Before Cristina Gallach Got UN DPI Post, Beaten Out by Bibiana Aido, Now Retaliates on Press, Bernardino Leon Link?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 3 -- The decision to throw Inner City Press out of the UN on February 19, on only two hours notice, was made by Spain's highest UN official, Under Secretary General of Public Information Cristina Gallach.Audio here.

   With seeming disdain for due process, Gallach never once spoke to Inner City Press before signing the letter to throw it out, to hear its explanation of why it sought to cover an event in the UN Press Briefing Room three weeks earlier onJanuary 29.

  After now setting in a second letter a final eviction date, April 6, Gallach has twice approached Inner City Press in the stakeout area to which it is confined. March 30 video / audio here; March 31 audio here. On March 30 she told Inner City Press it photographs things that are not newsworthy. On March 31 she declined to take seriously the targeted censorship she has unleashed.

  We have previously -- after the no due process ouster -- covered how Gallach was given the job by Ban Ki-moon. Since then more information has come in from her native Spain, beyond expressing outrage at Gallach's censorship of Inner City Press' coverage of Western Sahara, to the point of Banning it from Security Council meetings as on March 21and requiring minders as on March 24.

Gallach's claim to fame, such as it is, was as spokesperson for Javier Solana; she re-tweets Solana still. We'll have more on that tenure -- but what Spanish sources are detailing is Gallach's previously thwarted desire for a UN post.

  Spain threw money at UN Women; Gallach wanted a post there. But there was Bibiana Aido -- Inner City Pressinterviewed Aido at the UN in 2009, here -- and then there was resentment, including about who had better familial connection to Zapatero.

  Other sources speak of retaliation for critical Press coverage of Spanish official Bernardino Leon's sell-out to the United Arab Emirates, alongside the David Ng Lap Seng / South South scandal in which Gallach plays a role, on which Inner City Press questioned her before her no due process, no recusal ouster and eviction orders. We'll have more on all this.

  It is telling that Spanish "UN" official Bernardino Leon's outrageous sell-out of the UN resulted in no punishment or even criticism from Ban Ki-moon, while the Press which aggressively covered it is being evicted by Spain's highest UN official. 

After throwing Inner City Press in the street on February 19 without once asking it about its attempt to cover the January 29 event in the UN Press Briefing Room, Gallach first dissembled to Nobel Prize laureate Jose Ramos Horta, that she'd done nothing to Inner City Press - then came up with a new strategy.

  Gallach would try to use Inner City Press' fight back against being censored as the rationale for what she had done.

  Inner City Press, even after being forcibly thrown out of the UN on Gallach's orders on February 19, and being told it was Banned from all UN premises on February 22, tried to speak with her on the evening of February 22. With witnesses present, Inner City Press urged a creative solution, with flexibility on both sides.

But there was none.

Now, Gallach is telling her interlocutors that it is Inner City Press' fight-back since, including tweets, that justifies what she did before Inner City Press issues a single tweet mentioning her.

This is Kafka-esque, and it is censorship. This should NOT be atop the UN Department of Public Information. 

  Gallach followed and fed an anonymous troll twitter account which more than 150 times parroted her position. But she is not responsible for it? This is the face of UN censorship.

  How was such a decision, contrary to due process and press freedom, made by the UN's communication chief? How did she get this job?

   When Spain put Gallach's name in contention for the USG DPI position, Inner City Press reported on her and two other short-list candidates, then acting chief Maher Nasser of Palestine and Romania's Permanent Representative Simona Miculescu. 

   At the time, many said Nasser was the most qualified. But because Saudi Arabia put forward its Deputy Permanent Representative and used the muscle it is showing on Yemen, Iran and now Lebanon to demand support, Nasser was not about to get the support of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) or the Arab Group.

   But many said Gallach was the worst interview, and had the least experience. They say - and Inner City Press has a question pending to confirm or deny - that prior to Spain putting Gallach forward to run the UN Department of Public Information with some 700 staff, the largest team Gallach had run had consisted of one-hundredth of that, more like SEVEN people.

  In most organization, such a person would never get the job. But this is the UN. Spain was about to take a two-year seat on the Security Council, and the Ban Ki-moon administration has a pattern of doling out high jobs to some of the countries coming on to the Council (less so the African countries), as a way of getting support for proposals it will have before the Council.

  And so Gallach, described as underprepared and the “worst interview” of all the candidates, was given the job by Ban Ki-moon.  Miculescu was given a consolation prize with the UN in Serbia. Nasser stayed on as a deputy to Gallach, seemingly not consulted even when Gallach, on February 19, decided to have a long time UN journalist thrown to the curb, on two hours notice.

  Prior to that - and separately requiring Gallach's recusal - Inner City Press had accurately reported the Gallach hobnobbed at the "South South Awards" with Frank Lorenzo, photo here, just before he was indicted for bribery at the UN. 

  This is why senior UN officials telling Inner City Press to "stay in touch with Cristina Gallach on this matter. She will keep me informed" is both Kafka-esque and indicative of the UN's inability to clean up or even look into corruption.

  There are a number of connections between those indicted for bribery and DPI and its partner in this, the UN Correspondents Association who event in the UN Press Briefing Room Inner City Press was seeking to cover on January 29, on corruption related issues: how indicted Ng Lap Seng was given a photo op with Ban Ki-moon by UNCA, after UNCA took money from Ng's South South News. This has yet to be answered either. 

  Or perhaps the ouster is the answer.

  When Ban Ki-moon imposed his most recent budget cuts, the Department hardest hit was Gallach's DPI. Staff complained she didn't fight for them; those to whom she made presentations in the UN's budget process called her woefully unprepared, “a joke,” one of them said.

   But to throw an investigative journalist into the street, without even coat or passport, to refuse to reconsider it even when contacted as Gallach was by such people as Nobel Peace Prize winner Jose Ramos Horta (she dissembled to him), a range of Ambassadors and even, privately andpublicly, by the President of the Security Council, is not a joke at all.

  When Business Insider wrote about the ouster, published on February 26, Gallach couldn't (be bothered) to give a quote: an unnamed DPI spokesperson said it was fine to throw out Inner City Press without even speaking with it or allowing an opportunity to be heard:

“When contacted for comment, the Office of the Undersecretary General for Communications and Public Information did not deny that Lee had never been questioned over the incident before his pass was revoked. 'In conducting its investigation into the incident on 29 January, [Department of Public Information] reviewed several videos of what happened, including footage that was taken by Mr. Lee and posted on his website,' a representative of the office wrote in an email to Business Insider. 'DPI also spoke at length with the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General and officers from the UN Department of Safety and Security who were in attendance on 29 January. These steps were sufficient to determine that Mr. Lee's actions clearly infringed the guidelines that apply to all correspondents at the United Nations.'”

  Inner City Press asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric about this quote; he has yet to answer. In writing, Inner City Press has asked both Dujarric and Gallach about this: but questions submitted back on February 20 have yet to be answered.

  Both Gallach and Dujarric are, however, among the handful of followers of an anonymous troll Twitter accountwhich is defending both of their actions, including interestingly to journalists in Spain.

UN Won't Answer on Costs of Ban Ki-moon's Travel, Refused Press Questions on Scandals of John Ashe, Leon and CAR Rapes Covered-Up

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, December 30 -- Ban Ki-moon's tenure as UN Secretary General became embroiled in one scandal after another in 2015 -- but at his “year-end” press conference he refused to answer a Press question directly on it. Video here and embedded below. Vine here.

 Now with Ban off on a "private" visit to Vienna, tweeted by the UN Office there, the UN has yet to answer Inner City Press' simple question about the cost(s):

"With regard to the Secretary General's current trip to Vienna, tweeted by the UN there, for purposes of transparency including in light of the indictment of ex-UNPGA John Ashe and the new PGA's disclosures, what are the costs to the UN budget, and what are the other costs and who is paying them?"

  Hours later, on a UN work day, no answer. Rather than answer Press questions on the scandal and how the UN might be reformed - Inner City Press asked again on December 28 - Ban has given friendly interviews on his work on climate change. Meanwhile Ban's head of peacekeeping, refusing all Press questions, is "interviewed" only by the UN's own UN News Center - after not only the CAR rape cover ups but now Burundi threatening attacks on peacekeepers. (Ladsous has said he's "pragmatic" on human rights.)

The former President of the General Assembly John Ashe and four others have been indicted, Ashe for buying documents from Ban's UN Secretariat.

Ban's envoy to Libya Bernardino Leon was exposed by leaks as having taken instructions and then a job from the United Arab Emirates.

And Ban's head of UN Peacekeeping, Herve Ladsous, is listed in UN Dispute Tribunal documents as having tried to cover up child rapes in Central African Republic by peacekeepers from his native France.

  Inner City Press, which Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric did not call on despite calling two separate times on the same UN Correspondents Association scribe, asked audibly, “Do you have any update on the John Ashe indictment? Bernardino Leon? These were major developments this year.” Vine here.

  But Ban refused to answer the question. He walked out of the briefing room, shaking hands scribes. The press conference began with Dujarric setting aside the first question for the head of UNCA, who thanked Ban for attending an event on Wall Street for which UNCA charged $6,000 to sit with Ban. This is the UN Corruption Association.

  A question on or to cover up the sexual abuse scandal was arranged, with Agence France Presse congratulating Ban for this response to the sexual abuse scandal. (Senegalese Babacar Gaye was urged to resign, Ladsous who on camera linked the rapes to “R&R," video here, remains in place.)

Ban read out a wan answer on Burundi; his deputy spokeperson refused an Inner City Press question on Burundi at the previous day's noon briefing.  We'll have more on this.

Ban once promised monthly press conference but his last one was three months before, then nine months before that. On September 16 with the UN being less than successful in mediating in Yemen and Libya, Syria and South Sudan, accused of rapes in Central African Republic and killing 8,000 in Haiti with cholera (after 40,000 died in Sri Lanka with little response from the UN), Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was asked, What is your legacy?

  That question, nor none of the other 11 Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric selected, did not refer to the rape scandal, much less deadly cholera or the Sri Lanka report released earlier in the day in Geneva, after months of delay and supposed concern by Ban.

  Inner City Press asked, before the press conference ended and then again before Ban left the room, “Anything on Sri Lanka?” But there was nothing. Ban's spokesman Dujarric didn't even allow Inner City Press to put a question to UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous, who covered up rapes in DR Congo, Darfur and now CAR.

  Most recently, Ladsous linked rapes to a lack of “R&R,” rest and relaxation, video here.

Dujarric himself cut off Inner City Press questions on what Ladsous said, and declined to answer on Reddit in an “Ask Me Anything.” (He didn't say he's ANSWER everything, one wag pointed out.)

  But even beyond the scandals, Ban did not in his opening statement mention Somalia, or CAR, or Darfur; none of the questions selected by Dujarric was about Africa. (One wire points out Africa was part of a UN-at-70 question; noted.)

    Inner City Press also tried to ask about Burundi -- nothing - and South Sudan, on which we are preparing a story.

  It was Voice of America with the “What is your legacy” question. Ban said he'd answer next year. Inner City Press might answer sooner. Watch this site.

Ban Ki-moon Refuses Press Question on John Ashe Scandal, Libya Sell Out, Rape Cover Up

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, December 16 -- Ban Ki-moon's tenure as UN Secretary General became embroiled in one scandal after another in 2015 -- but at his “year-end” press conference he refused to answer a Press question directly on it. Video here and embedded below. Vine here.

The former President of the General Assembly John Ashe and four others have been indicted, Ashe for buying documents from Ban's UN Secretariat.

Ban's envoy to Libya Bernardino Leon was exposed by leaks as having taken instructions and then a job from the United Arab Emirates.

And Ban's head of UN Peacekeeping, Herve Ladsous, is listed in UN Dispute Tribunal documents as having tried to cover up child rapes in Central African Republic by peacekeepers from his native France.

  Inner City Press, which Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric did not call on despite calling two separate times on the same UN Correspondents Association scribe, asked audibly, “Do you have any update on the John Ashe indictment? Bernardino Leon? These were major developments this year.” Vine here.

  But Ban refused to answer the question. He walked out of the briefing room, shaking hands scribes. The press conference began with Dujarric setting aside the first question for the head of UNCA, who thanked Ban for attending an event on Wall Street for which UNCA charged $6,000 to sit with Ban. This is the UN Corruption Association.

  A question on or to cover up the sexual abuse scandal was arranged, with Agence France Presse congratulating Ban for this response to the sexual abuse scandal. (Senegalese Babacar Gaye was urged to resign, Ladsous who on camera linked the rapes to “R&R," video here, remains in place.)

Ban read out a wan answer on Burundi; his deputy spokeperson refused an Inner City Press question on Burundi at the previous day's noon briefing.  We'll have more on this.

Ban once promised monthly press conference but his last one was three months before, then nine months before that. On September 16 with the UN being less than successful in mediating in Yemen and Libya, Syria and South Sudan, accused of rapes in Central African Republic and killing 8,000 in Haiti with cholera (after 40,000 died in Sri Lanka with little response from the UN), Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was asked, What is your legacy?

  That question, nor none of the other 11 Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric selected, did not refer to the rape scandal, much less deadly cholera or the Sri Lanka report released earlier in the day in Geneva, after months of delay and supposed concern by Ban.

  Inner City Press asked, before the press conference ended and then again before Ban left the room, “Anything on Sri Lanka?” But there was nothing. Ban's spokesman Dujarric didn't even allow Inner City Press to put a question to UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous, who covered up rapes in DR Congo, Darfur and now CAR.

  Most recently, Ladsous linked rapes to a lack of “R&R,” rest and relaxation, video here.

Dujarric himself cut off Inner City Press questions on what Ladsous said, and declined to answer on Reddit in an “Ask Me Anything.” (He didn't say he's ANSWER everything, one wag pointed out.)

  But even beyond the scandals, Ban did not in his opening statement mention Somalia, or CAR, or Darfur; none of the questions selected by Dujarric was about Africa. (One wire points out Africa was part of a UN-at-70 question; noted.)

    Inner City Press also tried to ask about Burundi -- nothing - and South Sudan, on which we are preparing a story.

  It was Voice of America with the “What is your legacy” question. Ban said he'd answer next year. Inner City Press might answer sooner. Watch this site.

On Libya, Inner City Press Asks UK of Critique, Dabbashi on Deal, Power's Press Elements

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, December 11, more here -- Before the UN Security Council met about Libya, hearing a briefing from new envoy Martin Kobler on December 11, Inner City Press asked UK Ambassador Matthew Rycroft about a critique of the pending "foreign-dominated" deal. Rycroft said the deal was not rushed, among other things.Periscope here.  

After the open meeting, Inner City Press asked Libya's loing time diplomat Ibrahim Dabbashi if the deal would be signed. He said yes, but wondered if it would be endorsed by the GNC. He said the Libyan Army should still be supported.

  After the Council's closed meeting, US Ambassador Samantha Power as Council president for December read these Press Elements: 

“The members of the Security Council welcomed the announcement by the representative of the Libyan political dialogue on the 16th of December target date for the signature of the Libyan political agreement. The members of the SC underlined their support for Special Representative of the Secretary General Kobler, and the UN-facilitated Libyan-led political process, and the effort to reach a rapid agreement on an inclusive and representative government of national accord.

  “Members of the Security Council expressed their concern over Libya’s ongoing political security, humanitarian and institutional crises and urged all Libyan parties to unite around a government of national accord, as it prepares to begin the hard work of restoring stability and enabling Libya to take its rightful place in the international community.

  “The members of the Security Council expressed grave concern about the expansion of ISIL in Libya, and its threat to the country and the region. They stressed that a unity government must be formed swiftly to counter this threat and they called on all Libyans to unite their efforts to this end. The members of the Security Council noted that the Rome ministerial on Sunday 13th December will constitute a further opportunity to demonstrate international support for the Libyan political agreement and the formation of a government of national accord. The members of the Security Council noted that the Council remains prepared to designate those who threaten Libya’s peace, stability and security or who undermine the successful completion of its political transition. The members of the Security Council reaffirmed their strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and national unity of Libya.”

 
When Bernardino Leon, set for a $1500 a day job with the United Arab Emirates, came to the UN Security Council for the final time on November 5, Inner City Press asked him if he had sought approval from the UN Ethics Office before pursuing the UAE job, if he acknowledged the conflict of interest and thought it will impact intra-Libya talks. Video here.Leon did not answer about the UN Ethics office, but conceded that the “optics” were bad. Video here.

  On December 7, AP quoted a Libyan-American group quoting an unnamed UN Office of Internal Oversight Services that the UN has assigned an investigator to l'affaire Leon. Excusing double hearsay for a moment, how much credibility does OIOS have? It helped to cover up rape allegations in the Central African Republic against French and UN peacekeepers.

  More recently OIOS is supposed to be auditing the UN's interactions with two foundations founded by now indicted lobbyists of the UN, Ng Lap Seng's Sun Kian Ip Group and Sheri Yan's Global Sustainability Foundation. Not only have there been no results: senior UN system officials have, as Inner City Press reported, continued cavorting with special advisers to Yan's GSF. So Libyans shouldn't hold their collective breath, for OIOS at least... 

 Back on November 6, the day after Leon said "I have decided to request a full clarification of the issue, including from the United Arab Emirates," Inner City Press asked UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq to WHOM Leon is seeking the clarification: the UN? The UN Security Council Libya Sanctions Committee? Video here.

 Haq replied that the sentence should be viewed as comprising the view of the Special Representative: Leon. So the UN, contrary to Reuters' headline, has not asked the UAE for anything.

 On November 16, Inner City Press asked the UN's lead spokesman Stephane Dujarric, video here, transcript here:

Inner City Press: I want to ask something about Burundi.  But, since you mentioned the CEB meeting, I want to ask something first on that.  It was said after it was revealed that Bernardino León had sought this job with the UAE [United Arab Emirates] that the Secretary-General was going to be informing his other envoys, orally and in writing, reminding them of their ethical duties.  And Farhan [Haq] said it’s supposed to come up at the CEB, nothing about the letter.  Number one, is any written reminder or something going out to envoys?  And, two, are these envoys part of the CEB meeting?  What’s the purpose of raising it at the CEB?

Spokesman:  It’s an issue that will be raised at the CEB.  It’s an issue that will be raised also at the Secretary-General’s next meeting with his senior management group.  It’s a message that will be put out through various channels for everyone, not just envoys, to ensure that they abide by the letter and by the spirit of the UN’s ethics regulations and guidelines.

Inner City Press:  And the note to correspondents that was sent out for or by Bernardino León saying he sought clarification from the UAE, is there a timeline on that?  And is there any connection, given that, I mean, it’s put out as a UN note to correspondents, is the information that comes back from the UAE supposed to be for some… anyone other than Bernardino León personally…?

Spokesman:  I don’t have…  I think, obviously, that’s something we would hope the UAE shares publicly, but I have nothing to add to that.

Inner City Press:  And on Burundi…?

Spokesman:  I’ll come back to you. 

 Inner City Press asked Haq if Ban has yet to remind his envoys in writing about ethics, as lead spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Ban would. Haq replied that the issue will come up at the next UN Chief Executives Board and Senior Management Gorup meetings. (AFP asked, what are those?)

 But that is not putting anything in writing to envoys like Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed on Yemen, on whose outside interests Inner City Prress has exclusively reported. Nor would Haq answer Inner City Press what USG Feltman did from August 27, when he learned of Leon's dealings with the UAE.

  Leon's predecessor as UN envoy to Libya Tarek Mitri, however, got a formal "Note" from Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, signed by Ban's chief of staff Susana Malcorra and cc-ed to Under Secretaries GeneralJeffrey Feltman (Political Affairs), Yukio Takasu (Management) andJoan Dubinksy (Ethics Office) approving outside activity for Mitri, which Inner City Press is putting online here, and embedded below.

  Among the continuing outside engagements approved by Ban Ki-moon were for Mitri to be on the Board of the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, in Beirut and Doha.

  Did Leon get, or even seek, such a Note from Ban? The leaked emails show that Feltman knew of Leon's job search with the UAE by August 27, at latest. 
  Now after more leaked emails, of the UAE about embargo / sanctions violations and that the UN's Jeff Feltman knew of Leon's UAE job search as of August 27 at latest, Leon on the evening of November 12 issued this:

"I am aware of the report today in the New York Times about Libya and alleged activities in contravention of United Nations Security Council resolutions. In light of this report, I have decided to request a full clarification of the issue, including from the United Arab Emirate (UAE) authorities, as I take time to reflect on the next steps in my professional career."

 While Leon said that "I" have decided to request clarification from the UAE, Reuters reported that the UN is seeking an explanation. But Leon did not say he will share the UAE's explanation with the UN, much less with the public. And shouldn't the UN Security Council's Libya sanctions committee be seeking the explanation, or asking for action against the UAE?

 So is Leon no longer taking the UAE job? What about Feltman and what he knew? We'll have more on this.

UN Gave Ethics Waiver to Libya Envoy Tarek Mitri, ICP's Ethics Q to Leon UNansweredby Matthew Russell Lee

  For Leon, it's about more than optics. Inner City Press has researched and compared Bernardino Leon's conduct, as reflected by the emails he does not dispute, to the UN Charter and UN staff rules which apply to him. And after publishing the rules, Inner City Press on November 6 asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric about them. Video here.

  Leon wrote to the UAE: "all my movements and proposals have been consulted with (and in many cases designed by) the HOR and Aref Nayed and Mahmud Jibril (with whom I speak on a daily basis) following Your request."

 UN Charter Article 100 provides that "In the performance of their duties, the Secretary-General and the staff shall not seek or receive instructions from any Government or from any other authority external to the Organization. They shall refrain from any action which might reflect on their position as international officials responsible only to the Organization."

  But Leon told the UAE took and obeyed "Your request" - and got the UAE job. Also relevant was Leon's oath: "(b) Staff members shall make the following written declaration witnessed by the Secretary-General or his or her authorized representative:

'I solemnly declare and promise to exercise in all loyalty, discretion and conscience the functions entrusted to me as an international civil servant of the United Nations, to discharge these functions and regulate my conduct with the interests of the United Nations only in view, and not to seek or accept instructions in regard to the performance of my duties from any Government or other source external to the Organization.'" From the Staff Rules:

 "Rule 1.2 Basic rights and obligations of staff
Conflict of interest

(m) A conflict of interest occurs when, by act or omission, a staff member’s personal interests interfere with the performance of his or her official duties and responsibilities or with the integrity, independence and impartiality required by the staff member’s status as an international civil servant. When an actual or possible conflict of interest does arise, the conflict shall be disclosed by staff members to their head of office, mitigated by the Organization and resolved in favour of the interests of the Organization;

Specific instances of prohibited conduct

(k) Staff members shall neither offer nor promise any favour, gift, remuneration or any other personal benefit to another staff member or to any third party with a view to causing him or her to perform, fail to perform or delay the performance of any official act. Similarly, staff members shall neither seek nor accept any favour, gift, remuneration or any other personal benefit from another staff member or from any third party in exchange for performing, failing to perform or delaying the performance of any official act."

  We'll have more on this.

On November 5, Leon also said that the GNC, which has written to the UN complaining about Leon's new job, has its own problems to solve. After Leon argued that his new job is not really a conflict because it is “academic,” Inner City Press without the UN microphone asked him to confirm it is the UAE government that will be paying him. It is.

  Inner City Press asked Leon if he thought there should be some “cooling off” period during which a UN mediator cannot go work for one of the parties to the conflict. Leon said he is just a civil servant and has to work somewhere. 

  It seemed a strange defense of the UAE job, and give rise to an idea, only half in jest: a UN “Trust Fund” to support mediators so they don't sell out to parties to the conflicts they work on. It's similar to the idea that former President of the General Assembly John Ashe had to take hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes because he comes from a small country.

   Leon appeared to say that no one from the UN has raised any question about him negotiating for and taking the UAE job. Inner City Press asked the Security Council's president for November, Matthew Rycroft of the UK, if the issue came up in consultations and did not receive a “yes” answer. Instead, Rycroft told Inner City Press that the UN must have a lot of rules about this.

  But does it?d

  At noon, with Leon still inside the Security Council, UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric declined to tell the Press if Leon has even sought UN Ethics Office clearance to negotiate with the UAE for a $1,500 a day job while purportedly serving the UN in Libya. 

 Dujarric said again and again that Leon had worked hard and had been subject to criticism from all side -- like the UN's (also dubious) Yemen envoy. Dujarric told one reporter that he was not asking a question -- suddenly rules are important, one wag remarked -- and tried to distinguish the analogies, raised by Inner City Press earlier, to Tony Blair's business interests while Quartet Envoy, and Alexander Downer on Cyprus.

   Inner City Press asked, in light of the other UN scandals, if Ban Ki-moon saw the need to implement rules before he leaves. Dujarric's reply was that each case is different; on the CAR rapes he said wait for the (delayed) report. Can this scandal similarly be put on ice? Watch this site.

  But Leon taking money from the UAE, which has a stake in the Libya conflict he purported to mediate, is not a one-off in today's UN. Not only is there the concurrent John Ashe - Frank Lorenzo - Ng Lap Seng scandal, and the yet to be addressed cover up of peacekeeper rapes in Central African Republic involving UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous - there have been other conflict envoys.

  Tony Blair did business in the region while envoy of the Middle East Quartet, Inner City Press Q&A video here.

Alexander Downer continued with the consultancy Bespoke Approach while UN envoy on Cyprus, story by Inner City Press here. There are more. So there is a systemic problem that must be addressed.

  But in part these scandals are not linked together not only due to lassitude on the part of those who also want jobs with the UN, but of the UN Correspondents Association, which not only took funds from Ng's South South News, gave it an award and photos for Ng with Ban at Cipriani -- it is now offering seats with Ban at Cipriani Wall Street for $6,000. But shocked at Leon.

  Back on July 15 after Leon briefed the UN Security Council about his political agreement without the Tripoli-based General National Congress, Inner City Press asked him what plan he may have to get the GNC to sign, and about long-time Libyan ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi's criticism in the Security Council of its Sanctions Committee.Video here.

  On the latter, Leon said that that first step is to form a unity government, THEN to listen to what it asks for. On the GNC, Leon seems to say they agree in principle, only differing on timing or sequencing. 

  The same two questions, nearly identically, were repeated by a Gulf media; an Italian journalist asked about the flow of migrants to Europe. This, Leon seized on, asking rhetorically what “we” can tell the British, whose people were killed in Tunisia by a guy reportedly trained in Libya.

  The answer again reflected Leon's at least dual allegiances or constituencies. He was the EU's envoy, then put in to replace UN enovy Tarek Mitri. Recently former IAEA El Baradei said Leon was involved in the “coup” in Egypt. (Leon said he hasn't seen that You Tube and doubts El Baradei said it.)

  The UN, after ousting Tarek Mitri as envoy in favor of Bernardino Leon, has been promoting its good works in Geneva and in the country. 

  Back on February 18, speaking before the foreign ministers of Libya (Tobruk) and Egypt, Leon again cited his own work: "given the sense of urgency, I have called for the next meeting of the political dialogue to finalize discussions initiated in Geneva on the formation of government of national unity and security arrangements to pave the way for a formal and comprehensive cessation of hostilities.”

  At the Security Council stakeout before the Jordan-requested meeting began, UK Ambassador Lyall Grant said the meeting would provide a chance to hear from Libya and Egypt; he said he hadn't yet seen the draft resolution. (Another non-Arab Permanent Representative said they HAD seen the draft.)

 After Leon, Libya's foreign minister said he is not requesting an international intervention, only wants Egypt's help.

 Egypt's Foreign Minister Shoukry, citing the killing of the US Ambassador in Benghazi, said that too little was done after the parliament was chased to Tobruk. He said he is counting on Jordan to distribute the draft resolution. Some of the Council say they have a different line of thinking. Watch this site.

 Bernardino Leon, as Inner City Press exclusively reported, was installed as head of UNSMIL after then-head Tarek Mitri declined to make the UN mission a mere appendage of European / UK diplomacy. Is it working?

  UNSMIL's former deputy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed of Mauritania has been moved to head UNMEER, the UN's Ebola mission. Sources in Yemen say Ould Cheikh Ahmed was the UN's “designated security official” when a UNICEF staffer was taken hostage while traveling to the Sana'a airport without the required (and needed) security detail. Some say Ould Cheikh Ahmed was distracted, in Yemen and later in Libya, by side business interests. 

  But a check of Ban Ki-moon's Public Disclosure website, where his officials are supposed to make rudimentary disclosure of the finances and outside business interests, does not even list Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed (while numerous other Deputy SRSGs are listed). His is not in the most recent database, for 2013 - and may escape any disclosure by become an Under Secretary General with a mere nine month stint at UNMEER. Then what? We'll stay on this.

  When the UN Security Council met about Mali on January 6, it was Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop, and not UN Peacekeeping official Herve Ladsous, who distributed his speech and came to take Press questions. (Ladsous has a policy against it, here and here.)

  Inner City Press asked Diop about the Mali talks in Algiers, and about the impact of Libya. On the latter, Diop said that “in 2012 the Mali crisis started when the war started in Libya and many Malian elements who were part of the Libyan army decided to come back home with the arms and ammunition. This started the destabilization of Mali.”

   Diop added, "In the southern part of Libya there is a group that has declared allegiance to the Islamic State.” (When asked to name the group he could not or would not.)

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 likeReuters 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 reported that 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 has announced, 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.

  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 even congratulation 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.