In UN's Somalia Scam, Weeks After ICP Asked, Ladsous Admits UNMAS David Bax' DNA Sharing with US -- to Friendly Scribe

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, August 7 -- On June 22, Inner City Press published an exclusive story about UN Mine Action chief in Mogadishu David Bax sharing information with US intelligence, here.

On June 24, Inner City Press asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's Office of the Spokesperson for an answer from UN Peacekeeeping chief Herve Ladsous, Dmitry Titov and the head of UNMAS about

"a detailed complaint from an UNMAS whistleblower in Somalia that the head of UNMAS in Somalia provided genetic information from bombings to [United States] intelligence agencies and also moves around Mogadishu with armed guards from that group, Denel, that we were talking about.I also e-mailed several of them and asked for a comment; I haven’t received anything."
Answer: Well, we’ll have to check on that for you, Matthew, we’ll check with DPKO [Department of Peacekeeping Operations].

In the weeks that followed, Inner City Press put the question to UN envoy to Somalia Nicholas Kay -- who referred the question back "to New York" and to Ban's spokesperson Martin Nesirky. 

  Inner City Press got more information and published it. But no response from Ladsous or his lead spokesperson Kieran Dwyer, nor from Ban's spokesperson Martin Nesirky.

  After the Free UN Coalition for Access raised the question, the UN on June 26 told Inner City Press:

Subject: Your questions on Somalia.From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.orgDate: Wed, Jun 26, 2013 at 9:43 AMTo: Matthew Russell Lee [at] innercitypress.com
The Department of Peacekeeping Operations does not discuss internal communications or emails received with media correspondents.

  Now Dwyer has provided an answer -- to Colum Lynch of "Turtle Bay," Foreign Policy and the for-now Jeff Bezos / Amazon owned Washington Post. (Is he not a "media correspondent?) This without any notice to Inner City Press, either by DPKO or Ban's Spokesperson's office.

  Dwyer claimed, on camera, that he and his office do answer Inner City Press questions. Video here. Dwyer acknowledged that Ladsous refuses to answer Inner City Press questions (apparently in response to Inner City Press asking him about his public and leaked statements as France's Deputy Permanent Representative at the UN during the Rwanda genocide, arguing for the escape of genocidaires into Eastern Congo, or Inner City Press' coverage of Ladsous' drones).

  But this is false. Inner City Press asked this question on June 24, in public, transcript here. And Ban's Spokesperson's office said they would ask DPKO. Then, weeks later, DPKO gave a canned answer to Colum Lynch. 

 This has happened before. As simply one example, Inner City Press pursued the murder of a UN Security officer in Afghanistan, Louis Maxwell, in a series of either stories, quoting his relatives that the UN was engaged in a cover up

 Then the UN decided to respond to the scandal, not by answering Inner City Press' question, but by calling up their go-to Turtle. 

 Later, Lynch commiserated with Louis Charbonneau of Reuters, how unfair Inner City Press was. Charbonneau would go on, at least three times now, to try to get Inner City Press thrown out of the UN -- including by leaking internal anti-Press UNCA document to the UN's top accreditation official three minutes after promising not to do so. Story here, audio here,document here.

 Inner City Press exposed this, with documents obtained under FOIA fromVoice of America. It was covered by, among others, the Guardian UK -- but not by Lynch. He explains:

"Why haven’t I written about your disputes with UNCA and the UN administration, of which there have been many. I have thought about weighing in on it. But given the complexities of your relationship with UNCA and the administration I’ve resisted the temptation of writing a hasty story. I simply have not been able to justify the commitment in labor – which in my view would require a major investment of reporting time, including reviews of thousands of your blog posts—to writing a lengthier piece. There are a lot of more impactful stories I don’t write because I can’t devote the time to it."

   So Lynch never reported for example that the head of UN Peacekeeping openly refuses to answer Inner City Press questions. He benefits from this.

  We have more to say about all this -- including a rebuttal of the attempt to rehabilitate Bax. For example:

  It's reported that "Bax established a relationship with the FBI to provide the Somalis with expertise on maintaining the integrity of the chain of evidence when handling bomb material" and then that "a senior official at U.N. headquarters insisted that the United Nations does not directly share evidence with the United States or other governments." This must be explained - in public.

The rehabilitation of Bax's corrupt running of the camp is laughable. Source: "he put everyone lives at direct risk for that."

On all levels, this is unacceptable. Watch this site - and this video

   

As Puntland Breaks Ties & Journalists Under Fire, Where's UN in Somalia and Nicholas Kay?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, August 6 -- What's wrong with the UN on Somalia, Kismayo and Puntland? Inner City Press at Tuesday's UN noon briefing asked for any UN comment on Puntland severing ties with Mogadishu, assuming there would be one. But Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson Martin Nesirky said he would have to check.

  Where is UN Envoy Nicholas Kay on this? Inner City Presshas tweeted at him, as it did on the still unanswered questions about the use of armed guards by the UN in Somalia: are they from Denel, which some say has a drone better than thecrash prone drone procured from Finmeccanica's Selex ES for MONUSCO under Herve Ladsous? Or some other company?

  There are also attacks on journalists: an attempted assassination in Kismayo on Abdikhadar Iman Dhaqane in Farjane, and the banning at the Mogadishu airport of journalist Mascud Abdulahi Adan from traveling to Nairobi for an operation to remove a bullet from his backbone.

   The UN had nothing on this as well, just after the speeches in the Security Council on protection of journalists in conflict.

  The Free UN Coalition for Access works on such issues, on Somalialand (click here) and elsewhere. What is the UN's position, for example on Puntland? 

 And where is the response, from Ladsous and the UN Mine Action Services, to the whistleblowers' unrebutted complaint that UNMAS' David Bax shared genetic information from bombings with US intelligence, through Bancroft Global near the same Mogadishu airport Mascud Abdulahi Adan was banned in? Watch this site.

   

Of Mercenaries in Eastern Congo & Bahrain, If Not Denel, Who Are the UN's, Kay's and Bax' Guards in Somalia?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, August 1 -- In Somalia, which private armed guards were running around Mogadishu with UN Mine Action Service chief David Bax, as acknowledged but not named by UN envoy Nicholas Kay? Were they with South Africa-based Denel?

  In Eastern Congo, would Ukrainian pilots in helicopter gunships be considered mercenaries, while recently naturalized Bahrain "security" force members are not? 

  These were the questions Inner City Press put to three members of the Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries on Thursday, and unlike at the UN's own briefing in this room, each question got an answer. Video here, from Minute 40:24.

  On Somalia, Working Group rapporteur Anton Katz of South Africa said he and fellow member Faiza Patel of Pakistan had been there in December and would be reporting soon. He said Denel may be working for some other entity -- UNMAS? - but that the UN system does not employ Denel. Video here, from Minute 18:32.

This seemed strange, since three Denel employees were killed in the most recent attack on UN Compound on Mogadishu.An arms expert tweeted to Inner City Press that Denel mostly doesn't do armed guards. Then who were they? We'll await Kay's or less likely Bax's answer.

  On behalf of the new Free UN Coalition for Access, Inner City Press suggested to the Working Group members that they encourage UN agencies to publicly disclose which security companies they use, and for what.

On Ukrainian pilots in the Congo, Gabor Rona replied that if they were members of Ukraine's army, they could not be mercenaries, only parties to a conflict. On Bahrain, he said that naturalization is enough, legally, to come out from the definition of mercenary.

Can one be naturalized retroactively, Inner City Press asked, laundered so to speak? Video here from Minute 42:38.

Anton Katz asked, to some laugher, Are you thinking of becoming one?

* * *

  Speaking of mercenaries, once again the UN Correspondents' Association asserted its "right" to have the first question, a right that 2013 president Pamela Falk has said can be delegated to any dues paying UNCA member, even one who ran for the Executive Committee and lost. 

 This means that in exchange for money, someone is given a question at the UN. 

   Particularly now with Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson Martin Nesirky outright refusing to take some Press questions, this pay to play is unsavory, and the outstanding favoritism and rule of law questions must be answered. Watch this site.

   

On Somalia, UN's Kay Says Guards Armed, Question of UNMAS Giving US Info Is For NY

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, July 1 -- For nine days, the UN has refused to confirm or even just deny to Inner City Pressdetailed allegations that in Somalia the UN Mine Action Service chief David Bax shares information with US intelligence.

  After UNMAS chief Agnes Marcaillou ignored detailed e-mail questions, Inner City Press asked UK Ambassador to the UN Mark Lyall Grant, and separately at the UN's noon briefing -- and was told to “ask DPKO.” But Herve Ladsous, the fourth French chief of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, has openly refused to answer any Press questions, video compilation here.

  Finally today July 1, nine days after Inner City Press' first exclusive story, UN Somalia envoy Nicholas Kay held a Twitter Q&A for an hour. He fielded questions about Somaliland, Kismayo, Aweys, Puntland -- and initially not the UNMAS / Bax question, which was then re-iterated by the new Free UN Coalition for Access through @FUNCA_info.

  When Kay replied, it was to @InnerCityPress with this: “Sorry your question is one for NY. My impression in 1st month is UNMAS doing important work in Somalia.”

  The problem is, Inner City Press has repeatedly asked the question in New York, without answer other than this:

Subject: Your questions on Somalia.
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Wed, Jun 26, 2013 at 9:43 AM
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com

The Department of Peacekeeping Operations does not discuss internal communications or emails received with media correspondents. UNMAS personnel are not authorised to carry guns and do not do so.

  So the main question still has to be answered. There are other troubling UNMAS Mogadishu questions, including harassment and hypnotism, noted Monday by a reader. Even on the guns question, Kay went on to say, “@innercitypress We take staff safety seriously. Some of our guards are armed.”

  Inner City Press immediately asked if this includes UNMAS contractor Denel a/k/a Mechem, but by then Kay's twitter Q&A (held from Europe, apparently) was over. So this has to be answered to.

  Still Kay did better than most UN officials. He was conciliatory to the many Somaliland questions, including from a FUNCA collaborator in Hargeisa. He said l'affaireAweys is up to Somali justice. But what if US intelligence, or the same middleman Bancroft Global Development, is involved?

  Ultimately, Kay cannot leave to be (not) answered in New York the question of alleged improper passing of information to US intelligence by UN system personnel in Mogadishu.

 As the whistleblower raised, it impacts staff safety, credibility and Kay's ability to do his job. Plus, Kay has a responsibility to act on the reported witch hunt at the UN in Mogadishu to try to find the whistleblower rather than address the complaints. But Monday, Kay did better than most UN officials. Watch this site.

  

UN Doesn't Deny Bax in Somalia Gives Info to US, Says He Isn't Armed, But Denel? Third Follow Up on Exclusive

By Matthew Russell Lee, 3d Follow Up on Exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, June 26 -- In Somalia, UN Mine Action Service chief David Bax passes information to US intelligence: a whistleblower in Mogadishu has alleged this and Inner City Press exclusively reported it on June 22, four days ago.

But despite multiple requests to different parts of the UN for a confirmation or denial, the UN has remained silent. Until now.

  On June 26, after the Free UN Coalition for Access re-directed the question from UNMAS about its chief Agnes Marcaillou to the Somalia Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN envoy Nicholas Kay did not answer Inner City Press on this), the following arrived:

Subject: Your questions on Somalia.
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Wed, Jun 26, 2013 at 9:43 AM
To: Matthew Russell Lee [at] innercitypress.com

The Department of Peacekeeping Operations does not discuss internal communications or emails received with media correspondents. UNMAS personnel are not authorised to carry guns and do not do so.

  This is an evasive answer. The request was and is not only to confirm receipt by DPKO chief Herve Ladsous of the whistleblower's complaint but for a substantive confirmation or denial of whether UNMAS' David Bax provides evidence, including genetic information and parts of bombs, to US intelligence, including through the intermediary Bancroft Global Development. 

  But the UN will not answer -- yet. Instead, they have opened a witch hunt to try to find the whistleblower(s).

On the second part of the response, Inner City Press had asked about the UN's South African state owned military contractor Denel, paid by the UN in Somalia. (Inner City Press first wrote about this on June 19, here.)

   Beyond other photographs reviewed by Inner City Press, several are in the public domain, listing “unidentified foreigners” as part of the group going into the bombed compound. See here, here and here. The UN must explain this.

There are also complaints from a wider range of UN staff in Mogadishu, not only of favoritism by Bax but quid pro quo in hiring and accommodation, even... attempts at hypnotism. We'll have more on this -- because the UN must answer these questions. Watch this site.

  

Exclusive: In Somalia, UN Mine Action's Bax Gives Info to US, Travels Armed with Denel, Whistleblowers Tell Inner City Press

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, June 22 – In Somalia the UN Mine Action Service is passing along genetic information from bombings to US intelligence agencies, in a move some say has endangered the lives of UN personnel.

  In the wake of the deadly attack on the UN compound in Mogadishu, among the victims were three employees of South African state owned arms manufacturer Denel.

  At the UN in New York, Inner City Press asked UN Security Council president Mark Lyall Grant (video here from Minute 4:30) then UN spokesman Eduardo Del Bueyabout Denel. 

   The UN replied to Inner City Press, “Regarding your question at noon about the contractors killed in Mogadishu on Wednesday, we can confirm that the three contractors were employed by MECHEM, a demining company based in South Africa.”

Now Inner City Press has exclusively been provided by whistleblowers with detailed complaints about the UN Mine Action Service's David Bax, including that he shares both genetic information and physical evidence from bombings with American intelligence services, including through shadow private military contractor Bancroft Global Development.

  According to the whistleblowers, this combined with Bax and “his” Denel contractors traveling armed around Mogadishu leads to a perception that they and the UN have taken sides, and helps to make them a target.

  Earlier this month Inner City Press reported that the UN Development Program, involved with UNMAS and Bax, was soliciting private security services for the UN Common Compounds in Somaliland. While the Request for Proposal said these services would be unarmed, Inner City Press put questions to the UN that have yet to be answered.

The UN has told Inner City Press that while it does employee private military contractors, for example in Iraq, it is in an unarmed capacity. So why would Bax and the Denel / Mechem contractors be going around Mogadishu armed?

  There are other complaints and questions about Bax and UNMAS in Mogadishu which Inner City Press has put to the Director of UNMAS Agnes Marcaillou and to Dmitri Titov of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations.  DPKO's chief Herve Ladsous has said he will not answer Inner City Press' questions. These three are aware of the complaints. 

  Other questions to UN envoy to Mogadishu Nicholas Kay have gone unanswered. So too has a request for confirmation or denial sent to the UN Office of Project Services (UNOPS) e-mail address Bax listed for an April 2013 UN Mine Action conference.

  But the UN should answer about allegedly providing information to US intelligence services, about how South African Bax, pictured here with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, hired the South African state firm Denel, and why they go around armed.  

Here (above) is Bax at right with Ban as well as Qatar's Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser and his then chief of staff Mutlaq M. Al-Qahtani. by UN Photo, Mark Garten; genetic evidence and Bancroft not shown

  The whistleblowers describe Bax as “ruling over” the UN compound, abusing his power to decide who gets which accommodation and job, and even controlling and profiting from the sale of liquor in the UN compound's bar. 

  They describe a grisly video of this weeks bomb attack and its victims that Bax made and screened in this UN bar. They conclude, “he's going to get us all killed.” What will the UN's Herve Ladsous, the head of the Mine Action Service and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon do? Watch this site.

In UN Somalia Compound During Attack, UK Says 15 Killed, Two Employees of S. Africa Arms Manufacturer Denel

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, June 19 -- With the casualty figure of the attack on the UN compound in Mogadishu continuing to rise, questions have arisen why employees of South Africa state-owned arms manufacturer Denel were in the compound.

  June's Security Council president Mark Lyall Grant of the UK read out a Council press statement at 4 pm. Inner City Press asked him for the casualty count, and of arms manufacturer Denel's announcement that two of its employees were working for the UN and became victims.

  Lyall Grant said he understood there were 15 killed including seven attackers, and four Somalis and four non-Somalis, including one UNDP staff member. This "four foreigners" figure would seem to include the two South Africans referred to by Denel.

While the UN is loudly celebrating the Arms Trade Treaty, why is it employing an arms manufacturer in Somalia? Reports are of "camp maintenance services" and not demining -- but why an arms manufacturer?

Denel spokesperson, Vuyelwa Qinga, said "We can confirm that we have been made aware of the incident and that among those dead are two Denel employees."

In Somaliland, as Inner City Press reported last week, the UN Development Program has put out to bid until tomorrow security services for its -- but apparently not UNSOM's -- compounds in Hargeisa and Burao. There, UNDP claims the jobs are unarmed. But in Mogadishu, employees of an arms manufacturer have been employed.

Before the attack, Inner City Press had been inquiring if any UNSOM personnel would remain in Somaliland after being asked to leave. Now the lack of response is understandable. But who will explain the presence in the UN compound, and on the payroll, of employees of an arms manufacturer? Watch this site.