On Somalia, US Still Disputes Funding Study, So Roll Over 4 Months, Past Rice and South Africa

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 6 -- On the Somalia resolution pending in the UN Security Council, the European "cheapness" on which Inner City Press reported November 1 continues -- now joined by mounting US aversion to another provision, Operative Paragraph (OP) 10.

  The result is that 24 hours before the extended deadline of the Somalia mission's mandate, the UK penned resolution with a one year extension has still not been put "in blue" and ready for voting. Rather a mere four month extension was being prepared.

   When Inner City Press asked this month's Security Council president Hardeep Singh Puri about it on November 2, he expressed opposition to another short term roll over. But that now seems possible.

  It appears that the UK is more concerned with the position of the US than the African Union, which wants the Kenyan maritime component in.

 The US is said to oppose OP 10, which would say the Security Council

"welcomes support to AMISOM by the African Union's partners, especially through the European Union's African Peace Facility, but notes the limited resources of this facility in the context of AMISOM' s mandate renewal, underlines the importance of predictable and sustainable funding for AMISOM, as called for by the AU, and requests the Secretary General, in consultation with the AU, to include in his upcoming review options and recommendations for AMISOM's funding."

  African members have asked, what's wrong with at least at least studying this?  More recently they have proposed more vague language, about Ban Ki-moon looking into the funding issue with the AU. But the UK tells them this might still be too much.

  A well placed source mused to Inner City Press that the four month kicking the can down the road might be so "Susan Rice is off the Security Council, and South Africa is off the Security Council."

  The latter is certain -- Rwanda formally joins on January 1 -- while the latter seems based on an adverse result on the day of the quote, or ascension to Foggy Bottom. (A wise analysis says Kerry's ascention might, if Scott Brown loses to Elizabeth Warren, make Brown favored to take and "re-hat" Kerry's Bay State Senate seat.

  But enough of US politics -- "that's what the UK says" -- the re-hatting we'll stay focused on here is of AMISOM. 

  On the Somalia arms embargo, a concern has arisen that lifting the embargo might help Somaliland and Puntland become more independent. On the charcoal sales, the draft would have the Council noting the "intention of the Somali authorities to study this unique situation further, and expressing its willingness to take further action, if appropriate and in consultation with the Somali authorities, to address this situation."

  Also at issue is proposed Operative Paragraph 5 of the draft, which says the Security Council

"Expresses its intention to review AMISOM's authorised tasks as provided for in paragraph 1 of this resolution within four months ofthe date of this resolution and no longer than six months, including reassessing the utility of a maritime component."

  African and other members of the Security Council have asked the European members why they are adverse to paying for the Kenyan naval component which, even outside of AMISOM and its ostensible human rights standards, help drive Al Shabaab out of Kismayo.

  The responses have ranged from wanting more information about the maritime component -- one source counters, it's a little late, isn't it? -- to not wanting the Kenyan Navy to take over from the Europeans' own anti-piracy Operation ATALANTA. Click here for previous Inner City Press coverage of that.

   An African diplomatic source told Inner City Press, "It seems the Europeans don't want their parliaments to see that the fight against piracy could be done better and cheaper than they are doing it."

  Another compared this standoff to past reimbursements, including depreciation, to Germany for its ships off Lebanon in the UNIFIL mission.

 Germany's foreign minister Westerwelle is slated to be at the UN on Wednesday -- rain or shine. Watch this site.

Westerwelle Won't Comment on Spying on Syria, Elaraby Easy on US

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 26 -- When German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle and the Arab League's Nabil Elaraby appeared for an 8:30 am press conference on Wednesday, seven hours before the German-organized UN Security Council meeting about the Arab League, each made a point of speaking in their native language, for the home audience.

 But Inner City Press got in two questions in English, one of which was dodged and the other not directly answered.

  Inner City Press asked Westerwelle about reports that German ships have been collecting intelligence from Syria, for example on army movements, and providing it to the Syria opposition. 

  Westerwelle said he would not comment on that. It was in the German newspaper Die Welt. Some say there are countries that want to be able to tell their home audience they are helping the rebels, but then... don't want to answer questions about it.

  Elaraby had said that Palestine is the most important issue. Inner City Press asked about the draft(s) of a Council Presidential Statement for the afternoon, and about what Council sources tell Inner City Press is the "Host Country's" opposition to a reference to Palestine and the Arab peace initiative.

  But Elaraby did not answer about this specific opposition, rather saying that the tragedy of Palestine was caused by the Security Council, and should be fixed by it. Welcome to the world of the Security Council veto -- as on Syria. Watch this site.

Low Syria Expectations as Brahimi & Westerwelle Spin & FSA Shifts HQ from Turkey

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 24 -- Even before Lakhdar Brahimi briefed the UN Security Council about his three weeks as envoy to Syria, expectation were low. A Council member told Inner City Press, "Don't expect any breakthroughs." 

  In fact, there's been resistance to how to mention Syria in a draft Presidential Statement that Germany, this month's Council president, hopes to have adopted at another ceremonial Council session on September 26.

  When Brahimi emerged to take six questions from the media, he mostly said, give me time, I'm only in the post six months. He quickly agreed that the Syrian National Council or the opposition more generally might be closer to unifying.

  But what impact would that have on the fighting on the ground which is mostly what is pointed to in speeches about Syria?

  Inner City Press, hand up at the stakeout, would have like to ask or have answered what Brahimi thinks of the Free Syrian Army moving its headquarters out of Turkey and into Syria. But this was not selected. The last question concerned Iran, by an Iranian journalist with an Egyptian newspaper.

  German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle emerged and took questions, including these two, paraphrased by a Friend on Inner City Press:

Q: You revived a six point plan that proved it was not implementable, is this not impotence?

Westerwelle: I am not spokesperson for [Mr.] Brahimi and I made this statement in my capacity as German foreign minister… I want to underscore this once again, this is his work and his responsibility and it was important in the briefing what we just had about this, I talked about the substance of six point plan and I would not give up the substance of the 6 point plan as long as we do not see a better alternative. I am frustrated like you are about the situation, but once again, what is the alternative? We have to help the people, support the people, we have to work with all we can and to do our utmost to finish the violence in Syria. But on the other hand it is also important to be wise, that we do not to run into a conflagration in the whole region. This is also something that concerns me, the effects and consequences on some neighboring countries and we all agree we have to avoid when we see this conflict in Syria set on fire one country after another.

Q: Kosovo style?

Westerwelle: I don’t have anything to add to what I just said about this. We have enough meetings, there are many meetings about this week and we have this subject and we will discuss this subject. We have another meting on Friday we had telephone conference last Friday and if you allow me to add one point I think it would be wise and necessary that the opposition unites itself and not only united against regime of Assad but united on a common democratic pluralistic platform because if we want to promote this process of erosion in the regime of Assad, it is necessary that the people who live in the country see that they have perspective in the country and includes pluralistic structures, this includes religious and ethnic tolerance. This inclusive approach, I advise.

 Good luck with that. Watch this site.

As UNGA Starts, Ban Ki-moon's Selective Talk with Mali & Bahrain, Quiet Germany, Corporate CGI

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 23 -- Before UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon headed crosstown Sunday to the General Assembly's doppelganger, the Clinton Global Initiative, his office issued five read-outs of five meetings that morning.

  Notably, while for four of the meetings the UN purported to summarize what both sides said, for the meeting with German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle, there was only a single sentence, on what Ban raise: "The Secretary-General discussed the situations in Syria and Lebanon, as well as the Middle East peace process." 

   No Africa; no Iran. And no Guido.

  Each of the other four read-outs, including Mali and Bahrain as well as Kuwait and Estonia, summarized that "they" discussed. For Mali, which controls less than half its territory, the UN summarized:

"The Secretary-General and the Prime Minister [Cheick Modibo Diarra] exchanged views on the situation in northern Mali...[Ban] reassured him of the United Nations full support to Mali in its efforts to fully re-establish constitutional order and its territorial integrity."

  The last phrase seems to imply that UN automatically supports territorial integrity. Of course, it's variance from that principle that the new President of the General Assembly, Serbia's Vuk Jeremic, has complained for years. But does Ban's summary today mean he will say the same to Georgia? Will he raise the prison abuse scandal there?

  The read-out for Bahrain was lengthy, despite the decidedly different response to crackdown on protesters and bloggers in Bahrain and the rest of the region and world. The UN said Ban

"welcomed the commitment made by His Majesty King Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa, to dialogue, good governance and genuine democracy... He also emphasized that a genuine, all-inclusive dialogue that addresses the legitimate aspirations of all Bahraini communities is the best way to promote lasting peace, stability, justice and economic progress in Bahrain."

  The read-outs for Estonia and Kuwait were predictable: International Criminal Court and Iraq, respectively. There will be many such read-outs this month (click here for Inner City Press coverage and video of Ban's meetings with the United Arab Emirates and Arab League on September 21.) And a pro-corporate mood: over at the Clinton Global Initiative, Bill Clinton's opening statement veered from praising Suntech and Tom Golisano to Proctor & Gamble, even the Freeport mining firm. 

  Ban Ki-moon, who put the chairman of Bank of America tops his Sustainable Energy for All group, was there, set to rush back to the real (old?) UN to speed-meet with leaders of the Maldives, Malawi, Finland, Bulgaria, Ahmadinejad of Iran, Luis Federico Franco Gómez (and not Lugo) of Paraguay and Dimitris L. Avramopoulos, FM of Greece. We'll be there. Watch this site.

Ban Ignores UN Afghan Corruption & Congo, Fudges on Syria, Met DPRK Experts?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, July 8 -- While Ban Ki-moon was in Tokyo for the Afghanistan conference, he apparently did not even mention the UN corruption scandal there which has spread from the UN Development Program's Law & Order Trust Fund for Afghanistan to the budget of the UN mission itself. 

Click here for Inner City Press' most recent story, 8th in series.

  Ban did, however, hold a series of meetings and Q&As and issue a flurry of read-outs, which raise as many questions as they answer.

  On Syria, Ban said that "the General Mood" on June 15 decided to limit the activities of the UNSMIS mission. But Ban's associate spokesman Farhan Haq insisted to Inner City Press that the official stop was on June 16.

  Inner City Press sources staying that at the Hotel Dama Rose at the time say that Mood on the evening of June 15 didn't mention the limitation, even as Herve Ladsous' DPKO turned in a memo to Security Council members that Mood had stopped at 6 pm local in Damascus. 

  And they saw UNSMIS go on out patrol on the morning of June 16, and UN vehicles return with broken windows. So which is it?

Asked about sanctions on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Ban said that

"I met recently the Panel of Experts on this issue. But at this time I do not have clear information on this particular issue. I will look into this matter when I return."

 Who knew that Ban meets with sanctions panels. What evidence does he have? Has he met with the Somalia / Eritrea sanctions group, given that his Secretariat censored its own Eritrea report to the extent of taking it offline after Taye-Brooke Zerihoun said he "consulted with Security Council members" -- or at least some of them.

  On Myanmar, Ban praised Japanese companies for their gold-rush into the country -- without even mentioning the UN and NGO staff who have been detained, or the plight of the Rohingyas.

With Germany's foreign minister Guido Westerwelle he says he discussed Mali; with Pakistan's foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar Ban discussed Rio+20. Pakistan is a major troop contributor to the UN in Eastern Congo, where now the UN peacekeepers are on the run and not protecting civilians from the M23 mutineers. But Ban did not mention that.

How the UN itself could and should do better is not on the agenda. Watch this site.

At UN, Few Answers to India & Colombia on Children & Armed Conflict "Mandate Creep," German Slogan Dredged Up

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, July 12, updated -- During what was billed as a “debate” on Children and Armed Conflict in the UN Security Council on Tuesday, countries like Colombia and India criticized the way the concept is being carried out by the UN.

Colombia's foreign minister Maria Angela Holguin called “unacceptable” the UN's attempts to talk to the FARC rebels without the consent of her government. India's Permanent Representative Hardeep Singh Puri complained, for the second day in a row, about the UN's “mandate creep.”

Afterward, Inner City Press asked about the critique and requested responses from Secretary General Ban Ki-moon through this spokesman, UNICEF and German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle, in his capacity as Security Council president.

Typical of the UN, none wanted to directly respond. Westerwelle said he wouldn't comment on what other countries said, emphasizing only that the resolution passed.

Ban Ki-moon came to the stakeout and read a statement but took no questions. His spokesman Martin Nesirky said Ban had an urgent 11:45 telephone call.

At the noon briefing, Inner City Press asked Nesirky for Ban's response to the critique, and to those who feel that the decisions of which countries to put on the CAAC Annex is arbitrary, excluding for example Pakistan despite the armed conflict and child recruitment admitted by Ban's previous envoy Jean-Maurice Ripert.

On the former, Nesirky replie that "the most important thing to emphasize here is that the Security Council has been consistently focused on this topic, underscoring the importance that the international community attaches to dealing with the question of children and armed conflict."

On the latter, Nesirky told Inner City Press to asked Ban's CAAC expert, Radhika Coomaraswamy. She had come out of the Council ready to do a stakeout, but was told there were not enough journalists. Later she told Inner City Press among other things that her office needs now to do the political work, explain how her Office works. Inner City Press asked, will you come out to speak after Myanmar's speech? She replied, and speak to you?

Update: when the session ended at 5:45 pm, Ms. Coomaraswamy and her team emerged. They indicted, again, that Colombia's fear is unfounded, that they would not speak to a rebel group without the government's consent. One wonders why Colombia wasn't answered, on the record, during what was called the debate?

UNICEF's Tony Lake came out and Inner City Press asked him about the critique by India and Colombia. “I'm running late,” he said, indicating he would have answered “if ten minutes earlier.” But after Inner City Press immediately e-mailed the questions to four separate UNICEF spokespeople, still there was no answer two hours later.

Footnote: Alongside the debate, the Permanent Representative of Syria was told that Westervelle political party in 1999, the FDP, was distantly associated with a slogan, "Kinder Statt Inder" -- children not Indians. It was a reference to the granting of information technology visa to Indians.

The other side is that is was in only one region, not by FDP but CDU, and unrelated to India's opposition to the German introduced and pushed resolution. But so it goes at the UN. We exoect to hear more on this.

As Diplomats View German Expressionism, Etching of War Chide UN Council

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, July 11 -- German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle has arrived in New York and Tuesday will chair the UN Security Council for a session on children and armed conflict.

The night before he hosted most Council ambassadors and a range of UN personalities at the Museum of Modern Art, where a show on German Expressionism features grisly pictures of the First World War and after.

Britain's Permanent Representative Mark Lyall Grant chatted downstairs with Afghan Ambassador Tanin. Up on sixth floor, Westerwelle worked the crowd.

Rwanda's Permanent Representative spoke with him in perfect German; his wife explained to Inner City Press that the Kinyarwanda language has many German words, since before Belgium it was a German colony.

Westerwelle said that Germany can now be an honest broker and “teacher” in Africa -- where Angela Merkel is headed, starting with Angola -- since it does not have the same history as others on the Continent.

France's Gerard Araud was in attendance, as was his Moroccan counterpart. South Africa's able charge d'affaires noted that depending on which countries get elected, his will preside over the Council in either January or February. But due to the alphabet, they will get only one Presidency in their two years. And they hope the institution is reformed before they get elected again.

Germany, which also wants a permanent seat, has highlighted children and armed conflict in its month. Late last Friday, India and Colombia were still critiquing the draft resolution.

Monday India's Permanent Representative Hardeep Singh Puri told Inner City Press his country opposes “mandate creep” on children and armed conflict, just as it opposes “mission creep” in Libya.

India, which will follow Germany as Council President in August, has proved outspoken on the Council, for example joining Russia and South Africa in questioning France parachuting arms into Libya. Others vying for permanent seats are playing it more cautious. Whether it will make a difference remains to be seen.

In attendance Monday night was the UN's expert on the Responsibility to Protect, Edward Luck. Inner City Press asked him about Tuesday's GA session: is it an attack on the mandate? No, he said, he thinks it will be productive. Will Libya be discussed? One assumes so.

The show of Expressionists featured 50 works by Otto Dix, depicting death and destruction in World War I in which he served as a gunner. To see Security Council ambassadors glancing at such works, as they vote on Libya, was more than a little ironic.

There were also pictures by George Grosz, of prostitution and corruption, and Kathe Kollwitz on widows left by war. The show is recommended -- at MOMA as well as at the UN and its Security Council.

Westerwelle will take questions from the press on Tuesday morning at the stakeout, and meet Ban Ki-moon in the afternoon. Watch this site.