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By Matthew Russell Lee, CJR Letter PFT Q&A

UNITED NATIONS GATE, February 4 – A week after Inner City Press on Libya in 2018 asked the UN about General Haftar's moves on Derna, it was reported there that the "UN" envoy named by Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Ghassan Salame, refused to meet with people in Derna because Egypt, the UAE and France did not want him too. The UN never responded two questions on this or much else, preferring instead to try to extend UNSG Antonio Guterres' ban on Inner City Press even outside the UN, moving to bar the Press from an October 31 speech by Guterres at a religious institution and from "his" December 10 UN Human Right event. Guterres on December 16 in Doha amazingly called Libya a success for the UN, or just for him, here. Now on February 4 Inner City Press prior to the UN noon briefing it was banned from for the 215th day asked in writing question to Guterres, his rarely present deputy Amina J. Mohammed, Global Censor Alison Smale and lead Spokesman Stephane Dujarric, "February 4-3: On Libya, what is the SG's knowledge of and comment and action on allegations that his envoy Salame is declining to send UN to check on Derna and impending killings there?" Hours later, nothing, no answer at all, as Dujarric in his briefing joked about his "fat fingers on [his] iPhone." Here is what Inner City Press' sources in Libya tell it, that those whom Salame is blocking are from the UN system but said not to mention their names due to the pervasive retaliation under Guterres, "Salame is the one resisting to send them to Derna. Haftar’s LNA militias promised 3 days ago, 48 hours to ‘liberate’ the Old City. This is the same time frame which was given to Ganfouda, in Benghazi.  They’ve been in Benghazi for nearly 2 weeks. They were supposed to head to Derna today but that didn’t happen. Salame seems to be on the side of those who are most likely to win/ take control of the country, and in this case, the #LNA. As someone working for the UN, he should be working to serve the civilians and Libyan people. Not any side in particular." But this is today's corrupt UN of Guterres.  Inner City Press' many UN sources tell it Salame was largely selected / placed in the position by France; Egypt backs Haftar. The UAE bought the UN's previous envoy Bernardino Leon; Inner City Press is informed that Salame has been on the board of the UAE Diplomatic Academy. This is today's UN. And this: Guterres' UN Security forcibly ousted Inner City Press from the UN on June 22 and July 3, and Guterres has banned Inner City Press from the UN since July 5. Fox News July 5 story here, GAP blogs I and II. CJR, August 11. Guterres made it a lifetime ban on August 17; his UN has claimed the US Mission supports the ban.  On September 12, the US State Department said, "Today, the United States, in coordination with the UN Security Council’s Libya Sanctions Committee, imposed financial sanctions on Libyan militia leader Ibrahim Jadhran.  In accordance with today’s UN listing, which was proposed by Libya’s Permanent Mission to the UN, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has designated Jadhran pursuant to Executive Order 13726.  Consequently, all of Jadhran’s assets within U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with him.  In addition, the corresponding UN sanctions require all UN Member States to impose an asset freeze and travel ban. In June 2018, forces led by Jadhran violently attacked and seized control of the Libyan oil ports Ras Lanuf and Al Sidra.  This created an economic and political crisis that cost Libya more than $1.4 billion in revenue and set back efforts to promote political progress and stability in Libya." So close to and with the UN, whose spokes- and hatchetman Stephane Dujarric on the evening of September 6 issued for the Security Council a Press Statement praising Salame: "The members of the Security Council welcomed the briefing from the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Ghassan Salamé, on 5 September 2018. The members of the Security Council condemned the recent violence in Tripoli and called on all parties to exercise restraint, protect civilians and engage seriously in national reconciliation. They reiterated that there can be no military solution in Libya.  The members of the Security Council called for those who undermine Libya’s peace and security to be held to account. The members of the Security Council welcomed the result of the mediation reached on 4 September by the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), which aims to de-escalate violence in and around Tripoli and to ensure the protection of civilians.  They reiterated their strong support for the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Ghassan Salamé, as he works to realise an immediate and durable cessation of hostilities in the Libyan capital, which is a critical step to advancing the political process in accordance with the United Nations Action Plan." On September 4 new UN Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet issued this: "Since the outbreak of violence in the Libyan capital Tripoli on 26 August, at least 21 civilians have been killed, including two women and two children, with a further 16 people injured. The parties to the conflict have been firing indiscriminately and using weapons with wide-area effects -- including rockets, tank shells and artillery -- in densely populated residential areas. We call on all parties to put an end to indiscriminate attacks and to take all feasible precautions to spare civilians and civilian objects.
We are also concerned about the impact of the conflict on groups in vulnerable situations, including migrants and internally displaced people. Some of the nearly 8,000 arbitrarily detained migrants are trapped in detention centers in areas where fighting has been taking place, without access to food or medical treatment.
Others have been released, but have not been able to access safety and essential services. Some of the migrants released from official detention centers are reported to have subsequently been taken into captivity by armed groups and are being forced to work for them.
On 2 September, at least two displaced Tawerghan men died and five women were injured when the al-Fallah IDP camp was shelled.Hundreds of families have been displaced in recent fighting, with some sheltering in schools. Others are believed to remain trapped in areas of active hostilities without electricity, water and food. We are also concerned by reports of pillage and looting.
According to information received by UNSMIL, humanitarian aid workers were shot at on Saturday, 1 September, while seeking to evacuate civilians trapped in an area near Khilat al-Firjan. The al-Kaniyat armed group is also alleged to have confiscated three ambulances from the Ambulance and Emergency Services.
We call on all parties to the conflict to facilitate immediate, unimpeded and safe access of humanitarian aid and aid-workers to civilians in need. We urge the warring parties to respect and protect personnel engaged in humanitarian relief, and to cease all attacks on medical transport and units, as well as to facilitate the safe and voluntary movement of civilians wishing to leave areas of active hostilities."  What and how will Bachelet do on this file, and on the UN's own censorship. We'll see - two requests have been made to her and her team, on both human rights including in Cameroon and relatedly on UN censorship.This while Dujarric has refused  days in a row to answer Inner City Press' simple emailed question about Salame and Libya, despite USG Alison Smale's false pledge that such written questions would be answered. Today's UN is corrupt.... July 24 from MSF: "Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) calls for an end to the arbitrary detention of refugees, asylum-seekers, and migrants in Libya. Conditions in already overcrowded detention centers are getting even worse after a dramatic increase in the number of people intercepted in the Mediterranean and disembarked in Libya by the Libyan Coast Guard, which is supported by the European Union. At least 11,800 people have been returned to Libya from unseaworthy boats in the Mediterranean so far this year according to UN organizations, with interceptions in international waters between Italy, Malta, and Libya taking place on an almost daily basis. Upon disembarkation, people are transferred to unregulated detention centers along the Libyan coast, where many are held in inhumane conditions. 'People who have just suffered a traumatic life or death situation at sea should not be transferred to a system of arbitrary detention that is harmful and exploitative,' said Karline Kleijer, MSF's emergency program manager." And what is Salame, and what are his sponsors, doing about it? We'll have more on this. On June 18, Inner City Press asked UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric, UN transcript here: Inner City Press: In Libya, there's a lot of fighting in the Oil Crescent, and it seems that some large oil facilities are on fire in Ra's Lanuf.  So, I'm wondering, given Mr. [Ghassan] Salamé… seems like it's both an environmental as well as a political… pretty much of a crisis.  What's the UN system doing about these burning oil tanks…?

Spokesman:  "I did not get an update from Libya today." Oh - is that all the UN spokesman's job is, beyond evicting and restricting the Press that asks? The next days, nothing from Dujarric except more cutting off of questions by calling on favored scribes, and from the UN an ouster of Inner City Press, video here, story here. Now this on June 27 - not from the UN which has an envoy, but from the US, UK, Italy and France: "The governments of France, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States are deeply concerned about the announcement that the Ras Lanuf and Sidra oil fields and facilities will be transferred to the control of an entity other than the legitimate National Oil Corporation.  Libya’s oil facilities, production, and revenues belong to the Libyan people.  These vital Libyan resources must remain under the exclusive control of the legitimate National Oil Corporation and the sole oversight of the Government of National Accord (GNA), as outlined in UN Security Council Resolutions 2259 (2015), 2278 (2016), and 2362 (2017).  UN Security Council Resolution 2362 (2017) condemns attempts to illicitly export petroleum, including crude oil and refined petroleum products, from Libya by parallel institutions which are not acting under the authority of the GNA. Any attempts to circumvent the UN Security Council’s Libya sanctions regime will cause deep harm to Libya’s economy, exacerbate its humanitarian crisis, and undermine its broader stability.  The international community will hold those who undermine Libya’s peace, security, and stability to account.  We call for all armed actors to cease hostilities and withdraw immediately from oil installations without conditions before further damage occurs.  In September 2016, the LNA supported the legitimate National Oil Corporation’s work to rebuild Libya’s oil sector for the benefit of the Libyan people.  This action served Libya’s national interest.  The legitimate National Oil Corporation must be allowed again to take up unhindered work on behalf of the Libyan people, to repair infrastructure damaged after the attack by forces under the direction of Ibrahim Jadhran, and to restore the oil exports and production disrupted by that attack." Only after the above did UNSG Guterres belatedly speak, through his (censoring) spokesman Dujarric: "The Secretary-General is concerned about the latest developments in Libya's  "Oil Crescent" region.  He calls for de-escalation and for the return of all natural resources, their production and their revenues to the control of the recognised Libyan authorities. The Secretary-General recalls, as stipulated in Security Council resolution 2259 (2015), the need for unity of Libyan institutions and the exclusive right of the National Oil Corporation to export the country's oil. The Secretary-General reiterates his support to the efforts of his Special Representative, Mr. Ghassan Salamé, towards an inclusive political process among all Libyans through the implementation of the UN Action Plan." On May 29, Inner City Press asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric, UN transcript here: Inner City Press: on Libya, I mean, I see a picture of Mr. Salamé there behind Mr. Macron, so just I wanted to know in what context did the UN participate in the announcement made in France and also was Mr. Salamé at this SRSG [Special Representative of the Secretary-General] meeting in Mont Pèlerin.  Which… did all SRSGs…?

Spokesman:  Yes.  As far as I know I think all SRSGs were there.  Mr. Salamé was there to represent the UN.  As I said, I would have expected to have something to share with you, but I don't as of yet." Later they issued a canned statement including "The Secretary-General welcomes the Political Declaration on Libya adopted in Paris today by four major Libyan actors convened under the auspices of the United Nations and hosted by President Emmanuel Macron... The United Nations, led by Special Representative Salamé, will continue to implement the United Nations Action Plan, as supported by the Declaration adopted today." His master's voice.  It was not worth asking the UN Spokesman in writing - he does not respond, evicted and restricts Inner City Press and bans it then its Periscope from Antonio Guterres UNTV filmed events. Inner City Press then in person asked Guterres' lead spokesman Stephane Dujarric, who said he'd inquire and revert, but never did, as is his practices. On May 25 when Guterres' deputy Farhan Haq limited Inner City Press to only two questions, Inner City Press used one of them this way, UN transcript: Inner City Press: I had asked Stéphane [Dujarric] about whether the  the UN's envoy on Libya, Ghassan Salamé,  as has been reported there, declined to speak with civilians in Derna, and I had wanted to ask you.  It wasn't much in his briefing to the Security Council, and people there say that, in fact, the hospital has no more oxygen because of the siege laid.  So what is the UN's position on General [Khalifa] Haftar's siege?  And number two, I've gone back and looked and it seems that Mr. Salamé, at least as of 2016, was on the advisory board of the UAE's [United Arab Emirates] Diplomatic Academy, where now Bernardino León, the former envoy, has a position, and I wanted to know.  There's nothing since then and there's no Ghassan Salamé financial disclosure online, at least, to disclose his outside activities.  Is he still affiliated with the UAE Diplomatic Academy, given that the UAE is supportive of General Haftar?  And number two, was this some kind of a problem, his affiliation with the UAE, given their influence in Libya, and position in Libya, positions on Libya?

Deputy Spokesman:  Well, first of all, regarding what you said about Mr. Salamé and this report that he did not… that he refused to talk to Derna representatives, we've checked with the Mission.  That report is false.  Mr. Salamé and the Mission have been in touch with several people and entities from Derna and they are ready to speak to all Libyans.  Regarding…

Inner City Press:  Can you say which entities because the groups went on the record saying he wouldn't speak to them.  Can you say which groups those are?

Deputy Spokesman:  This is the information I have.  And… but he has been in touch, and he continues to be open and available to talk to all the various parties, including in Derna.  There's… we do not believe that there's any problems with any conflicts regarding Mr. Salamé.  He was vetted during the course of his recruitment.

Inner City Press:  Did he stop his position as being on the advisory board of the UAE Diplomatic Academy when he began working for the UN?

Deputy Spokesman:  I'm… as far as I'm aware, there are no conflicts regarding his roles.  Hold on." Yeah, hold on. Back on April 19 with questions abounding in Libya about where General Haftar was and about his health and mental state, Inner City Press asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric, UN transcript here: Inner City Press: there's a lack of clarity of the health and whereabouts of General [Khalifa] Haftar in Libya. He sort of disappeared.  Some diplomats have said he's had a serious heart attack and may not function.  So, I'm wondering, since the UN does have an envoy, Ghassan Salamé, is he aware where General Haftar is?  When's the last time he spoke to him?

Spokesman:  "Mr. Salamé spoke to… hold on a second.  I know he spoke to… I think last week he spoke to General Haftar.  I'll have to get you the exact date.  And, as for the whereabouts, I mean, I think that's up for those… those… Mr. Haftar and his people to talk about....Mr. Salamé spoke to General Haftar last Friday." And since?

   With Libya on the UN Security Council's agenda on March 21, Inner City Press asked UK Ambassador Jonathan Allen about continued reports of slavery there. From the UK transcript: Inner City Press: On the issue of human trafficking and even slavery, migrants: BBC had another story today about people who had been imprisoned for months and who had been sold. Is the UN doing anything? Is the UN doing enough? What should be done about that?

We obviously have passed the resolution in the Security Council I think last November which was really clear about the expectations the Council has, and that I know a number of countries are working with Libya but also other countries in Africa, including European Union projects, including through bilateral means, to try and resolve some of the problems that we’re seeing because there is a huge problem that needs to be fixed and ultimately it will be fixed when Libya is able to have political institutions that work and is able to come together as a country, which is what we’re talking about this morning, of course." We'll see. At the end of the open meeting on Libya, Russia's Ambassador Nebenzia distributed a video about.. Eastern Ghouta. Inner City Press Periscope here. When the Libya sanctions committee of the UN Security Council met on February 9 in the UN basement, only one media was covering it: Inner City Press.And now by Guterres it has been banned from the UN since 3 July 2018...

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