 While perhaps this is because his first week, the Free UN Coalition for Access believes O'Brien should speak on the record, particularly on Yemen at this point (as well as Sudan, Burundi and so forth).

  O'Brien did not speak, but Russia's Vitaly Churkin did, including about O'Brien. Churkin said "Mr O’Brien, it’s his first appearance at the Security Council, his account was very graphic, about the humanitarian consequences. Over 2000 people dead, a lot of destruction, the fact that it’s difficult to bring in humanitarian supplies, it’s difficult to bring in commercial supplies. Commercial supplies and the situation in Yemen, it’s also a humanitarian aspect of the whole situation, because it doesn’t include the fuel oil, and without fuel the country cannot function because of electricity and things like that. So, it’s extremely dramatic situation and a strong reason to stop fighting and start seriously to talk, without preconditions, as the statement which we adopted finally last night is pointing out."

 On June 2 the UN Security Council has issued a Press Statement calling for the resumption of talks -- on information and belief on June 10 -- in Geneva, without preconditions. Here is the Security Council Press Statement, eights minutes after it was issued:

"The members of the Security Council expressed their deep concern about the grave situation in Yemen. In this regard, the members of the Security Council were deeply disappointed that the consultations in Geneva planned for 28 May did not take place. The members of the Security Council urged Yemeni stakeholders to participate in the UN-brokered inclusive political consultations as soon as possible.
 
The members of the Security Council recalled Security Council resolutions 2014 (2011), 2051 (2012), 2140 (2014), 2201 (2015) and 2216 (2015), emphasizing the need for a peaceful, orderly, inclusive and Yemeni-led transition process. The members of the Security Council reiterated their demand for the full implementation of relevant Security Council resolutions, and reiterated their call from resolution 2216 (2015) on all Yemeni parties to resume and accelerate UN-brokered political inclusive consultations.
 
The members of the Security Council reaffirmed their call on Yemeni parties to attend these talks and engage without preconditions and in good faith, including by resolving their differences through dialogue and consultations, rejecting acts of violence to achieve political goals, and refraining from provocation and all unilateral actions to undermine the political transition. The members of the Security Council emphasized that the UN-brokered inclusive political dialogue must be a Yemeni-led process, with the intention of brokering a consensus-based political solution to Yemen’s crisis in accordance with the Gulf Cooperation Council Initiative and its Implementation Mechanism, the outcomes of the comprehensive National Dialogue conference, and relevant Security Council resolutions.
 
The members of the Security Council reiterated their full support for the efforts of the United Nations and the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Yemen, and further reiterated their request of the Secretary-General to intensify his good offices role in order to enable a resumption of a peaceful, inclusive, orderly, and Yemeni-led political transition process that meets the legitimate demands and aspirations of the Yemeni people.
 
The members of the Security Council endorsed the UN Secretary General’s call for a further humanitarian pause in order to allow assistance to reach the Yemeni people urgently. The members of the Security Council urged all parties to facilitate the urgent delivery of humanitarian assistance, as well as rapid, safe, and unhindered access for humanitarian actors to reach people in need of humanitarian assistance, including medical assistance. The members of the Security Council called upon all sides to comply with international humanitarian law, including taking all feasible precautions to minimize harm to civilians and civilian objects, including water systems, schools, and hospitals, and to urgently work with the United Nations and humanitarian aid organizations to get assistance to those in need. The members of the Security Council stressed the urgent need for ongoing commercial supplies to enter Yemen because of the heavy dependence of Yemen and its people on imported food and fuel.
 
The members of the Security Council reaffirmed their strong commitment to the unity, sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of Yemen, and its commitment to stand by the people of Yemen."

 Background: Inner City Press has learned how new UN envoy Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed was viewed during his Sana'a trip as a "tool of the Saudis," and how with the UN having thus marginalized itself, the process has moved beyond it to Oman, with involvement of UN Security Council members which still pay lip service to Ould Cheikh Ahmed's shrunken role.

  On Cheikh Ahmed's first day in Sana'a, Inner City Press is told, the Houthis let him wait, and stew. When they met him, he was asked why the previously Yemeni-agreed Peace and Partnership Agreement was being dropped, if he wasn't a "tool of the Saudis."

  The answer was not convincing. Cheikh Ahmed was said to be asking the Saudis how much time they want, to continue bombing Yemen. Is this was the UN should be, it was asked.

  Even Security Council (Permanent) members who say there is no military solution and pay lip service to Cheikh Ahmed's so far unsuccessful work are now working around the UN, through Oman. We'll have more on this.

  On May 26, Inner City Press asked UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric,video here:

Inner City Press: on Yemen, since we're on this topic.  I mean that sort of goes to the heart of it.  Didn't he say there would be no preconditions?  So, if the Riyadh conference that the Houthis didn't attend is somehow involved or a basis of these talks…?

Spokesman:  I think… we're talking about getting people around the table.  That's what we want to see.  I'm not going to start to negotiate from here with the different parties.

Inner City Press:  Sure.  But how about… okay.  One's kind of a strange one.  I heard something like the children's parliament has been invited and would be flown in at UN's expense.  Is that the case?  Is it true that either the Yemeni Government or the Saudi side provided a list of accepting candidates under the categories of youth, civil society and women?

Spokesman:  I think… I think all the different sides are engaged in… what could we say… a tussle.  I think what we need to see is we need to see all of them… all the parties around the table.  I don't have any specific information on the children's parliament.

Question:  One more?

Spokesman:  I'll come back to you.

 Some of the UN's bungling is entirely public.  Two days after Inner City Press and others reported that the May 28 talks were postponed or canceled, only on the afternoon of May 26 did Ban confirm the postponement. Here is his announcement:

"The Secretary-General has asked his Special Envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, to postpone the consultations in Geneva planned for 28 May following a request from the Government of Yemen and other key stakeholders for more time to prepare. The Secretary-General is actively working to convene the talks at the earliest possible time.

The Secretary-General is disappointed that it has not been possible to commence such an important initiative at the soonest possible date and reiterates his call for all parties to engage in United Nations-facilitated consultations in good faith and without pre-conditions. He also reiterates that the only durable resolution to the crisis in Yemen is an inclusive, negotiated political settlement.  

The Secretary-General has instructed his Special Envoy to redouble his efforts to consult with the Yemeni Government, Yemen’s political groupings and countries in the region with the aim of producing a comprehensive ceasefire and the resumption of peaceful dialogue and an orderly political transition.

Noting that the conflict has escalated once again following a much-needed five-day humanitarian pause, the Secretary-General urges all parties to be mindful of the suffering of Yemeni civilians, and to support the efforts of the Special Envoy. He is acutely aware that a postponement or delay in a return to the political process will exacerbate a steadily deepening humanitarian crisis.

The Geneva initiative, aimed at bringing together a broad range of Yemeni governmental and other actors, follows extensive consultations by the Special Envoy as well as strong expressions of support by various Security Council resolutions, including 2216 (2015), for a peaceful and Yemeni-led political transition process based on the Gulf Cooperation Council Initiative and its Implementation Mechanism and the outcomes of the comprehensive National Dialogue Conference. "

 On May 24 Inner City Press was informed that the UN already informed the Houthis and other participants that May 28 was off.

  But what were and are the Saudis' demands? Inner City Press is exclusively informed by well placed sources that the Saudis demand that the basis -- and constraints -- of the Geneva meeting be the "Riyadh Declaration," reached without any involvement by the Houthis.

  The UN already let the Saudis name individuals who would attend under the heading "women, youth and civil society." The GCC and the G14 were to attend -- the deck was already stacked for the Saudis. But they wanted the Riyadh Declaration as the basis (just as they excluded the September 2014 Peace and Partnership Agreement).

 Or, as one well place source put it, the Saudis don't WANT a UN process, "they want to keep bombing, either to eliminate the Houthis" - a la Sri Lanka and the LTTE -- or to "make them capitulate and agree to a final meeting in Riyadh."

   The Houthis agreeing to that, ever, seems unlikely. It is the UN of Ban Ki-moon that has capitulated. Watch this site.

  First the UN allowed US Secretary of State John Kerry to tell it not to dare hold Yemen talks in Geneva on May 11 as the UN had planned, as Inner City Press exclusively reported on May 6.

  Now the May 28 talks in Geneva, conveniently after the Houthi-less talks in Riyadh, will be stacked in ways both pro-Saudi and laughable, sources tell Inner City Press.

 New Saudi-picked "UN" envoy Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed, who appeared on the podium in Riyadh, has dropped from the list of documents on which the May 28 talks are based the Peace and Partnership Agreement that all Yemeni political parties agreed to on September 21, 2014.

  The reason? Saudi Arabia doesn't like what was agreed to at that time: it created obligations not only for the Houthis but also for Hadi. So it is gone.

Update: and now, at least for now, so is Hadi. Despite the May 28 talks being Saudi dominated, Hadi says he won't go unless Security Council resolution 2216 is "fully implemented." And about about the Peace and Partnership Agreement that he signed but didn't implement? We'll have more on this.

   Slated for attendance on May 28 are the Saudi-led Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Gulf Cooperation Council currently headed by Bahrain and GCC Secretary-General Abdullatif Al-Zayani - but notably not Iran. The number of seats for the Houthis will be limited.

  Who else is slated to go? Causing laughter in diplomatic circle and in Yemen where it is sorely needed, Cheikh Ahmed is angling to fly in the so-called Children's Parliament organized by an NGO in Yemen, as well as their parents and guardians. "Who is paying for this?" one source demanded of Inner City Press.

  Inner City Press asked UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric at the UN noon briefing on May 26.

  This last step is blamed by the sources on Cheikh Ahmed having little political background. Inner City Press has already reported on his failure while previously in Yemen to protect UN staff -- failure to pick up the armored vehicles from the airport or have the recommended security detail with staff going to the airport, leading to the long kidnapping of a UNICEF staffer.

 But even at UNICEF, Cheikh Ahmed was in human resources, not substantive policy. And the Press questions about his fishing business and its funders remain UNanswered. We'll have more on this.

  For now, this: Inner City Press is informed that after Cheikh Ahmed's quick visit to Iran, he was summoned back to Riyadh and, highly irregular for the UN, went without his policy "team," not even a note-taker. What might have been discussed?

  The UN, we note, routinely refuses to answer Press questions.

  Back on April 29, Inner City Press asked the UN's deputy spokesperson to confirm that the UN was considering Geneva as a venue to continue Yemen talks, after its previous envoy Jamal Benomar resigned in protest of Saudi airstrikes and was replaced by a more amenable envoy, Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed.

   

On Libya, Bernardino Leon No Q&A UNlike Tarek Mitri, AFP "Obtains" French Request, Reuters Matches With UNnamed Diplomats

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 4, more here -- When the UN Security Council met about Libya behind closed doors on November 4, the Press outside at the stakeout was repeatedly told that new envoy Bernardino Leon would come and take questions at the stakeout.

 This is what the replaced Tarek Mitri did, each time he briefed the Security Council. With Leon being criticized inside Libya it would seem he'd have all the more reason to speak.

  But he did not. When he came out he barely broke stride -- Inner City Press took a photograph, blurred -- while saying the new Security Council Gary Quinlan of Australia would speak later. When Quinlan did, it was a bland "Press Elements."

  Still the scribes churned it. At 8:15 pm Agence France Presse bragged that it had "obtained" a French-drafted request to put Ansar al-Sharia, Benghazi and Derna, on the Al Qaeda sanctions list. 

"A copy of the French-led request to the Al-Qaeda sanctions committee was obtained by AFP." Wonder how...

   Reuters issued a breathless report with unnamed diplomats at 8:19 pm. Both have tried to get smaller investigative Press thrown out of the UN - see documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, here andhere - and this request by Reuters to censor one of its complaints to the UN from Google's Search.

  Back on August 27 amid airstrikes in Libya, when outgoing UN envoy Tarek Mitri briefed the UN Security Council, the airstrikes weren't even mentioned in his more than six page prepared text distributed by the UN.

  Inside the Council chamber, improvising but only a little bit, Mitri mentioned the strikes, but not who did them. Back on August 19 and once again since, Inner City Press asked the UN if it knew anything about who was behind them:

Inner City Press: Who did the air strikes?  General Haftar?  What's the UN, either Mr. León or Mr. Mitri or whoever is currently in charge, what's their sense of who's doing air strikes in Tripoli?

Spokesman Dujarric:  I don't… I think we reported back with the Mission yesterday, if there's anything more I'll share it with you.

  But in the days since, the UN has said nothing. Now the Libyan Dawn group  has taken over the Tripoli airport despite the airstrikes and alleged that the strikes have the involvement of Haftar's (or Hiftar's) supporters, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. What does the UN -- or now Bernardino Leon -- know and say about that? Watch this site.

On Leon: To try to counter Libya's lawless power struggle, the UN engaged in one of its own. 

  And unlike most of the member states that make up the UN, and most other inter-governmental organizations, this UN does not answer questions, at least not directly.

  After Inner City Press repeated asked about it, including at the UN's noon briefings on August 11 and 13, on August 14 the UN said Bernardino Leon will take over as its Libya envoy on September 1.

  When Inner City Press asked if that is really Leon's starting day, given that he's said he'll go to Tripoli as early as next week representing the UN, Ban Ki-moon's deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said Leon is merely "familiarizing" himself with the work he will be, and Mitri remains in place until September 1. Really?

  Ignoring the previous questions and the power-play, wire services like Reuters merely retyped ("reported") the UN's August 14 announcement that Leon will start September 1. And now?

 Back on August 1, Inner City Press exclusively reportedthat UN envoy to Libya Tarek Mitri was being "pushed out" of the post, including by UK envoy to Libya Jonathan Powell, and cited his brother Lord Powell's extensive business in Libya through Magna Holdings.

  The UK mission, usually responsive, did not provide comment on written Press questions on this; at UN Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant's August 4 press conference Inner City Press asked about Powell's and Mitri's relationship, without direct answer, see here.

  Then the UK's Ambassador to Libya Michael Aron hasannounced, on Twitter no less,  that Mitri is out and Ban Ki-moon has installed a new UN envoy, former Zapatero diplomat Bernardino Leon Gross.

  The UN, at least at its August 8 noon briefing and in emails since, has not announce anything about replacing Mitri, much less by whom.

  Ban Ki-moon's office said that for August 9 and 10, "Spokesperson on call:  Mr. Farhan Haq." So Inner City Press wrote to Farhan Haq, as well as to lead spokesman Stephane Dujarric:

Hello. Now that the UK Ambassador to Libya, and others, have announced that Ban Ki-moon has appointed Bernardino Leon to replace Tarek Mitri as Ban's representative to Libya, head of UNSMIL, this is a request on deadline - today - that your Office confirm that this appointment or nomination has been made.

Has the letter been sent to the Security Council?

Is Leon already confirmed?

If not, how it is appropriate that P5 countries are saying he already has the job? On deadline, today.

Given many of the ongoing Afghanistan leaks are about UN DSS and UNAMA, not UNDP, there will be further questions. But the above is on deadline for today. Thank you in advance.

  But more than four hours later, by "close of business" in New York, the "spokesperson on duty" had not answered, had not even acknowledged receipt of the question.

  What does it mean to be the UN's "spokesperson on duty"?

   Isn't it for Ban Ki-moon to make this announcement? In fact, in 2011 when France had already gotten its Jerome Bonnafont in place to replace its Alain Le Roy atop UN Peacekeeping, Bonnafont's bragging about it in India, where he was French Ambassador, led to Ban rescinding the "offer."

  France countered with three time loser Herve Ladsous, Inner City Press reported each step -- including Bonnafont in July 2011 being tapped for the post, and evencongratulation cards to Bonnafont, here, and threats from AFP then the UN Correspondents Association -- and the rest is, well, a type of history (coverage in UK New Statesman, here).

  Ladsous refuses all Inner City Press questions, video compilation here; Ban Ki-moon's deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq on August 8, alluding to Ladsous and now UNDP, said it is because of "people skills." Or reporting?

  So Ban has accepted or done nothing to stop this P3 power grab to oust Mitri. But can "his" successor be pre-announced and Ban accept that too? 

Footnote: Inner City Press is exclusively informed that UNSMIL deputy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed also has business, literally: fisshing business. Ban and those in control of this play accept that too? Watch this site.

Background: Inner City Press on August 1 asked UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric what UN envoy Tarek Mitri is doing; Dujarric said he was not aware but would check.

  Inner City Press had reported that Mitri, unlike the other UN international staff who relocated to Tunis, went back to his native Lebanon. Sources in the region exclusively told Inner City Press that Mitri had been hoping for a government post in Lebanon, describing him as less than committed to remaining with the UN.

   Now we can report more. These knowledgeable sources say that Mitri is being "pushed out," mostly they say by the UK's envoy to Libya, former Tony Blair aide Jonathan Powell.

  "Mitri was expected to take on a mostly support function," one source told Inner City Press. "He stood up and said no, headquarters didn't back him up and now he's being pushed out." We'll have more on this.

  It was nine days after Libya's foreign minister Mohamed Abdel Aziz at the UN Security Council stakeout told the Press his country wanted international help to protect oil fields and ports, including airports, that the US announced it had relocated its Tripoli embassy staff out of the country to Tunisia.

  Inner City Press asked, where is UN envoy to Libya Tarek Mitri? He briefed the Security Council from Beirut -- sources tell Inner City Press he has been on vacation there, and this deputy, too, was out of the country.

  Back on July 17 when Libya's foreign minister Mohamed Abdel Aziz emerged from the UN Security Council to take questions from the media, Inner City Press asked him to be more specific about what type of “support” force he is asking for.

  Mohamed Abdel Aziz replied that the request is not for a “military” force -- but then went on to say say the force should protect oil fields and ports. If that's not military, what is it?

  Inner City Press also asked Mohamed Abdel Aziz for Libya's current position on the US arresting Abu Khatallah. Compared to the complaints of others, Mohamed Abdel Aziz said that even though under international law it is unacceptable, since Libya can't protect witnesses, maybe it is okay.

  Given the current state of affairs, what is “Libya's” position?

  Meanwhile on July 17 the UN's envoy to Libya Tarek Mitri told the Security Council -- by video from his native Lebanon, while other UN international staff are in Tunisia -- that the fighting has “cast a shadow over the election on 25 June of the 200 member Council of Representatives.” Ya don't say.

 Mitri said that barely forty percent of the 1.5 million registered Libyans went to the polls. He said 12 seats will remain vacant; 41 candidates were disqualified under the post-Gaddafi Law on Political and Administrative Isolation. Final results are supposed to be announced on July 20. Watch this site.

   

On Syria, Al Nusra Not Mentioned in Al Qaeda Santions Speeck to UNSC, As Pillay Hires Benetech Again?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, May 10 -- With France showboating its desire to put the Al Nusra Front in Syria on the UN's Al Qaeda sanctions list, supposedly next week, there was a false note on Friday.

  In a Security Council session, when the chair of the Council's Al Qaeda sanctions committee Gary Quinlan of Australia spoke, at some length, he did not mention Al Nusra or even Syria at all.

  Why not, since Al Nusra's Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani pledged loyalty to Al-Qaeda? Did that come after the "closing date" for Quinlan's May 10 Security Council speech?

  Meanwhile, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has said a new report on the number of deaths in Syria should issue in the next two weeks. 

  The last report, as exposed by Inner City Press, was through a sole source / set-aside contract for $25,000 with Benetech, funded in part by the US government. This does not build credibility.

  Have the months since then been used to hold a legitimate competitive procurement? We'll see. Watch this site.

Wittig Won't Say If His Committee Used Info Obtained by Torture, But Answers

By Matthew Russell Lee

 

UNITED NATIONS, December 14 -- When Germany's Permanent Representative to the UN Peter Wittig spoke Friday on the end of his two year term on the Security Council, he mentioned as one of the highlights having chaired the Council's Taliban and Al Qaeda sanctions committees.

  Inner City Press asked Wittig if during these two years, he or the Committees used information obtained by torture. This was recently charged by UN Special Rapporteur Ban Emmerson, at a session held at the Germany mission ten days ago (story here.)

  Even Ombudsperson Kim Prost, purporting to rebut Emmerson, said that torture was "plausibly raised" in at least two of the 22 sanctions cases she reviewed. So Inner City Press asked Wittig on Friday, have you or the Committee handled information plausibly related to torture? Video here, from Minute 25.

  To this, Wittig said that the proceedings of the Committee are confidential, so he "could not speak about the contents." He said that the Committee "itself has not been seized" of the question of torture. One might ask, why not?

  (In fairness, some argue the no Security Council member, even a Committee chair, can speak for other members, even to answer a question about using information obtained by torture. Whether this reticence is wise or an excuse is another question.)

  Inner City Press also thanked Wittig and his spokesman Alex Eberl, on behalf of the beta Free UN Coalition for Access, FUNCA, for the time they took, monthly or more frequently, to explain Germany's views if only on a background or off the record basis. The views, especially from the top floors of the German Mission on 49th Street, were illuminating.

   Wittig's deputy Miguel Berger continues past January 1 as chairperson of the UN's Fifth (Budget) Committee, now facing issues ranging from re-costing of the budget to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's mobility plan, on which questions raised by the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Affairs have yet to be answered.

   Unlike some at the UN, Wittig on Friday at least purported to answer the questions raised. We wish him well.

Ten Swiss Years in UN Spin HRC & Sanctions Reforms, Going Big in Small Five

 

By Matthew Russell Lee, Review

UNITED NATIONS, September 4 -- Switzerland joined the UN ten years ago, and its UN Mission website presents it as an unmitigated success. But closer examination finds that some of its claimed impacted, on and of the UN, are more ambiguous than presented.

Switzerland makes much of the Geneva-based Human Rights Council. But just this month, Sudan's candidacy for the HRC while its president has been indicted for genocide by the ICC has drawn fire. Word has been, for Sudan to drop out, it will get a quiet commitment for lighter treatment by the HRC.

Last week on August 30, Inner City Press asked UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's Associate Spokesman Farhan Haq about the efficacy of any challenge to the Secretariat to Sudan's candidacy:

Inner City Press: there's a letter that was sent to Patricia O’Brien about Sudan’s candidacy for the Human Rights Council. It’s been publicly announced; I don’t know if the UN has received it. And also, does the Secretariat have any role in ruling on the eligibility of countries to run in elections for the Human Rights Council?

Associate Spokesperson Farhan Haq: Well, certainly, Member States can request our expertise, our legal expertise, on points of order if they choose to do so. In this case, though, the question of membership in the Human Rights Council is up to the Member States, as it properly is, and we will leave it in their hands how to handle this issue.

Now, amid claims by some it vindicates the HRC, Sudan is backing out. But in exchange for what? Sudan's National Congress Party's secretary of organizations Adil Awad on September 2 said he now expects Sudan to be relieved of monitoring by a special rapporteur...

On the positive side, Switzerland's (increasingly leadership, and lonely) role in the so-called Small Five for reform of the Security Council's working methods stands out.

Their draft resolution was withdrawn, but Ambassador Seger seems committed to press forward, bringing a legal approach too rare in the UN. Seger insists, correctly, on more participation in the Security Council as head of a Peacebuilding Commission configuration. Seger's predecessor Peter Maurer now heads the ICRC and is headed to Syia.

On the other hand it was unfortunate that Nicolas Michel, while serving at the UN's top lawyer, also accepted Swiss payments for his housing, in violation of the UN charter and rules, as exposed by Inner City Press.

And Joseph Deiss, while he was PGA, was only halting in disclosing who paid for his housing and travel. For a PGA, it is legal to take from one's country. But Deiss appeared to deny it, when Inner City Press first raised it.

The ombudsperson of the Al Qaeda Sanctions committee was something of a good reform. But recently, for example, the reform proved illusory. A person removed from the Al Qaeda list, businessman Jim'ale, was then just put on the Somalia / Eritrea sanctions list.

Switzerland is in the position to critique and even reform these things. We'll be watching.