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At UN, As Norway Speaks on Gaza, Roed-Larsen Evades
Financial Disclosure and GA Critique
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of
Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
UNITED NATIONS,
January 7 -- As the Security
Council met on Gaza, there was a strange Norwegian flavor to the
proceedings.
Norway spoke in Tuesday night's open meeting, and some in the press
wondered
why. Inner City Press asked a Norwegian mission representative, who
reminded
that her country chairs the "AHLC" donors' group. That, as it turns
out, stands for Ad-Hoc Liaison Committee, a body which while offering
direct
budget support to the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank cannot
deal
directly with Hamas. The AHLC and Norway have, however, protested
Israel's
virtual embargo on the entry of cash into the Gaza Strip.
The more
stealth Norwegian presence, however, was that of Terje
Roed-Larsen, titularly
the UN's envoy for the implementation of Resolution 1159 but clearly
aspiring
to more. Despite not having
proffered any public response despite requests to
the General Assembly's criticism of his performance with regard to
1559, and
while still refusing to
make even the minimal public financial disclosure
ostensibly urged by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Roed-Larsen
flitted about
Tuesday's Council proceeding.
He made a
point of being seen in whispered discussing with the Russian mission's
deputy,
and exiting the Council with Ban's senior political advisor. Might the
latter
be advising at least some minimal financial disclosure?
Roed-Larsen when he used to take questions,
financial disclosure not shown
Here's a reason why: sources tell Inner City
Press that Roed-Larsen takes some $400,000 a year from the
International Peace
Institute. What percentage of this funding comes from (Sunni) Gulf
states is
not known.
Through
another UN loophole, despite the rule prohibiting a UN official in his
position
from taking payments of subsidies from any government, Roed-Larsen is
said to
receive a housing subsidy from the Norwegian government, because his
wife is
the Deputy Permanent Representative at the mission. What safeguards are
in
place for any of this is entirely unclear. It is time to start
disclosing.
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