Condi
Rice and Saudi Spy Chief Refused to Talk with UN Bhutto Panel, No
Khalilzad Either
By
Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, April 15 -- In investigating the murder of Benazir Bhutto,
the UN Commission of Inquiry lead by Chile's Heraldo Munoz was urged
to interview Condoleezza Rice, Hamid Karzai and the intelligence
chiefs of the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
When
Munoz
unveiled the report on April 15, Inner City Press asked him pointedly
if he had, in fact, been rebuffed by Condi Rice and by Saudi Arabia's
Mugran bin Abdul Aziz. Munoz said that while some had declined to be
interviewed, the Commission had received information that it needed.
Inner
City Press
insisted -- did he interview Condi Rice or not? No, Munoz conceded.
Condoleezza Rice had said she was "not available." Video
here,
near end.
Why
would a former
U.S. Secretary of State refuse to meet with the UN Commission of
Inquiry into the death of an icon like Benazir Bhutto? Condi Rice's
spokeswoman Carolyn Beswick has said that Mr. Rice "does not
give interviews."
UN"s Ban and Condi Rice, who refused to speak with
UN panel
After
the press
conference, Inner City Press asked Munoz fellow panelist Marzuki
Darsman, the former attorney general of Indonesia, if he had
interviewed Mugran bin Abdul Aziz. The answer was no, and also no
for former US Ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad, intimitately
involved in negotiating Benazir Bhutto's return to Pakistan.
As
Inner City Press
told Pakistani television channels after the press conference, the
report thus raises more questions. Watch this site.
Footnote:
Pakistan's Ambassador Haroon, who had be slated to speak with the
Press at 5:15 at the Security Council stakeout, canceled that
appearance at the last moment -- but not before the 15 Council
members' flags had been moved to cover up the words "Security
Council" on the backdrop behind the microphone. Is Pakistan
worried about being put, like Afghanistan, on the Security Council's
agenda?
* * *
Afghan
Gov't Role in Guesthouse Killings Was Left Undisclosed by UN, Execution
of US Citizen Alleged
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS, April 14 -- After the killing of five UN staff at the
Bakhtar Guesthouse in Kabul last October and since, the UN has cast
the blame for all the deaths on Taliban insurgents, who attacked the
guesthouse.
Inner City Press was told by sources in
Afghanistan that,
in fact, Afghan government security forces were responsible for most
of the deaths, including the "summary execution" of UN
Security Officer, Louis Maxwell, a U.S. citizen.
Wednesday
in
response to questions from Inner City Press, the UN Spokesperson's
Office confirmed the UN's heretofore undislosed awareness of the
controversy, and later said that a board of inquiry has been
established and Mr. Maxwell's family consulted.
Inner
City Press'
sources in Afghanistan, however, say that the UN Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon has shown a decided lack of enthusiasm to raise the issue
to the Afghan government. Three of the four other UN staff killed, in
this account, were killed by Afghan national security forces.
At
Wednesday's noon
briefing, Mr. Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky said that Ban has raised
it to Afghanistan. Inner City Press asked, why didn't Mr. Ban or the
UN publicly say that their previous account, that all five deaths
were caused by the Taliban, had been called into question, including
by a video shot by Germans in Kabul and shown on Der Spiegel's web
site?
Inner
City Press is
told that Louis Maxwell, who resisted the attackers and thus allowed
many others to successfully escape, was summarily executed at point
blank range by an Afghan National Army member while in their custody,
unarmed and not offering any resistance. The extra-judicial killing
was captured on video by a staff member of the German Embassy and
copies were provided to UN investigators. The video has since been
posted on the German 'Der Spiegel' media site although they have
failed to realize (or at least publish) what exactly it is they are
airing.
"In
the aftermath of the incident many Afghan security forces are
interviewed on camera by the local Afghan media and one Army Officer
admits killing an 'Arab' terrorist outside the guesthouse. (Mr.
Maxwell was an African American). Irrespective of whether he was
mistaken for one of the attackers, his killing was nothing short of
murder.
UN's Ban in wake, Nov. 2, 2009, Kai Eide in
background, disclosure not shown
The source continues, UN SG Ban has refused to allow the issue to be
raised with
the Afghan government for political reasons and wants the US
authorities to handle the 'problem.'"
While
the UN is
now belatedly saying they are investigating, the approach seems at
odds with the stated commitment to staff safety, and to truth. We
will continue to pursue this. Watch this site.
Update: while, after
the noon briefing, the UN Spokesperson's Office read out a statement
that the FBI is involved and nothing more will be said, the question
remains why false impressions were left -- and also, what was known
when, and what was done. Developing.
UN's
response to Inner City Press after the April 14 noon briefing:
From:
UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply <unspokesperson-donotreply@un.org>
Subject:
Your questions on Louis Maxwell
To:
Inner City Press
Date:
Wed, Apr 14, 2010
(further
response on Louis Maxwell)
The
United Nations has followed due process in investigating the death of
staff in Afghanistan last October by instituting a Board of Inquiry
after an initial fact-finding by staff in Kabul and New York. The
United Nations has been in contact with the responsible Afghan
authorities in the course of its inquiries. The Board will submit its
report in due course. Further actions by the United Nations will
depend on its findings. The specific circumstances in which Louis
Maxwell died are currently being investigated and it would be
premature to comment further at this stage.
The
United Nations is also cooperating with the Federal Bureau of
Investigation in its inquiries into the incident. The United Nations
has briefed the Maxwell family on the progress of its initial
inquiries and is determined to support the family.
, 
