When UNSG Met Sisi, UN Sent Egypt State Media As "Pool" Reporter, Barred Independent Press

By Matthew Russell Lee, Video

UNITED NATIONS, September 20 – The UN is limitingaccess passes during this UN General Assembly week to what it calls “resident correspondents,” many of whom rarely even come into the UN, some whom have never asked any questions. Not only access, but also "pooling" opportunities, are limited without disclosure to insider correspondents. This hit a new low on September 20, when Inner City Press' request to cover the meeting of Egypt's Sisi with Secretary General Antonio Guterres was denied - and a rarely present Egyptian state media was authorized by the UN to "pool" the meeting. Afterward, Inner City Press asked for Akhbar al Yom's pool report, and got this: "Evidently there was not much to report as the photo was in GA-200 and the meeting in another room. They welcomed each other, the president signed the guest book, they took hand shake photos and went to the other room." Even in GA-200, in which Inner City Press was previously allowed to cover bilateral meetings, there was more to observe. Inner City Press has asked: "why then was a print pool reporter given one of the few spots in G-200?  Who decided that Egyptian state media would take one of the spots, as pool?  And as pool, who was there on the Egyptian side, and on the Secretariat side? Feltman? UN Human Rights?" Did Akhbar al Yom, the "pool," even look for these things? Would they report them if they saw them? Their retiree is a former president of UNCA, which bragged to its dues paying members that the UN "has informed us that we have approval to send a pool reporter to the SG bi laterals/photo ops, where possible. If you are interested in pooling one of these events, please send an email to the UNCA office... Sherwin Bryce-Pease, President, United Nations Correspondents Association." Egypt, needless to say, has one of the worst press freedom records in the world - but its state media was on September 20 the UN's, and UNCA's, "pool" to covers Sisi's UNSG meeting. 

Meanwhile the investigative Press asking the UN every day about UN reform and corruption, Cameroon, Sri Lanka, Yemen, Burundi and elsewhere, is banned from the passes, as are the many journalists working out of the UN Media Center (in which the handler of French President Emmanuel Macron took over a whole row, despite claims there are no assigned seats). The UN's holdover spokesman Stephane Dujarric, when Inner City Press asked, said le Media Center, ce n'est pas moi. He also said, in a "background" briefing he tried to exclude Inner City Press from, that he would be sending around the "grid" of UNGA events. He never sent it to Inner City Press, nor presumably to the other journalists the UN denies the special "UNCA" passes to. But Inner City Press obtained the grid from a disgusted whistleblower elsewhere in the UN system and now in the spirit of the Free UN Coalition for Access puts it online here, for wider use. (If Scribd stops working, as it sometimes does, it is also on Patreon, here.) Open the UN. On September 15, as Inner City Press worked in the small booth it's confined to since being evicted from the UN Press Briefing Room and its UN office by UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric, it saw some insider correspondents passing by and into the Briefing Room. To not fall into a trap, Inner City Press asked UN Media Accreditation what the event was, of which it was not informed. You can go in, it was told. Inside, three senior UN officials we'll leave unnamed were giving a background briefing about Secretary General Antonio Guterres' schedule for the General Assembly week. Inner City Press asked why there are no events about Yemen and Burundi, and told the officials to tell Guterres to ensure that all journalists are treated fairly. Dujarric cut that off and said, "You're here, aren't you?" Only because the other venue he'd tried to invite his friends to was too small and the event was moved. This is how today's UN is working - or not working. This too: Inner City Press has learned that last month, after it asked Dujarric how the UN had vetted a shadowy event co-sponsored as exposed in the Ng Lap Seng / John Ashe trial by a business interest and two developing world countries, Dujarric told the Permanent Representative of one of the sponsors NOT to talk to Inner City Press, it would just write about it. The UN has arrived at the situation in which its holdover spokesman tells member states not to speak to the Press. Now those at the top of the UN know about it - what will they do? They are responsible. New DPI chief Alison Smale has as of yet changed nothing, has not even responded to a petition on the issues. Retaliation for coverage continues, and exclusion or attempted exclusion from UN "Communications." Reform was discussed and even, for once, asked about, but only vaguely. The UN and its affiliates were bribed by Ng Lap Seng, as shown in a trial this summer. No answers. Back last Friday an UNnamed UN speaker in what was declared a background briefing not made available to media coming to cover the GA week told Inner City Press that while it is not a “resident correspondent” - it was evicted while covering the Ng Lap Seng / John Ashe corruption scandal - it could perhaps stakeout for example the Yemen meeting, but only with an “escort.” That is a UN minder, some of whom ask Inner City Press who it is trying to speak to. This is UNacceptable, the Free UN Coalition for Accesssays, as it the weakened wi-fi and lack of LAN lines for any but the insider correspondents of UNCA. The UNnamed speaker said that the limitation of the access passes was agreed to, or requested by, UN Security and this UNCA (UN Correspondents Association a/k/a UN Censorship Alliance). It was for seeking to cover this group's event in the UN Press Briefing Room, presumptively open to all journalists, to see if they would address having received funds from then indict, now convicted Ng Lap Seng that Inner City Press was evicted and still restricted. We'll have more on this, and access issues before, during and after #UNGA72.

ICP Asks IMF About Egypt Subsidy Cut, Qatar Cut-Off, Mozambique Secret Debt & Cameroon

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, June 8 – When the International Monetary Fund held its biweekly embargoed press briefing on June 8 Inner City Press submitted questions about Egypt, Mozambique and Qatar, as well as Cameroon. Three of these four got answered. 

IMF Spokesperson Gerry Rice noted that Inner City Press asked, "In Egypt it's said that starting July 1 for fiscal year 2017-2018 the country will see another sharp price rise as a result of the IMF loan requirements, including cutting fuel subsidies to 1.75% of gross domestic product this year and then to less than 0.5%. What is the IMF's response?" 

Rice said the IMF is following President Sisi's plan to cut fuel subsidies in three years; Rice said that the subsidies benefit those who are better off and cutting them will allow increased social spending on the most vulnerable. We'll see. On Mozambique, Inner City Press asked "the Kroll audit of secret debts was filed on May 12. When does the IMF expect it should be made public, and what is the status of IMF / Mozambique?" 

Rice said that the IMF expects first a summary then the whole report to be published, and that the technical talks on a new program depend on this audit report. On Qatar, Inner City Press asked "What is the IMF's assessment, going forward, of the cut-off of Qatar by Saudi Arabia, Egypt and others, in terms of credit rating and otherwise?" Rice said it is too soon to say how these tensions will be resolved." Or, Inner City Press would add, how.  Inner City Press also asked the IMF, "If there is an updated view about the Internet cut off (lifted only after 94 days) and other restrictions in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon injuring 'Silicon Mountain;' Also if there are any updates on Burundi or Yemen or South Sudan. " Watch this site. Back on May 25, Inner City Press asked about Saudi Arabia (and Blackstone), Ghana and again Cameroon.IMF Spokesperson Gerry Rice read out Inner City Press' question, "On Saudi Arabia, what is the IMF's view of the interaction between the country's sovereign wealth fund's deal with Blackstone and the warning that rapid cuts to the government’s budget deficit could damage the economy?" Rice replied that the IMF views the Blackstone deal as an attempt to diversity internationally, and not related to domestic deficit reduction (transcript will be on IMF's website. Inner City Press also asked, "amid reports that Ghana will agree to extend the IMF program in return for a bigger credit facility, what is the IMF's position on the government's speed in meeting the objectives of the program?" Rice acknowledged that the IMF and Ghana are discussing an extension but said it would require a formal request by the country; he said a key objective is to key public debt on a continuing downward path. On Cameroon (and Yemen and the UN's "Financing for Development" outcome documents), no answers yet. Watch this site. From the IMF's May 11 transcript, of its Deputy Spokesperson Willam Murray: "I’ve got a question from Inner City Press on Sri Lanka. Do recent government moves on the Inland Revenue Act make it more likely the IMF Board will act on the request for completion of the second loan review in June and make a third disbursement? Again, it’s a question about Sri Lanka and the Inland Revenue Act and the likelihood of completing the second review. We had a staff level agreement in Sri Lanka on May 3rd, last week. We noted in announcing that agreement that it’s subject to completion of a prior action by the authorities, which is submission of the Inland Revenue Act to Parliament. And that was a prior action that was agreed earlier this year. Our legal experts are still analyzing the content of the new draft bill, and are in discussions with the Sri Lankan authorities. That’s where we stand at the moment on Sri Lanka."


 The answer's appreciated.

ICP Asks IMF About Its Egypt's Program and Human Rights, IMF Ignores like Questions on Guinea Bissau & G77

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, December 8 -- When the International Monetary Fund held its biweekly briefing on December 8, Inner City Press submitted a number of questions, about Egypt:

"In Egypt, is it the IMF's understanding that none of the first tranche will be used to pay off old loans? Also, any comment on the arrest of Azza Soliman, amid the crackdown on civil society and the media?"

  IMF Spokesman Gerry Rice lumped most of the online questions together - with the exception of Reuters, which he named in order to offer a defense of “Madame Lagarde” - and on Egypt's recent tariff increases said these are NOT part of the IMF's program.

 Rice blamed the tariff increases, rather, on the World Trade Organization. He added that the IMF's staff report and other documents should be released very soon, in the next few days. We'll have more on that.

   Rice did not answer, or even take, these Inner City Press questions:

On Guinea-Bissau, by when does the IMF expect authorities to entirely unwind the bailouts of Banco da Africa Ocidental and Banco da União?

At the UN the Group of 77 and China has said of the IMF that “a new quota formula is needed that further shifts quota shares to developing countries while protecting the quota share of the poorest countries.” Does MD Lagarde agree?

  We'll have more on this - and, we hope, on the World Bank - in the near future.

Back on October 27, Inner City Press asked three questions including:

"On Yemen, what is the IMF's view and monitoring of President Hadi's action to move the Central Bank to Aden, including impact on the humanitarian situation?"

IMF spokesperson Gerry Rice read out the question and then said moving the bank is complicated, that the bank has done a good job. Beyond the Vine video of complete answer here.

As Egypt Objects To Democracy Support in Turkey, Ban Ki-moon Rewards Its State Media

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, July 16 -- As the Egyptian government steps up its crackdown on freedom of expression, from imposing a two year prison sentence on Ahmed Naji for his novel ‘Using Life’ to expelling Liliane Daoud after arresting Yahia Galash, the Sisi-supporting media including Akhbar Elyom a/k/a Akhbar Al Youm has stayed quiet or participated. 

Meanwhile Ban Ki-moon's UN is rewarding Akhbar Elyom and its correspondent Sanaa Youssef, rarely present (here in 2002) but a former president of the Ban-friendly UN Correspondents Association with the long time office of Inner City Press, which covers Ban critically. This was raised to the UN Human Rights Council on June 27, here.

After the events in Turkey on July 15, Egypt in the UN Security Council blocked a Press Statement calling on the parties to "respect the democratically elected government of Turkey." But this is the state media Ban and his head of "Public Information" Cristina Gallach are trying to reward with the critical Press' shared office. 

Likewise, they have given Erdogan's state media TRT its own private office, used to cover - what else - Ng Lap Seng's and South South News' corrupt Macau event in August  2015, before Gallach attended Ng's South South Awards in September 2015, then evicted Inner City Press after it asked her about it. This is Ban's UN.

  On July 2, the Qasr el-Nile court decided to postpone the trial of the head of the Press Syndicate, Yehia Qallash and senior board members Khaled al-Balshy and Gamal Abd al-Reheem to July 9.

"The three leading syndicate members are accused of'harboring fugitives,' apparently referring to the two journalists arrested inside the syndicate on May 1, and spreading 'false news.'"

But the UN is full of "false news," for example about Haiti, and now seeks to reward it in awarding Inner City Press' office to Akhbar Al Youm.

Reporters Without Borders has issued this complaint

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is dismayed by Egypt’s election to the UN Human Rights Council because its authoritarian regime is one of the most repressive in the world as regards freedom of information, and its impact on the country’s journalists and media has been disastrous.

“It is outrageous that Egypt has been awarded a seat on the Human Rights Council given the draconian arsenal it deploys against civil society actors and independent voices in the media,” said Alexandra El Khazen, the head of RSF’s Middle East desk.

“This country has become an expert in persecuting journalists, who are given long jail terms when they are not sentenced to death or life imprisonment. It has become one of the world’s biggest prisons for media personnel.”

 RSF also condemns the humiliating expulsion of Liliane Daoud, a journalist with British and Lebanese dual nationality, on June 27. Daoud, who worked for the privately-owned Egyptian TV channel ONTV and used to work for the BBC in London, was arrested at her home in the Cairo district of Zamalel and was summarily deported on the grounds that her papers were not in order.

 Rémy Pigaglio, a Cairo-based French journalist who worked for French media outlets La Croix and RTL, was denied entry to Egypt on his return from a vacation in France in late May. No reason was given.

Nor for this: At the UN on June 28, as Inner City Press confined ot minder asked questions of the foreign ministers of Sweden, Kazakhstan and Italy, Akhbar Elyom's corrrespondent, a former UN Correspondents Association president, wasn't even in the building, having been awarded the space in contravention of the UN's supposed rules, simply to keep Inner City Press out of it. This was raised at the UN Human Rights Council on June 27, here.

Now, this: "The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by the expulsion of TV host by authorities in Egypt late on Monday.... 'It is outrageous that Liliane Daoud was seized from her home and forced to leave the country without warning," Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Sherif Mansour said from Washington. "Where independent journalists are concerned, Egypt has given up even the pretense to rule of law.'" 

But CPJ and Mansour have not said anything about the UN's eviction of Inner City Press to put Akhbar Elyom in. We'll have more on this.

On May 31 Inner City Press - not Akhbar Elyom - asked Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric about the crackdown in Egypt. Video here, UN Transcript here: 

Inner City Press: in Egypt.  I’m waiting for a statement there…  [inaudible]

Spokesman:  They apply across the board.  We, obviously, have seen the reports of new charges being brought against the Union of Journalists in Egypt.  We remain concerned at the situation.  We’re following it closely.  

 If Team Ban saw the crackdown and was so concerned, why did it issue no statement until asked by Inner City Press? Why is it giving Inner City Press' long time UN office to Egyptian state media Akhbar Elyom, whose rarely seen correspondent Sanaa Youssef, last seen in 2002, a former President of the UN Correspondents Association, asks no questions at all?  Perhaps the question answers itself. We'll have more on this. 

 This while Ban Ki-moon speaks about "authoritarian impulses" and ostensibly for press freedom, while campaigning in South Korea. (See article in Korean here,robo-translation here.) 

Meanwhile the Committee to Protect Journalists has said
“Authorities are pursuing Yehia Qallash, Khaled al-Balshy, and Gamal Abdel Rahim for trying to defend the Egyptian media against a thin-skinned and brutal security apparatus," CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Sherif Mansour said. "We call on Egyptian prosecutors to drop these charges immediately and stop harassing journalists."

  But CPJ has yet to speak on Ban's UN evicting the investigative press, much less on Ban then giving Inner City Press' UN shared office to Egyptian state media Akhbar Elyom. We'll have more on this.

Amnesty International’s interim Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme Magdalena Mughrabi said:

"The arrest of key media figures at the Press Syndicate signals a dangerous escalation of the Egyptian authorities’ draconian clampdown on freedom of expression and demonstrates the extreme measures the authorities are prepared to take in order to tighten their iron grip on power.

“By prosecuting senior members of the Press Syndicate the authorities are clearly attempting to punish them for speaking out against the government and to send a strong message to intimidate all journalists into silence. The authorities must immediately order their release and drop the charges against them.” bo-translation here.)

   one. 

"For ten years as Inner City Press covered the UN in ever greater detail, showing Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's Herve Ladsous' inept overseeing and cover up of sexual abuse and exploitation by peacekeepers, dalliance with genocide in Sri Lanka and prospectively Burundi, impunity forcholera deaths in Haiti and until now forUN lead poisoning in Kosovo and cravenly pro-Saudi position on Yemen amid the airstrikes, it was never thrown out of the UN. 

Now it has been, and even as groups like the Government Accountability Project tell Ban to reverse the eviction and give Inner City Press back its long time office and Resident Correspondent pass, Ban's UN tellingly move to award Inner City Press' office to Egypt state media Al-Akhbar / Akhbar Elyoum. 

Akhbar Elyom has been used to finger for imprisonment non-state journalists in Egypt. For example, in July 2015 Aboubakr Khallaf, the founder and head of the independent Electronic Media Syndicate (EMS), “was arrested after a news article was published by the government-owned daily Akhbar Elyoum.” (Article in Arabic here.) 

According to CPJ, Khallaf's EMS “trains and supports journalists who work online in Egypt. The syndicate operates independently from the state-recognized Egyptian Journalists Syndicate... 
The local press freedom group Journalists Against Torture and the local Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE) said Khallaf was also accused of 'taking pictures and displaying artistic works without a license,' among other allegations. A 1998 executive order states that individuals conducting audio and audiovisual work must have a license from the Ministry of Culture. According to AFTE, the accusation is in connection with Khallaf photographing the funeral of Hisham Barakat, Egypt's prosecutor general who was assassinated late last month."

There are many echoes of this in Ban's UN: as simply one example Ban's Under Secretary General for Public Information Cristina Gallach telling Inner City Press it takes photographs of things that "are not newsworthy." There are more, and more examples of Akbar Elyom. 

Only when it questioned Ban's and its PR official CristinaGallach's roles in the John Ashe, Ng Lap Seng and Francis Lorenzo UN bribery scandal did Gallach order Inner City Press ousted then evicted, and now try to give its office to an Egyptian media which rarely or never asked questions. Ban Ki-moon claimed “That is not my decision,” but that is not true.

  The New York Times on May 14 covered the story. But they did not in their long process report, because it happened at the end, that Ban Ki-moon and Gallach are moving to give Inner City Press' long time office to Egyptian state media, Al Akhbar / Akhbar El-Yom / Akher Saa, to a correspondent Sanaa Youssef who most even on the UN press floor have never seen. 

Her "in" seems to be that she was a previous president of the UN Correspondents Association, now become the UN's Censorship Alliance. As one respected usual UN interlocutor put it, "it would be a hugely negative symbolic step for Egyptian state media to replace Inner City Press in the UN." 

 A longtime UN correspondent who spotted her moving in on Inner City Press' office noted she had not been seen before; the name was confirmed by UN Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit, which refused to provide the waiting list or describe the rationale. 

But this is Ban's and Gallach's UN (click here for a Spanish take on Gallach's tenure.) We are beginning to report this now because it has proven nearly impossible to reach Al Akhbar / Akhbar Al Yom - the telephone numbers listed online are disconnected, or private homes; the correspondent at UNCA address has been unresponsive.The absurdity of this has been directly raised to Ban Ki-moon, his Deputy and Chief of Staff with enough time to stop it. We'll see. 

  For now from the NYT we note this quote: “It’s not exactly the same access,’’ Mr. Dujarric said, “but if he has an issue, there is a staff of media liaisons to help him resolve the problem and get where he needs to go.”

  This is false. As Inner City Press has raised to Ban Ki-moon, "even when begrudgingly accompanied by a staff member of your Spokesperson's office, UN Security refused to allow me through the turnstile onto the second floor of Conference Building. I have been told not to ask questions of diplomats, just after you came out of ECOSOC and even with a MALU minder / escort with me, a UN Security official stood directly in front of me, apparently so I couldn't even try to ask you a question. This is censorship."  We await response.

    UN Correspondents Association boss Giampaolo Pioli lied, but at least on the record. (He rented one of his Manhattan apartments to Palitha Kohona then granted Kohona's request, as Sri Lanka's Ambassador, to screen his government's war crimes denial film in the UN. Then Pioli told Inner City Press to take its story about it off the Internet or be thrown out of the UN, which Gallach and Ban did: UN Censorship Alliance.)

In any event, who is a rarely present boss of an ostensible Correspondents Association (morphing into the UN's Censorship Alliance) to lobby for the ouster of an investigative journalist so that his office can be handed to a never present former UNCA president - a representative of state owned media who never asks questions? This too has been raised and we await response.

  What's next? Is it acceptable for the UN to throw out a critical journalist writing four to eight stories a day, while leaving in people who write little, and ask nothing? Is Ban Ki-moon killing the UN? Watch this site.

The UN is now both corrupt -- a half a dozen indictments and counting, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon cavorting with the indicted and his team covering it up -- retaliatory and badly run. 

Now the UN is moving to give away Inner City Press' long time office as retaliation for its seeking to cover the bribery and corruption scandal, including  trying to cover a meeting in the UN Press Briefing Room of the UN Correspondents Association (UNCA), a group which took money from the indicteds' company, Ban Ki-moon's “Communications” chief Cristina Gallach threw Inner City Press out of the UN on February 19. 

So to whom does the UN seek to give Inner City Press' office away? A former UNCA President, who it seems has not asked any question, much less a critical question, in the UN Press Briefing Room or stakeout in quite some time. 

Inner City Press has in the past defended correspondents when the UN sought late in their careers to move them along, and is treading lightly for now: perhaps this former UNCA President didn't know the history here. 

(The current UNCA website doesn't even list its past Presidents, perhaps wisely: it seems to be a Year Zero operation.) 

But what is the UN's rationale of giving away the office of a working, critical journalist to a former UNCA president who asks even fewer questions than the current UNCA president?

It's called retaliation, or some say, human shields. Who is responsible?

Audio hereBan, when asked, said “that is not my decision.” But he heard about the ouster and eviction in advance and ok-ed it.

On April 16, the acting chief of Gallach's “Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit Tal Mekel oversaw the eviction of Inner City Press' office, leaving five boxes of its files out on First Avenue. Video here.

Some in Ban's team indicated to Inner City Press its office would be left empty until its four month “purgatory” or punishment-for-reporting period was over. 

That was a lie: on May 13, after Inner City Press asked more questions about Ban's engagements with John Ashe and Francis Lorenzo - president of South South News which paid UNCA and still has a UN office - Inner City Press was informed that its long time office is being given out -- apparently, to a former President of UNCA.

   When Inner City Press asked to see the supposed waiting list, this was refused by Mekel. It is apparently entirely up to Gallach - or UNCA - who is given UN office space, without which one cannot access the UN Conference Building's second floor, see below. 

On May 13 as the UN Security Council began a meeting about Lebanon, the glass doors to enter the Council were locked. Apparenlty the UN can't afford one guard for a Security Council meeting, but won't provide information requested by the Press about Ban Ki-moon's endless and largely fruitless travel.

   Inner City Press, which covers the UN corruption scandal and was ousted then evicted by an official implicated in the scandal, Cristina Gallach -- see OIOS audit Paragraphs 37 to 40 and 20(b) -- with Ban Ki-moon's full knowledge, was unable to get to the Security Council stakeout. Its pass, cut by Gallach, won't open the turnstile at the other end of the stakeout. This week a guard there even refused to allow Inner City Press through to a stakeout with a staffer of the Spokesperson's office.

   Gallach, at least according to some paid to tweet for the UN, is in Washington. So Inner City Press undertook to document the restrictions and censorship. Another UN system spokesperson tried to undermine it, as did UN Security. They claimed everything is fine, even as Security Council Ambassadors asked them how can it be that the door is locked (and Press excluded). Some Security write-up began, sure to omit all of this. Watch this site - and see below.

While many try to insulate today's UN from the open corruption of the recent past of President of the General Assembly John Ashe, and of Francis Lorenzo who has pleaded guilty, there is continuity to this UN scandal. This includes a revival of the Ng Lap Seng's old "South South News" team, with El Salvador ex-Ambassador Carlos Garcia and others, even as those investigating this UN corruption are evicted and restricted, and those covering it up are rewarded. 

   Inner City Press has repeatedly asked Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Stephane Dujarric about Ban's appearance at an event sponsored by the Francis Lorenzo registered group Global Governance for the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Q&A videos here and here. 

Dujarric tried to answer about another group, then said Lorenzo's connection to the group isn't clear. Q&A video here.

   Well, now Inner City Press can report that the "Global Governance for the UN Sustainable Development Goals"event Ban attended was with indicted John Ashe, his wife Anilla Cherian's book launch. Video here.

 It featured speeches by Ban and by Francis Lorenzo, who in his speech named both GG-UNSDG and Global National Competitiveness Cooperation Organization for the UN, which sponsored the DPI-NGO conference last year at which Under Secretary General Cristina Gallach spoke.Q&A video here.

   How did this not show up in the UN's audit of l'affaireJohn Ashe and Ng Lap Seng? How did this book launch event get inserted into UNTV archives, run by Gallach's DPI? On the video, Ban and then Mrs. Ban are thanked by Ashe and then Anilla Cherian. The indictment details how over $1,000,000 was withdrawn from the PGA Accounts and transferred to the personal accounts of Ashe and of Anilla Cherian; no-show jobs are also described.

   Then there is the speech of Francis Lorenzo, how Anilla Cherian showed Ban the book even before Ashe. The UN has been trying to downplay or conceal Ban Ki-moon's contacts with Lorenzo, most recently saying it's unclear how Lorenzo is connected to a group that he, Lorenzo, register, and another one he founded. Those obfuscations cannot stand; separately, the retaliation is more and more clear. We'll have more on this.

As UN officials including Cristina Gallach, whoseinvolvement in the scandal is detailed in the UN's ownOffice of Internal Oversight Services audit at Paragraphs 37 to 40 and 20(b) have moved to evict Inner City Press  from the UN premises (video here, Courthouse News article here) and restrict its access, Inner City Press has been made aware of a revival of the South South News model, in organizations which retains ties to indicted Ng Lap Seng.   

And Gallach's Department of Public Information continues partnering with these organizations, even as DPI falls apart on Gallach's watch. The last NGO Conference at the UN, sponsored by South Korea among others, had as a sponsor and speaker the "Global National Competitiveness Cooperation Organization for the UN," one of four Sponsors of indicted Francis Lorenzo's Global Governance for the UN SDGs.  Gallach even spoke at the event.  

On Western Sahara, Inner City Press Asks Polisario Rep Boukhari About France ("Bad") & Spain - "Blackmailed"

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, March 24 -- Why didn't UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon go to El Aaiun in Western Sahara, even to visit the headquarters of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara?  And why on March 21 did Ban say, "We had a good meeting in the Security Council today" when his deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq toldInner City Press it was fine it was excluded between there were no Secretariat staff involved? Who is Ban's "we"?

On March 24, Inner City Press asked Polisario's representative Ahmed Boukhari about the position of France ("bad") and Spain - which on the record he called "blackmailed," see below. Video here.

 As Boukhari spoke and Inner City Press live-streamed on Periscope, UNTV came over and started to film, putting it out live on webcast. Morocco's reps saw it and immediately called and said, cut it. They've previously turned off Polisario's microphone, as Inner City Press covered.

Strangely, while Ban's Secretariat saying it is strongly opposing Morocco's note verbale it civilian staff leave "the territory of the Kingdom of Morocco," on March 23 to Reuters and AFP it was an anonymous UN official who made the argument.

On March 24, Inner City Press asked Ban's Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq about this incongruity: why ostensibly speak truth to (Moroccan) power... anonymously?

 Instead of explaining, Haq said to Inner City Press, For a journalist you seem to have a problem with officials speaking to the media. Well, no: why only to pro-Ladsous scribes, and anonymously? Inner City Press asked if Herve Ladsous as head of UN Peacekeeping will finally hold a press conference, which it seems he hasn't since September 11, 2015 when on camera he linked peacekeeper rapes to "R&R." Haq did not respond.

 (On Reuters and AFP and anonimity, it's ironic: both were linked to anti-Press anonymous troll society media accounts, here; now it seemsVoice of America has joined them.)

 Meanwhile, in response to Inner City Press posted a late February photo of Polisario military equipment which was emailed this week among Ladsous, Edmond Mulet and Christopher Ross, pro-Moroccans have responded with their own (photos of) show of force. Watch this site.

  At the March 23 UN noon briefing, Inner City Press asked Ban's deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq, UN transcript here:

Inner City Press: Some of the MINURSO staff stayed in Las Palmas, and some were sent home on leave.  Does this indicate any kind of projecting when they can go back?  How fast could they go back?  And why didn't they all stay nearby in theatre in Las Palmas?

Deputy Spokesman Haq:  Well, there were some who were UN Volunteers who were sent back to their home countries.  The staff who are needed are in Las Palmas awaiting the point when, we hope, they can go back to Laayoune to go about their regularly scheduled work.

 As the UN Security Council had another round of closed door consultations about MINURSO on March 23, Inner City Press' sources tell it that a mild draft Press Statement is being "shot down" by Egypt, for the Arab Group or League - with France once again able to hide its imminent veto on the issue.

 As to Spain, whose foreign ministry has yet to answer - and in full disclosure whose highest UN official Cristina Gallach ordered Inner City Press out of the UN on two hours' notice and it still trying to seize its office, restrict its ability even to cover the Security Council on Western Sahara, video here -- sources says it is "blackmailed."

 What does that mean? Morocco can turn on migration, act on the small territories, has many Spanish companies on its territory and at sea. "Unless a larger power tells Spain to be decisive on this, Spain will just drivft," was the verdict. We await the ministry's comment.

Update of March 24: even as the Security Council met on March 24 about the Middle East, Morocco's NY diplomats massed in front of the Council, meeting various Council members, including from the Permanent Five. We'l have more on this.


Cristina Gallach, with Qatar's ex-PR, Spain sign, credit UN Photo/Evan Schneider

  UN DPKO boss Herve Ladsous went into the Security Council on the afternoon of March 23 without a word or answer. On his way out at 4:30 pm, Inner City Press asked him, Any progress on MINURSO? No answer. Any response to the Tony Banbury op-ed? One in his entourage laughed. Would retaliation follow? For Inner City Press, it already has. Watch this site.

On March 22, Inner City Press asked Ban's deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq:

Inner City Press: yesterday, you'd said that the 8:30 event in the Security Council had no Secretariat involvement.  And then, later in the day, myself and a colleague were in the second-floor hallway and asked the Secretary-General what it was being accomplished on Western Sahara, and he said, "We had a good meeting in the Security Council today."  So I wanted to know, what does that mean?  Was there…

Deputy Spokesman:  He was talk about the luncheon.

Inner City Press:  He said “in” the Security Council.

Deputy Spokesman:  He was talking about the luncheon.  He had a luncheon with the Security Council.

Inner City Press:  Right.  In the Security Council?

Deputy Spokesman:  I mean, you can quibble with his prepositions, but that's what he was referring to.

Inner City Press: On what basis do you say there was no Secretariat involvement in the 8:30 event?

Deputy Spokesman:  On the basis of the fact that I'm aware of my colleagues in Security Council Affairs Department (SCAD) and they had no involvement.  There were no interpreters even.

Inner City Press:  I also have another question on Western Sahara.

Deputy Spokesman:  Okay.

Inner City Press:  Okay.  Thanks a lot.  I wanted to know… I've seen a photograph of military equipment, which has been put on alert in the last few days, and I've also seen a chain of e-mails that this was sent to Mr. [Edmond] Mulet from Mr. [Christopher] Ross, also to Mr. [Hervé] Ladsous.  And I wanted to know, since they've received this, what's their reaction to it?  And will you give a readout of Mr. Ladsous' and [Atul] Khare's meeting of TCC's (troop-contributing countries) yesterday afternoon at… in… on the second floor of the Conference Building?

Deputy Spokesman:  Regarding that, this is simply a discussion with troop contributors at a time of great concern about the situation in Western Sahara, so they provided an update on the situation there.

Inner City Press:  And what about the equipment?  What's the response of this e-mail between Mr. Ross, Mr. Ladsous and Mr. Mulet showing essentially missiles and massed troops?

Deputy Spokesman:  I… this is one of a number of issues that needs to be resolved, and we'll have to see what they do in further discussions.

  Now we asked, What is the position of Spain the former colonial power in all this? On March 21 Inner City Press asked Angola's Foreign Minister Georges Chikoti what had been accomplished on defending MINURSO; his answer declined comment on the "Spanish Sahara."

Earlier on March 21, having had difficulty getting an answer from Spain's Mission to the UN particularly after Cristina Gallach, the highest Spanish official in the UN system, ousted Inner City Press from its office and the UN without due process -- and from the Western Sahara meeting, Periscope here -- sent this to Spain's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson:
From: Matthew Russell Lee [at] innercitypress.com
Date: Mon, Mar 21, 2016 at 9:15 AM
Subject: Press Q on Spain's position on Morocco ordering out 83 UN/AU staff from MINURSO, and UN doing it, on deadline, thanks
To: cecilia.yuste [at] maec.es

Hello -

This is a Press request to know Spain's position on Morocco ordering 83 UN (and AU) staff to leave “the territory of the Kingdom of Morocco,” as they referred to Western Sahara - and, separately, to UNSG Ban Ki-moon and/or DPKO chief Herve Ladsous deciding to in fact evacuate these staff to Las Palmas.

We have not heard Spain's position from the Mission here - there are other issues - and so put this question to you, on deadline. Please acknowledge receipt and provide substantive response asap.

Thank you in advance,

Matthew Russell Lee,  Inner City Press
Office at UN: Room S-303, UN HQ, NY NY 10017 (??)
Cell: 718-716-3540 [& http://www.funca.info/]
Email Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com and this
www.twitter.com/innercitypress and @FUNCA_infowww.InnerCityPress.com

Periscope live broadcasts: https://www.periscope.tv/innercitypress

Feb 26, 2016 Business Insider http://www.businessinsider.com/matthew-lee-is-reporting-in-a-park-across-from-the-un-2016-2

Petition: https://www.change.org/p/unsg-ban-ki-moon-dsg-jan-eliasson-cdc-edmond-mulet-and-usg-dpi-gallach-we-demand-inner-city-press-be-restored-to-access-to-the-un-as-a-resident-correspondent

GAP to US Mission, Feb 26, 2016: https://www.scribd.com/doc/300709433/US-Mission-to-UN-Is-Asked-to-Ensure-ICP-Gets-Its-Office-UN-Pass-by-GAP

Video of protest in Jaffna, Sri Lanka (in Tamil) https://youtu.be/bKofyMHwJUs

Sri Lanka Sunday Times, March 20, 2016 http://www.sundaytimes.lk/160320/columns/187127-187127.html

   But twelve hours later, no answers at all...

As the 8:30 am meeting took place, Inner City Press once it got about the retaliatory Ban imposed by UN official Cristina Gallach heard from its sources that this photograph of troops and missiles - note the flag(s) - was circulating among the highest UN officials including DPKO chief Herve Ladsous, and that Morocco was moving to oust even MINURSO military personnel from Dakhla. There were still no other media present at 9:30 am.

  Inner City Press arrived at the UN at 8:20 am and as passing through the now required (by UN censorship and retaliation) metal detectors saw a convoy diplomats from the Morocco mission going in.

 But up at the Security Council, the door for "non-resident correspondents" was locked; Inner City Press' current pass downgraded in retaliation by the UN doesn't work on the turnstiles and there was no guard present.

 Inner City Press set up in the hall, but from there was unable to put questions -- as it has  right to -- to the Permanent Representatives going in.

  Seen, through glass, were the Perm Reps of France and Spain chatting amiably; PRs of New Zealand and Ukraine and Russia; American Deputy David Pressman.

  At the noon briefing, Inner City Press asked Ban's deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq, Vine here (video still not provided)

UN transcript here:

Inner City Press: there was a meeting this morning at 8:30 and most of the permanent representatives of the Council went in and I wondered if you could explain.  I was unable to cover it.  The door was locked to the Council.  It was definitely a meeting.  I saw them going in.  There were ambassadors of the P-5 and others that went in.  Why didn't your office announce this meeting and why was the door for non-resident correspondents locked to go to the stakeout and speak to people?

Deputy Spokesman Haq:  We ourselves were not privy to the meeting.  It was a meeting for ambassadors only.  As far as I'm aware there was no Secretariat staff, including interpreters.

 Later on March 21, along with telling Ban (again) that his Under Secretary General for "Communications" Cristina Gallach and Security had thrown Inner City Press out of its office and the UN as a whole on February 19, Inner City Press asked Ban what he was doing on Western Sahara.

 Ban said, "We had a good meeting in the Security Council today."Audio embedded here.


But didn't Haq say it was fine to Ban Inner City Press because there were no Secretariat staff involved? Beyond who is Ban's we, does the justification for censorship stand up?

Beyond having physically thrown Inner City Press out of the UN, twice, does Ban's UN not want the media on its announcement list to cover such a meeting?

Inner City Press had heard of the Monday 8:30 am meeting from sources in the region on Sunday evening.
 Moroccan state media MAP reported on March 20 that “significant number” of UN staffers had left El Aaiun airport in UN aircraft and commercial flights to Las Palmas in Spain, that 73 U.N. staffers had left and 10 would leave in the afternoon.

  Why did Ban (or the head of UN Peacekeeping, Frenchman Herve Ladsous) give in? If, in the most positive light, it was for staff safety --which was ignored for example in Sri Lanka -- why has Ban not come out and said that? This is a new low.

  On March 16, Inner City Press asked the US State Department about Western Sahara and then (from the State Department briefing room) published this, emailed to Inner City Press from Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner:

"The United States continues to support the UN-led process designed to bring about a peaceful, sustainable, and mutually-agreed solution to the conflict in the Western Sahara, one in which the human rights of all individuals are respected.

We support the work of the UN Secretary General’s Personal Envoy for the Western Sahara and the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum on Western Sahara (MINURSO).

We encourage all of the parties to remain fully and actively engaged in pushing the process toward an effective resolution."

  But on March 19, a strongly rumored UN Security Council meeting about Western Sahara did not happen, at least by 3 pm.

It seems friends of Morocco - read, France - argued that the meeting was not needed. But what of Morocco's "note verbale" telling 84 people to leave "the territory of the Kingdom of Morocco"?

 That's the rub - under international law, Western Sahara is NOT "the territory of the Kingdom of Morocco." So how can 84 people be ordered out this way?

 Contrary to the analogies UN and DPKO spokesman Stephane Dujarric used, Eritrea kicking out UNMEE for not enforcing its legal right to Badme, or Chad kicking out MINURCAT, Morocco is not the host country of MINURSO.  So the note verbale, which in any event should have been sent to the Security Council, is not effective.

 But what is the role of Herve Ladsous, the fourth Frenchman in a row atop UN Peacekeeping, in this - and in the ouster of Inner City Press on February 19, ostensibly by his fellow Frenchman Stephane Dujarric and Cristina Gallach, the highest official of Spain in UN System? We'll have more on this.

Meanwhile two tweets from the account of the acting spokesperson for the US Mission to the UN got a lot of play, on both sides of the issue,click here to view.


  On March 18 Inner City Press asked Kirby, again, about theGovernment Accountability Project's letter to the US Mission to the UN about UN retaliation against the Press. Kirby said, "I’m also happy to refer you to our mission up in New York City." Later his office put in writing, "On the question on the Government Accountability Project letter, we’d refer you to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations."

But Inner City Press has already asked three at the US Mission about the GAP letter.

After the Security Council met on March 18 about Western Sahara, the Council's President for March, Ambassador Gaspar Martins of Angola, said the members had agreed to work both bilaterally and as  Council. Which is it? Left solo, France reflexively defends Morocco. French Ambassador Delattre on his way in said:

"With respect to Western Sahara, we, as France, but also as member of the Security Council, are having one clear objective, which is to appease the tensions. And that is why we believe that, at this stage, an important thing in order to appease the tensions, is for Morocco and the UN to have a serene, respectful, and in-depth dialogue. We believe this is absolutely important in order to, again, appease the tensions. This is our number one priority, and we will continue on this path."

 Sounds bilateral... Watch this site.

On March 14, Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric about an upcoming meeting it had heard from other sources about. From the UN transcript:

Inner City Press: Has there been a request by Morocco's Foreign Minister to meet with the Secretary-General this week?

Spokesman Dujarric:  Yes.

Inner City Press:  And will that be an open photo op?

Spokesman Dujarric:  The meeting is still… we're still working on the scheduling of the meeting.  Obviously, it will be a photo op, as it is usually with every Foreign Minister that comes to town.  Vine here.

 And then, despite Inner City Press' question, Dujarric's office waited until four minutes before the deadline to go up to photograph the meeting to announce it. Some photo op.

 On February 29, Inner City Press directly asked Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric, who replied that Ban's trip will be in two parts -- it's just that when the El Aaiun portion will happen is not known.

On March 7, Dujarric called in to the UN Noon Briefing from - where else -- Paris and made much of Ban's visit to part of the MINURSO mission but not its headquarters. Dujarric said there would be a second stage of the trip - to Rabat.

  Inner City Press now asks: why did the English language UN transcription of the March 7 briefing include Dujarric Q&A on Western Sahara, here -- while the UN's French language transcription, here, pointed did not?

Is this to please France?  On March 10 Inner City Press asked Dujarric,Vine here, UN transcript here:

Inner City Press: when you called in from Paris about Western Sahara, I've looked at the transcriptions, the UN transcriptions of the noon briefing that day in English and French.  And in English, there's your whole Q&A about Western Sahara, and in French, it's just not there.  And I'm wondering, is there some reasons? They're both working languages, et cetera.  What's the reason for that?

Spokesman Dujarric:  I don't… I'm not sure we put out a transcript in French of my…

Inner City Press:  No, in English… in the English noon brief…

Spokesman Dujarric:  I'm not sure we put out a transcript; I'll check.

  Twenty five hours later, nothing. So on March 11, even as Dujarric tried to deny Inner City Press any more questions, Inner City Press asked, UN transcript here:

Inner City Press: on Western Sahara, do you have an answer on the two press statements, English and French?

Spokesman Dujarric:  No.  But I… we're working on it.

  Vine here. Then Dujarric abruptly walked out of the UN Press Briefing Room, from which he ousted Inner City Press directly on January 29, and indirectly through another on February 19.

  Working on it? How hard can it be? At 6 pm on March 11 Dujarric's office called "lid," end of day, still without answering; Dujarric said something about "two weeks." Watch this site.

  On March 7, Inner City Press asked Dujarric if Ban had even tried to get to MINURSO's headquarters in El Aaiun -- Dujarric didn't answer that -- and if Ban hadn't in his comment distributed on March 6 given Morocco a veto over the referendum promises even in the name of the MINURSO mission.

Back on March 2, Inner City Press asked Dujarric's deputy Farhan Haq why Ban is not going, while wanly claiming he has the right to do. UN transcript here.

Ban was supposed to go in November 2015 but he canceled it, thinking he could get more political - read, South Korea electoral -- play by going to North Korea. But then North Korea turned him down.

  On February 25, Inner City Press asked Dujarric about issues including Western Sahara, after three days reporting on the UN from outside after Ban's head of Communications Cristina Gallach threw Inner City Press out without due process: petition here; weird pro Morocco spin on the ouster, here.

  Now ahead of Ban's March 1 stop in Spain - will Gallach be there? - there is pick up of the fact that Gallach is Spain's highest UN official, and that she ousted the Press from the UN.

Highest Spanish #UN official @cristinagallach removes accreditation of the most critical journalist@innercitypresshttps://t.co/4Tj8Ud4UrD

— Ignacio Cembrero (@icembrero) February 27, 2016

Will it be resolved by, or come to head on, March 1? In defense of Ban and Gallach, anonymous troll account has taken to tweeting, now at Spanish journalists, that Gallach is fine and didn't throw Inner City Press out of the UN on two hours notice without once speaking to it. But those are the fact. Among the new troll account's followers are Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Stephane Dujarric and four UNCA board members, plus Reuters bureau chief Louis Charbonneau, who has a history with this,see here.

On February 26, Dujarric said, "the Secretary-General's right to visit any peacekeeping mission, but there is the de facto authorities in that area would need to provide the clearance for the plane to land."

   So, he really DOESN'T have the right, and isn't really pushing for it. Inner City Press on February 26 asked Dujarric, UN transcript here:

Inner City Press: I wanted to ask what the Secretary-General's goals are for this Western Sahara trip.  What is he seeking to come out of it?  Does he… would he like to see a referendum with independence as a goal?  What's he go into it looking at?  Thanks.

Spokesman Dujarric:  Obviously, the… you know, a lot… a large focus will be on the humanitarian situation.  He'll be visiting the camps near Tindouf, and it is also part of his preparation, obviously… he will report on the trip in his upcoming report, which is scheduled for April.

  Humanitarian,? We'll have more on this.
 
  We'll see. UN President of the General Assembly Mogens Lykketoft announced a trip to Europe and Morocco; particularly as the bribery case against former PGA John Ashe proceeds, with two guilty pleas and also indicted former Dominican Republic Deputy Permanent Representative (and South South News executive) Francis Lorenzo found to NOT have immunity, taking Moroccon government funding for a trip to Morocco with a Morocco-provided staffer, particularly (but not only) if not addressing the obvious issue of Western Sahara, seems ill-advised. We'll have more on this.

  Why is this not covered more? Well, Lorenzo's (and also indicted Ng Lap Seng's) South South News gave tens of thousands of dollars to the UN Correspondents Association - where Lykketoft at least early in his term held his “press” events, and which more recently got the Office of the UN Spokesperson to throw the Press out of the UN Press Briefing Room, amid these corruption questions. We'll have more on this, too.





  Since the criminal complaint, Inner City Press has asked Ban's spokespeople for basic information, and has been rebuffed. Most recently, both the UN Development Program and Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric (previously of UNDP) have refused to provide even a copy of the agreement signed by Ng, UNDP's Teresa Liu and Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit.

  Inner City Press reported that UNDP was asking corporations for $100,000 to be seated next to heads of state by UNDP. Closer to Ban, literally, the UN Correspondents Association (which previously took money from Ng's media vehicle, then gave it an UNCA Award and Ng a photo op with Ban) now offers seats at the VIP table, next to Ban, for $6,000 (half table) or $12,000 (full table). By most definitions, this is corruption.

  Mogen Lykketoft, meanwhile, couldn't bring himself to say Ashe's name, only referring to the President of the 68th General Assembly session. Lykketoft, who allowed his Office to be used for fellow Dane Helle Thorning-Schmidt to campaign for the top spot in the UN's refugee agency UNHCR, said he will be making reform proposals. We will be there - with questions for Lykketoft.

  Ban again mentioned what he told Inner City Press at his last stakeout, a task force under his chef of staff Susana Malcorra. But as Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Dujarric, with all due respect, Malcorra accepted one of Ng's South South Awards, for Ban. And as note, Gallach went. We'll have more on this.