In
Ban's
UN, As Yonhap
Fetes Photos
of Cholera in
Haiti, Sudan
Qs UNanswered
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
News Muse
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 22 --
Amid killings
in Syria
and the endgame
in Libya,
UN Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon on
Monday night
was the guest
of honor at a
photo awards
ceremony
thrown by the
news service
of his native
South Korea,
Yonhap.
On
hand in the
lobby of the
UN General
Assembly were
Kim Sook,
South Korea's
Permanent
Representative,
and the
country's
Consul
General, as
well as at
least three of
Ban's Under
Secretaries
General: Kiyo
Akasaka, Sha
Zukang and
political
chief Lynn
Pascoe, seen earlier in
the day with
Ban's
"post-Gaddafi"
adviser Ian
Martin.
While
the
photographs
were good,
they were no
better than
those in the recent
World
Press Photo
exhibit,
which drew far
fewer Ban
Administration
officials.
That exhibit,
still up but
roped off in
the GA lobby,
was tagged
with a sign
saying that
its display
did not
represent UN
endorsement.
In
the Yonhap
awards, a top
prize went to
AP photos of
cholera in
Haiti -
without a
trace of
irony, even
though reports
have
essentially
established
that it was
the UN,
through
Nepalese
peacekeepers,
which
introduced
this cholera
epidemic into
Haiti.
Ban,
spouse and
crew get ready
to cut, Syria
& Sudan
not shown, (c)
MRLee
A
$10,000 award
was given to
the UN
Foundation,
whose
representative
in turn thanks
Ban's "deputy"
chief of staff
Kim Won-soo.
The Permanent
Representative
of Kazakhstan
was
conspicuously
present; her
Turkish
counterpart
arrived later
and told Inner
City Press his
view of Ban's
Palmer report
on last year's
Gaza flotilla:
on background,
of course.
Meanwhile
one wondered
where Ban and
his envoy Al
Khatib were
during the
crucial hours
in Tripoli,
and whether
answers will
be provided
about UN
vehicles
illegally
moving
cassiterite in
the Congo, or
deaths
and ethnic
firings in
Sudan.
Monday night
the noodles
were excellent
-- but where's
the beef?
Watch this
site.
Footnote:
even
in the South
Korea-heavy
atmosphere
Monday night,
Inner City
Press'
longstanding questions
about the UN
post Ban gave
to Samuel Koo
during his
recent stay in
Seoul went
unanswered.
Ban's Office
of the
Spokesperson
has twice
refused to
answer,
referring the
Press to UNEP,
which as noted
hasn't
answered. We
understand
Koo's wife is
a musician -
but the lack
of
transparency
has us playing
the blues.
* * *
On
Libya,
UN's Martin to
Doha As His
"Post-Conflict"
Post Called
Misnomer
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 22 --
Hour after UN Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon said
he was sending
to Doha his
envoys Al
Khatib and Ian
Martin, in
charge of
"post-conflict
planning" in
Libya, Inner
City Press
asked Martin
when he would
go, and asked
the Council on
Foreign
Relations'
experts about
the UN's
performance.
CFR's
Robert Danin
told Inner
City Press
that there's
been planning
in European
capitals "but
not at UN
headquarters,
since the UN
has to be
driven by a
strong force
to take
action.
Inner
City Press put
the same
question to
Daniel Serwer
of Johns
Hopkins School
of Advanced
International
Studies, who
said that
European
planning, at
least by the
UK, was on the
"civilian
side," not
policing or
peacekeeping.
He took issue
with Libya
being
characterized
as "post
conflict,"
calling it a
"misnomer"
when Libya is
not yet even
fully "post
Gaddafi."
Ian
Martin, to the
surprise of
some, was
still in New
York on Monday
afternoon.
Inner City
Press told him
what Serwer
had said,
contesting his
"post-conflict"
job title.
Martin nodded,
and was
non-committal
in response to
repeated press
requests that
he give a
briefing or
answer
questions.
Others
tell Inner
City Press
that Martin
heads Monday
night to Doha,
and then will
see where that
will lead. Ban
Ki-moon's call
Monday morning
for a new
Security
Council
mandate won't
bear fruit,
this people
say, for "a
week or ten
days," after a
series of
consultations.
Ban & Ian
Martin, who's
yet to brief
the press:
"post
conflict"?
Footnote:
Earlier
on Monday, US
President
Barack Obama
said he's told
his UN
Ambassador
Susan Rice to
ask Ban to
"use next
month's
General
Assembly to
support this
important
transition" in
Libya. While
the first step
would seem to
be to
re-credential
Ibrahim
Dabbashi as
Libya's UN
Ambassador,
some cynics
later Monday
mused that to
get the
General Debate
to focus on
Libya rather
than the moves
for
Palestinian
statehood
scheduled for
September 20
might be one
of Obama's
motives. Watch
this site.
, 
in