In Wake of Kabul Bombing, UN Too Quickly Names the Target, While Stealth Staffer Mervyn Patterson Still Excluded

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
www.innercitypress.com/serenakabul011408.html

UNITED NATIONS, January 14 -- In the aftermath of the attack on the Serena Hotel in Kabul, news stories all over the world quoted UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that Norway's Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere, meeting in a basement of the hotel, was the target. The quote was based on an impromptu encounter between Mr. Ban and three UN correspondents early Monday afternoon. As Ban approached along the second story corridor of the UN, coming out of a meeting in the Economic and Social Council chamber, one correspondent asked the other two, "What's the question of the day?"

Most questions at the UN's noon press briefing concerned the UN's still-withheld report about the December 11 bombing of UN facilities in Algiers. "I'll ask about Afghanistan," the first reporter said, and did. Mr. Ban quickly said that he was "very much surprised by this terrorist attack against the Foreign Minister of Norway, and I feel fortunate that he was not injured," and then spoke about an event he was headed to in Madrid, of the Alliance of Civilizations. Inner City Press asked, "Where do we stand on getting a new Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan?" Mr. Ban replied, "I am still in the process of talking and interviewing. Thank you."

How well thought-out was the statement that Norway's Jonas Gahr Stoere was the target? Does the UN know more about Afghanistan than member states' intelligence services, none of which had opined on who the target was? In fact, the UN's main Afghanistan expert Mervyn Patterson, who was expelled from the country in late December for allegedly speaking with and carrying money to the Taliban, has still not been able to return. And as noted, the process of naming a new UN chief in Afghanistan is dragging on. So on what was Mr. Ban's statement based?

One of the first wire service reports of the attack, at 14:44 Greenwich Mean Time, involved DPA recounting the speculation of a newspaper in Norway:

"Interior Ministry Spokesman, Zemarai Bashary confirmed that the explosion took place near the Serena Hotel in downtown Kabul, but could not immediately provide further details about the cause or whether there were any casualties. But a report by the Oslo newspaper Aftenposten noted that the Hotel Serena is where Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahre Store is currently staying and that two Norwegian nationals had been injured."

Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson routinely turns away questions by saying the UN will not respond to "press reports." In this case, the UN relied on a press report, and thus created more...

Update of January 15, at the UN noon briefing the day after the above report, Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson acknowledged that "There was really no additional information he had. It was obvious -- and we got the confirmation today -- that what the people targeted was the international presence and that's why the Serena Hotel was targeted. The Secretary-General did not have any special information at that time. However, the fact that the Foreign Minister was present in the hotel led him to believe that maybe it was a targeted attempt against his life."

And see, www.innercitypress.com/serenakabul011408.html

Behind Afghan Expulsion of UN and EU Advisors, Tales of Big Money and the Hand of U.S. CIA and UK MI6

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un2afghan010408.html

UNITED NATIONS, January 4 -- Questions continue to linger about the UN senior advisor expelled from Afghanistan in late December, Mervyn Patterson. Contrary to explanations provided Friday to Inner City Press, officials in Helmand Province still maintain that Patterson and the European Union's Michael Semple were carrying tens of thousands of dollars; some officials have been quoted that it was U.S. intelligence who fingered Semple and Patterson as paying funds to the Taliban, and suggested they be disciplined. Now it is a stand-off, with Patterson still out of the country.

On January 2, AP quoted Karzai's spokesman Humayun Hamidzada that "the government of Afghanistan has received reports that the two individuals were involved in activities that were not consistent with their original jobs, and they were engaged in unauthorized activities. The Afghan government expelled the two from Afghanistan, and this sends a message that the Afghan government is watching everyone, and any unauthorized activity, no matter it comes from wherever, will be stopped."

On January 3, Inner City Press asked the UN for an update

"Question: On the UN official that was a persona non grata out of Afghanistan over the holidays, M[ervyn] Patterson, do you have any update on whether he's going to be returned, if efforts are under way to return him?

"Spokesperson: I don't have any update on that. We have been trying to get some information. We don't have it yet.

[The Spokesperson later said that discussions were currently ongoing with the Afghan authorities to rectify this situation. The Spokesperson added that the UN hoped that this matter would be resolved swiftly to enable its staff member to return and continue the vital work of securing peace, stability and progress for the people of Afghanistan.]

"Question: I understand the dispute has been whether he's been speaking to the Taliban or not. Can we get a description of what his function has been for UNAMA? Because there were a couple of years where he was listed as on leave without pay but he's listed as also working for the UN there.

"Spokesperson: You know it's part of the United Nations work. And United Nations officials have a duty to be speaking to all parties. This is part of our mandate.

"Correspondent: I know that, absolutely. But there they've denied it. They've said we do not speak to the Taliban -- full stop.

Spokesperson: I'm just saying that this is part of his mandate, to be talking to all the parties."

[The Spokesperson later clarified that the staff member in question had been talking to local authorities and community representatives -- not the Taliban.]

But the Afghan newspaper Rah-e Nejat quoted Helmand Province Governor Asadollah Wafa that he had warned the two expelled foreign diplomats - Mervyn Patterson from Britain and Michael Semple from Ireland - about holding talks with the Taliban in Helmand Province, but they did not pay attention to the warning and held talks with Taliban leaders anyway.

Complexities of Afghanistan

Later still, on the morning of January 4, the UN provided a written update, subsequently read-out at the day's noon briefing:

"Regarding your question about Mervyn Patterson, I have the following for you from UNAMA: Our negotiations are ongoing to see the return of this very able and capable staff member, so that we can continue with the vital work of building peace, stability and progress for the Afghan people. We are relieved that the Afghan consultant who was working with us on this visit to Helmand province has now been released by the Afghan authorities without charge. We are pleased that the Governor of Helmand Province has also publicly confirmed that no UNAMA staff member was involved in activities that could be seen to be detrimental, and we welcome the President's recent comments that this incident should not reflect on the vital work that UNAMA does for the Afghan people and their Government."

Not only are there, in the public record, quotes by Helmand officials to the contrary -- it is also unclear why, if Helmand's Governor Wafa and President Karzai's positions are as the UN describes them, Mr. Patterson is still excluded from the country. Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un2afghan010408.html

To Speak or Not with Taliban, Behind Karzai's Expulsion of UN, Its Policy of Don't Ask, Don't Tell and Don't Explain

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/pngkarzai122707.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 27 -- Afghan president Hamid Karzai has ordered the expulsion of Mervyn Patterson, described as the third-highest UN official in the country, and Michael Semple, said to be with the European Union, for allegedly talking with the Taliban. Wednesday the UN denied that Patterson spoke with the Taliban. But Tom Koenigs the highest UN official in Kabul ten weeks ago told Inner City Press that the UN does not ask who is Taliban and who is not. Video here, from Minute 4:28. Press accounts link this with reports of Britain's MI6 also speaking with the Taliban, contrary to UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown's statements two weeks ago. In Afghanistan, the issue seems to be that President Karzai does not want it perceived that foreigners, including the UN, are working around him and speaking to the Taliban.

Mervyn Patterson is included in the UN's official "List of Staff," a document the UN considers confidential -- but of June 30, 2006 (and 2005 and 2003) Patterson is designated as "on special leave without pay." In 2002 he was quoted by wire services as mediating between warlords in northern Afghanistan, for example between Abdel Rashid Dostum and Atta Mohammad of Jamiat-e-Islami party, and between Abdul Saboor and Ahmed Khan. A UN insider who worked with Patterson in 2002 describes him as a consummate negotiator, and also says that Michael Semple worked with the UN. (Semple is not listed at all in the UN's List of Staff.) As of 5 p.m. Wednesday at UN Headquarters in New York, the spokesperson's office said Mr. Patterson had not yet left Afghanistan, but that more would be known by morning. The following day, the office confirmed that Patterson had left. Inner City Press asked this office a series of questions, and the response was that

"We can confirm that a UN official had been asked to leave the country on the grounds that their presence is detrimental to national security. This followed a visit to Helmand province to discuss stabilization efforts with local authorities and community representatives in the province. We believe that there is no basis for such a decision and that this is a result of a misunderstanding with the Afghan authorities. Discussions are currently ongoing with the Afghan authorities to rectify this situation so that we can continue with the vital efforts to secure peace, stability and progress for the people of Helmand province.... Was he talking to the Taliban? No. We have been talking to the local authorities and community representatives, we are not talking to the Taliban."

First, if the UN's Tom Koenigs has said that the UN "keeps contact with everybody without asking him or her if they are Taliban," how would the UN so quickly know? Second and more fundamentally, how can one make "efforts to secure peace" without talking to the insurgency?

One week ago, upon his return to New York from visiting survivors of the bombing of the UN building in Algiers, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said:

"We must do even better in explaining to the public and the media the role of the United Nations, wherever we operate -- why we are there, what we do, what we stand for and what we don't. We must make clear we are not there to represent the interests of any one group of nations over another."

While currently this public explaining is lacking, for example here and in Sri Lanka where the UN has remained silent as the government accuses UNICEF of supporting the Tamil Tigers, back on October 15 the UN's outgoing Special Representative to Afghanistan Tom Koenigs said that the UN "keeps contact with everyone, without asking him or her if they are Taliban or not." He also specified, as is relevant here, that ultimate authority for negotiation must rest with the government of Afghanistan. Video here, from Minute 4:28. (Inner City Press had asked, at the televised stakeout in front of the Security Council chamber, about Iran's chiding of the UK and others reaching out to the Taliban.")

News analysis: If, as Mr. Koenigs said in October, the UN does not ask who is Taliban and who is not, this would be the time to explain what the UN is doing, and why. That the UK would desire secrecy, particularly after Gordon Brown's categorical statement two weeks ago, is understandable. But the UN, as called for by Ban Ki-moon, should do "better in explaining." Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/pngkarzai122707.html