After
PA's Fayyad Blocked, UN Claims US Greenlighted, Sweden
Sounds Off
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS,
February 11 – The US blocked
UN Secretary General Antonio
Guterres' nomination of the
Palestinian Authority's Salam
Fayyad to be UN envoy to
Libya.
Now as
Guterres' holdover spokesman Stephane
Dujarric selectively spins
that Guterres had somehow
received a "green light" from
the US - like when Ban Ki-moon
invited Iran to the Syria talks
in Montreux, then disinvited
them on Monday. These holdovers
lack credibility.
Sweden's
Ambassador Olov Skoog has come
out with this: "We support the
SG s choice for new SRSG Libya
and fully trust his judgment on
his appointments. It is the SG's
prerogative to independently
select and appoint his
representatives. We believe that
Mr Fayyad has the relevant
experience and would be an
excellent SRSG for the very
important work relating to
Libya."
Inner City
Press on-camera
asked the UN about the
nomination earlier on February
10, noting that its sources told
it the nomination was really by
Jeffrey Feltman, the Obama administration's
appointee to head the UN
Department of Political Affairs.
Can Feltman stay on, given the
new Administration in Washington?
While
Antonio Guterres' deputy
spokesman dodged Inner City
Press' question at noon on
February 10, and his lead
holdover spokesman Stephane
Dujarric waited more than 10
hours to respond to Inner City
Press' question tweeted at him
that evening, an arch and in
context laughable response was
mass-emailed 11 hours later.
Dujarric wrote:
"In answer to
questions asked regarding the
proposal of Salam Fayyad to
serve as Special Representative
of the Secretary-General in
Libya, the Spokesman had the
following to say:
The proposal for Salam Fayyad to
serve as the Secretary-General’s
Special Representative in Libya
was solely based on Mr. Fayyad’s
recognized personal qualities
and his competence for that
position.
United Nations
staff serve strictly in their
personal capacity. They do not
represent any government or
country.
The
Secretary-General reiterates his
pledge to recruit qualified
individuals, respecting regional
diversity, and notes that, among
others no Israeli and no
Palestinian have served in a
post of high responsibility at
the United Nations. This is a
situation that the
Secretary-General feels should
be corrected, always based on
personal merit and competencies
of potential candidates for
specific posts."
It sounds
reasonable - but why then for
example is Guterres restricting
his "search" for a head of UN
Peacekeeping to a single country,
France? As Inner City Press has
exclusively reported,
the three candidates are all
French: Jean Maurice Ripert (who
previously stood up the UN in
Pakistan), Jean Pierre Lacroix
and probably winner Sylvie
Bermann. There are other
examples - watch this site.
Some cynics
wonder if this wasn't done as
theater, just before Guterres' 12-day
trip to Turkey, Saudi
Arabia, Qatar and the UAE, where
the UN's previous Libya sell-out
Bernardino Leon is getting paid.
Meritocracy, indeed.
Many
including those given offices by
the UN professed surprise at Haley's
statement, even misunderstood it
as mere regret and not blocking.
But neither did they cover the
long failure of the UN in Libya.
Ban Ki-moon appointed then
undercut Tarek Mitri.
Ban was
pushed to appoint Bernardino
Leon of Spain, same as he
appointed and used that
country's Cristina Gallach to
evict the Press which asked of
their corruption. Then Leon sold
out to the UAE, and Martin
Kobler was put in.
Now
Guterres, replacing Ban but
leaving too many of Ban's officials
in place, from spokesman Dujarric
to DPA's Feltman, bumbled again
on Libya. The UN has lost
credibility. It should focus and
start over - as well as reversing
censorship. Watch this site.
After Nikki
Haley's announcement, Israeli
Ambassador Danny Danon issues a
statement "on the announcement
by Ambassador Haley of the US
move to block the appointment of
former Palestinian Authority
Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad as
the Secretary General's Special
Envoy to Libya: 'This is the
beginning of a new era at the UN.'"
So did
Antonio Guterres err in
nominating the PA's Fayyed on
February 8, then heading out on
a 12-day trip just as the US
expressed disappointment and
blocked the nomination? Inner
City Press has asked
Guterres' Office of the
Spokesperson, and Stephane
Dujarric personally, for a
comment. None yet received.
Nikky Haley, US Permanent
Representative to the UN, issued
a statement on the evening of
February 10 that “The United
States was disappointed to see
a letter indicating the
intention to appoint the
former Palestinian Authority
Prime Minister to lead the UN
Mission in Libya. For too long
the UN has been unfairly
biased in favor of the
Palestinian Authority to the
detriment of our allies in
Israel. The United States does
not currently recognize a
Palestinian state or support
the signal this appointment
would send within the United
Nations, however, we encourage
the two sides to come together
directly on a solution. Going
forward the United States will
act, not just talk, in support
of our allies.”
That the UN would
be naming a successor as its Libya
envoy to Martin Kobler of
Germany was reported
by Inner City Press in
December along with the name
of one of the candidates, the
UK's Nick Kay.
Later,
after Antonio Guterres took
office at Secretary General, a
Permanent Member of the
Security Council confirmed to
Inner City Press the candidacy
of Kay adding that there was
"another strong candidate"
while declining to name that
candidate.
Guterres
has written to the Security
Council that "following the
usual consultations" he is
giving the post to longtime
Palestinian Authority politician
Salam Fayyad, some are asking
of just what these
consultations consisted.
Already
significant forces in Libya
are opposing the nomination;
others are linking it to
Jeffrey Feltman, the Obama
Administration's head of UN
Political Affairs who has
arranged to stay on until July
4 so that his UN pension
vests. How will this sit with
Washington?
On
February 10, Inner City Press
asked the UN spokesman, Transcript
here:
Inner City Press:
there's a silence
procedure. Right?
Because the letter dated 8
February is out, and it says
that António Guterres,
following the usual
consultations, is… is
proposing Salam Fayyad as the
new… I mean, people have seen
the letter. So I guess
what I'm wondering is, what
were these
consultations? Did he
speak to the US Mission?
Did he speak to people in
control in Benghazi? Can
you give some sense… I guess
there's already some
questioning of this, and I'm
wondering, what
consultations? Is it
only with the Security Council
or with others?
Deputy Spokesman:
There's a normal process of
consultations that occurs when
envoys are selected, and part
of that policy for envoys that
report to the Security Council
involves informing the
Security Council. That's
the only real detail I'd be
able to share at this stage.
The
president of the Security
Council, Ukraine, told Inner
City Press silence expires at
5 pm on February 10...
They note
that the Trump administration,
in its draft
Executive Order, proposes
cutting US funding to any UN
entity which allows the Palestinian
Authority as a member, and is
discussing cutting funding to
the PA. Was the US
Mission to the UN consulted?
Which Mission?
And what
of Nick Kay, formerly UN envoy
to Somalia, now back with the
US FCO? Does Kobler return
immediately to the German
foreign service, where he
still has a position as he
told Inner City Press when questioned
about his predecessor at
UNSMIL Bernardino Leon selling
out to the UAE diplomatic academy?
What Under Secretary General
post will Germany get in the
UN? Watch this site.
***
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