In
Beirut,
Ban Brags
About
Democracy with
Saleh Advisor,
Travel
Pay
Undisclosed
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 15 --
At first UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon
resisted
confirming he
would
participate in
a "democracy"
conference in
Beirut, and
his spokesman
Martin Nesirky
declined to
provide any
speakers list.
Now that he's
there, the "Roundtable"
list put
online
includes
"Abdel Karim
al Eryani,
Former Prime
Minister,
Yemen" --
that is, a long
time political
adviser to
dictator Ali
Saleh, who
went on
Saleh's behalf
to negotiate
immunity in
the Gulf
Cooperation
Council deal.
Democracy?
Ban
Ki-moon spoke
with Saleh,
but told Inner
City Press he did not
directly
discuss
with Saleh the
immunity
-- that is,
impunity --
Saleh was
seeking
first through
the GCC then
through the
US-supported
deal being
pushed by his
cabinet.
Now,
speaking at
the
conference,
Ban intoned
"from the very
beginning of
the ...
revolutions,
from Tunisia
through Egypt
and beyond, I
called on
leaders to
listen to
their people.
Some did, and
benefited.
Others
did not, and
today they are
reaping the
whirlwind."
So
who is it,
that
listened to
Ban Ki-moon
and to their
people and
benefited?
Could it
be Ali Saleh,
who spoke with
Ban (and use
him a
pass-through
for the
claim he could
and would come
to the US for
medical
treatment) and
held out for
an impunity
deal?
Before
his speech
in a dinner
toast e-mailed
out by Ban's
spokesman's
office, Ban
said
"Countries are
moving closer
to answering
the calls of
people
who have
peacefully
gathered in
the streets of
Tunis, Cairo,
Benghazi
and Tripoli,
Sana’a, Der’a,
Hama and
Homs."
What
about Bahrain?
What about the
United Arab
Emirates,
where Ban
heads next?
Before
leaving on the
trip, Inner
City Press
twice asked
Nesirky to disclose
if
any party
outside of the
UN would be
paying for
Ban's travel,
as
recently for
example Qatar
did for Ban's
travel from
Nairobi.
Inner
City
Press: one
follow up on
this, and it
goes back to
something from
December where
I am
wondering, is
it possible to
say if in
this, even
just this
first leg that
has now been
confirmed, UAE
and Lebanon,
whether any of
the travel
would in fact
be covered or
paid for —
the planes
paid for by
any country or
other party?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
If that is the
case, I will
let you know.
Nesirky
has yet to
make this
basic
disclosure.
(c) UN Photo
Ban,
Pascoe; spox
wouldn't say
which meetings
Roed
Larsen was at
Other UN
sources
have long
complained
that the
UNESWA trips
in the region
feature,
draped in UN
blue, a
businessman
who is related
to the UN's
business
only by
marriage. This
is Ban's UN.
Footnote:
In
his speech,
Ban also said
"One-man rule
and the
perpetuation
of family
dynasties,
monopolies of
wealth and
power, the
silencing of
the media, the
deprivation of
fundamental
freedoms... To
all of this,
the people
say: Enough."
As other have
nearly
immediately
noted,
about about
closer to home
for Ban -- how
about Kim Jong
UN? Watch
this site.
, 
