UN
Unaware of
Saleh Siege in
Yemen, No Arab
League in
Syria,
Stonewalls
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 14 --
Perhaps the UN
or its
Spokesperson's
Office go
to sleep in
August.
On Tuesday
Inner City
Press asked
about an
attack
on the Defense
Ministry in
Yemen by
supporters of
dictator Ali
Saleh.
The Deputy
Spokesman
replied, "I
see nothing
about that,
we’ll
have to look
into it and
get back to
you on it."
But
five hours
later, there
was nothing.
Nor had
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
Spokesperson's
Office
responded to
question
referred back
to them by the
President of
the General
Assembly's
office about
Inner
City Press' exclusive on
Yemen's UN
dues check
bouncing.
Ah, the Arab
Spring.
Where
this Spring
stalled out,
Syria, was the
subject of
another
unanswered
question.
Inner City
Press asked:
Inner
City Press:
there’s some
discussion
that, as was
true under
Kofi
Annan, Syria
will only
recognize
whomever the
person is,
whether Mr.
Brahimi or
some other
individual, as
the UN’s
special
representative,
not as the
Arab League’s
representative,
and
I wanted to
know, is that
acceptable?
And they’ve
said that
publicly, that
they see this
role as UN,
not Arab
League –--is
that
acceptable to
the
Secretary-General?
Deputy
Spokesperson
Eduardo Del
Buey: Well, to
the best of my
knowledge,
the
Secretary-General
is in close
consultations
with the
League of
Arab States’
Secretary-General,
and it will be
a joint
decision.
Inner
City Press: On
whom to
appoint. But
I’m saying, if
Syria says
openly that
they’re only
accepting him
as a UN
person…
Deputy
Spokesperson:
Well, I
haven’t seen
that report,
Matthew.
Well,
here
it is, at
least to see.
Five hours
later,
nothing; no
announcement
of Brahimi as
some said
Annan's
spokesman
Ahmad Fawzi
had confirmed,
nothing.
And
so Tuesday's
noon briefing
ended with two
more
unanswered
questions:
Inner
City Press:
the UN’s own
staff in South
Sudan is
protesting in
10
different
states, saying
that they
would like to
be paid, not
necessarily
the same rate
but in the
same currency
as
international
staff are…And
they seem –
it’s a
peaceful
protest, but
it’s a
pretty
extensive one.
I’m wondering
what the UN’s
response is to
it?
Deputy
Spokesperson:
Well, I’ll
have to look
into that,
Matthew. We’ll
have to check
and see what
the
regulations
are and we’ll
have to
see what the
policy is. I
don’t have any
information on
that. OK,
last question?
Correspondent:
No,
I don’t have
any other
thing. Thanks.
Deputy
Spokesperson:
Ah, OK. OK,
last question,
Matthew.
Inner
City Press: I
just wanted to
make clear what I was
asking you
about
in terms of
Côte
d’Ivoire. You
sent me a
response
yesterday; I
was glad to
get it, but it
was about the
wrong report.
There was an
incident about
three weeks
ago -
Deputy
Spokesperson:
No, no – I
know which one
you mean. That
report has
not been
finalized.
It’s in the
process of
being worked
on, and as
I said, or as
I’m saying
now, once we
have something
to share,
we’ll share
it.
Inner
City Press:
Because Mr.
[Bert]
Koenders,
right after
the event took
place, has
said, “that we
reject all the
allegations,
we did the
right thing”.
And I’m just
wondering: is
that statement
somehow
on hold,
pending the
report?
Deputy
Spokesperson:
We’re not
going to
prejudge what
the report
says;
let’s see what
the report
says and then
we’ll see what
we comment
on that. OK?
Not
really. But
hey - it's mid
August.
Footnote:
perhaps
these
questions will
be answered on
August 15, on
the August
day's delay,
as was Inner
City Press' Monday
story and
question
about
Ibrahim
Gambari being
replaced in
Darfur.
Del Buey
confirmed it
Tuesday at
noon, and
later Gambari
himself
returned an
e-mail. Watch
this site.
, 
