UN
of Ban Ki-moon
Defers &
Delays on
Yemen &
Somalia,
MassiveGood
& Green
Climate
Fund, Sri
Lanka
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
November 25 --
Even on a slow
day at the UN
there are
questions, if
few answers
and even less
follow-through.
On the
Friday after
Thanksgiving
Inner City
Press asked UN
spokesman
Martin
Nesirky about
Yemen and
Somalia, war
crimes in Sri
Lanka, the
Green
Climate Fund
and defunct
MassiveGood
scam now
dubbed
MassiveFraud
by
some. Video
here.
The
answers ranged
from "we're
still
studying"
through "not
our fault"
to "we'll get
back to you."
On
Yemen, Inner
City Press
asked about Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
statements
Wednesday that
Ali Saleh
would come to
New York,
stepping back
from
power, and
that Ban
hadn't
discussed in
any detail
with Saleh
what's
now being
protested as
the immunity
provisions of
the deal.
Nesirky
noted that
Inner City
Press was
there when Ban
spoke and
all Ban was
doing was
recounting
what Saleh
said:
"ultimately
it's up to the
president
to travel as
he sees fit."
He said the UN
"has a clear
position
against
impunity," and
that Ban's
envoy -- if
not Saleh
-- will be in
New York on
Monday. But
what about the
at least five
dead
protesting the
deal that Ban
applauded?
On
Somalia, Inner
City Press
asked about
Ethiopia
entering the
country, and
if Ban
thought it
required
Security
Council
approval or
review.
Nesirky
said that
Ban's office
won't comment
on what the
Security
Council
should
discuss,
"that's for
the Council to
decide."
Inner
City
Press pointed
out that
previous
Secretaries
General -- the
primary
reference was
to Kofi Annan
on Iraq -- had
spoken about
how
the UN Charter
applies to the
entry into one
country by
another.
On
reports that
the US and
Saudi Arabia
won't sign on
to the Green
Climate Fund,
Inner City
Press asked
for Ban's
view. Nesirky
said that
beyond the
Green Climate
Fund, Durban's
discussions
will include
other topics,
"we need to
wait and see."
That is,
unlike even
the UK, no
criticism of
the Obama
administration's
positions.
Now
that the Sri
Lanka's
government own
Lessons Learnt
&
Reconciliation
Commission
report has
been leaked,
as the UN's
was, to The
Island, Inner
City
Press asked
about it.
"National
accountability
is always the
most
important,"
Nesirky said,
"it remains to
be seen."
Really?
(c) UN Photo
Ban
& Meles
Zenawi,
Ethiopian
entry into
Somalia, Obama
and Green
Climate Fund
not shown
Finally
on the
MassiveGood
program, which
after being
touted by Ban
Ki-moon and
Philippe
Douste-Blazy
as to a way to
raise funds
for HIV/AIDS,
malaria and
tuberculosis
spent over $11
million to
raise only
$300,000,
Inner City
Press what Ban
had learned
from this
fiasco.
Inner
City
Press
previously
asked Ban's
office about
the waste
of money and
illegality in
MassiveGood,
involving
former and
current French
government
officials
pretending to
be based in
Geneva when
they
weren't, for
tax purposes,
and misuse of
funds for,
among other
things, a
Spike Lee
directed video.
"We'll
find
out," Nesirky
said. We'll be
waiting -
watch this
site.
, 
