By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, May
13 -- After
Syria envoy
Lakhdar
Brahimi
publicly
resigned at
the UN on May
13, UN
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric
selected who
could ask him
questions, with a
decided slant.
After Brahimi
left, Inner
City Press
asked at the
subsequent
noon briefing
if Brahimi
will return to
work for
Algeria,
specifically
as a
Bouteflika
deputy.
Dujarric said
that should
and could be
posed directly
at Brahimi at
his question
and answer
media stakeout
later in the
day. Video
here.
Inner
City Press
waited. But
when Brahimi
came to the
stakeout,
Dujarric's
deputy Farhan
Haq selected
essentially
the same
questioners as
Dujarric
picked for
Brahimi at
noon. What was
the point?
Beyond
propaganda?
In the
earlier
session, Inner
City Press,
which on
May 3 reported
that former
Tunisian
foreign
minister and
Ben Ali
associate
Kamel Morjane
was being
vetted to
replace
Brahimi, had
this and
another
question to
ask. Ban's
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric,
however, made
a selection of
questioners
which left
these out,
while
including the
so-called “Holy Seat”
of the
UN
Correspondents
Association,
become the UN's
Censorship
Alliance.
Brahimi
was
not asked
about his
future plans;
Ban was not
asked about
vetting
Morjane. After
the two left,
Dujarric
continued
taking
questions
along the same
line. When
called on,
Inner City
Press asked
about Morjane
and this: is
Brahimi
planning to
take a role in
Algeria once
his
resignation is
effective on
May 31?
Dujarric
said
that should be
asked to
Brahimi --
what a
surprise --
and then said
without
knowing it to
be true that
it could be
asked later in
the day to
Brahimi after
he briefs the
Security
Council. As he
should know
there are
deadlines:
including two
more questions
pending to be
written about
shortly.
On
this, what
sources tell
Inner City
Press concerns
Brahimi
working with
Bouteflika in
Algeria. Out
of respect for
Brahimi, Inner
City Press
didn't
reported it,
wanted to let
Brahimi
himself
address it on
camera at this
resignation
press
availability.
But no. Watch
this site.
Footnote:
the debate
seems to be
whether
Brahimi's
replacement
should "be an
Arab" -- if
so, North
Africa is seen
as the likely
but shallow
pool -- or,
say, Javier
Solana. We'll
have more on
this -- and on
Dujarric
contradicting
one of the
publications
he called on
for Ban and
Brahimi, that
the UN's
Martin
Griffith has
himself been
Banned from
Damascus....
, 
