ICP
Asks Why No UNSG
Outreach to
Hamas, Citing
Qatar-Funded
Jet
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, July
30 -- On Gaza
when the UN's
Deputy
Secretary
General
Jan Eliasson
and John Ging
took questions
on July 30,
Inner City
Press asked
why Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon has
not directly
reached out to
Hamas,
particularly
since his flying
to Doha on a
Qatar-funded
private jet
would imply
such a meeting
could easily
be
arranged.
Eliasson
replied
that “we have
channels to
Egypt, which
is working
closely
with Israel,
but also close
contacts with
Turkey and
Qatar, which
have relations
with Hamas.
The SG has
worked
intensely with
these
actors. We
hope that the
combined
efforts from
Egypt and
Turkey and
Qatar -- and
the US which
has been
working very
hard, and
closing
with SG --
that these
attempts will
be
successful.”
Citing
the July 29
meeting of
Israel's
security
cabinet,
Eliasson said
he
personally
made sure
Israeli
Ambassador to
the UN Ron
Prosor “was
aware that the
SG's proposal
were on the
table... We
are in contact
with all the
other actors.
We don't feel
any need at
this stage to
be
in direct
contact with
Hamas.”
Inner
City Press
began a
follow-up
question, like
the UN
Spokesman
allowed
to many others
including the
set-aside
first
questioner,
but it was
disallowed.
There remain
numerous
unanswered
questions
about Ban
accepting
free private
jet travel
from member
states with
stakes in
the conflicts
being
mediated.
There's
more
to be said
about how the
questioning
was run,
including the
first question
set-aside and
failure
to hold a
regular briefing
to take for
example
questions on
Africa and
peacekeeping.
Both failures
and favoritism
are opposed by
the Free
UN Coalition
for Access
which spoke
quite audibly,
for the record
- and
transcript
when it
comes out,
watch this
site.
John
Ging said
that 249
children have
been killed so
far, 21% of
those
killed. He
said that this
time there
have been four
times more
people
displaced than
in previous
round(s). So
far. Watch
this site.
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