UNITED
NATIONS, June 28
-- While
UN Secretary
General Antonio
Guterres says
he is all
about conflict
prevention, when
Inner City
Press asked
his spokesman
Stephane Dujarric
on June 28
about a recent
letter
to Guterres
from the
President of
Somaliland that
makes serious
charges and
requests, the
only response
from Dujarric
is that
Guterres fully
backs
(outgoing)
envoy Michael
ichaettel
Keating.
Why? From the
UN transcript:
Inner City Press: I
wanted to ask
you also about
a letter that
was sent by
the President
of Somaliland
to the
Secretary-General
on 18 June,
complaining
about SRSG
[Special
Representative
of the
Secretary-General]
[Michael]
Keating,
calling him
biased and
raising a
number of
issues about
the conflicts
that have been
taking place
between
Somaliland and
its
neighbours.
Has he resp…
has… one, will
you confirm
getting the
letter?
And, two, has
he
responded…?
What does he
make of this?
Spokesman:
No, I’m not
aware of the
letter, but
the
Secretary-General
has full
confidence in
Mr. Keating
and the way he
goes about his
work." And by
the end of the
day, no
confirmation
of the letter
- but a
Dujarric note
to
correspondents
distancing the
UN from yet
another sexual
abuse scandal.
Back
on April 18 when
Ambassador
Karen Pierce
of the UK, the
UN Security Council's
"penholder" on
Somalia,
took questions
Inner City
Press asked
her about the
United Arab Emirates
suspending
support to the
Somali
military, and the
issue of the
UAE's port /
base in
Somaliland.
Video here.
Pierce said
she wasn't
aware of the
specifics but
that the UK
supports Somalia
and that she'd
met with the
UN's (British)
envoy to
Somalia,
Michael
Keating. Inner
City Press,
following up
on Pierce's
literary
back and forth
with her
Russian
counterpart
Vassily
Nebenzia, noted
that Keating
has a book
coming out.
And he does -
something that
Somalis and
even other UN
envoys have
raised to
Inner City
Press as
questionable,
given the
amount of work
a UN envoy to
Somalia should
be doing.
We'll have
more on all
this.
The
day after Somalia
in the UN
Security
Council complained
of Somaliland
engagement
with the
United Arab
Emirates,
Inner City
Press asked UN
Spokesman
Farhan Haq for
the UN's
position. He
said it is a bilateral
matter between
Somalia and...
the UAE. From
the UN
transcript:
Inner City
Press:
Yesterday, in
the Council,
Somalia made a
point of
saying that
they believe that an
agreement
between the
UAE and
Somaliland to
build a
military base
is illegal and
I wanted to
ask, since the
UN has this
Envoy, Mr.
Michael
Keating...
What's his
position?
It's
a pretty big
standoff
between a de
facto
autonomous
region
agreeing to a
military base
by another
country, the
UAE.
Some people
say this was
permitted
under an
agreement
[reached in
Turkey, which
Inner City
Press put online here].
Some say they
aren't.
What's the
UN's position
on the UAE
building a
military base
in Somaliland? Deputy
Spokesman:
Ultimately,
these are
discussions
that need to
be resolved
bilaterally
between the
Governments of
Somalia and
the United
Arab
Emirates." Hmm.
Note that
Inner City
Press has
also asked the
UN about the
UAE moving in
on Socotra
Island of
Yemen,
here. Back
in September
2016 after
in Somaliland
a petition was
announced,
with a million
signatures,
seeking
recognition of
independence,
Inner City
Press put the
question on
September 27
to UN
envoy Michael
Keating, video
here. He
said he's been
asked to get
more involved
- but what
does that
mean?
He told
Inner City
Press he is
unaware of the
tariff /
recognition
issue with
Kenya, and
that he has
not met with
the UN's new
Resident
Coordinator
for Kenya, Ban
Ki-moon's son
in law, during
the ten days
the latter has
been in New
York.
Keating
gave a useful
explanation of
the Somali
president
being in
caretaker
mode; it was
the foreign
minister who
spoke in the
General
Assembly
debate and
meets Ban
Ki-moon on
September 28.
Keating
impk
Earlier
on September
27 Inner City
Press asked UK
Deputy
Permanent
Representative
to the
UN of the UK,
Peter Wilson,
video
here.
Wilson
said
Somaliland is
"complex," but
that he
expected it to
be turned to
in the
Security
Council
consultations
later that
morning.
From
the UN
transcript:
Inner
City Press:
This is a
Somaliland
question –
I’ve asked
Ambassador
Rycroft before
– there is
this petition
of a million
people in
Somaliland who
try to say
that they
should be
recognized. It
any or may not
be realistic.
But what does
the UK
government
think of the
place of
Somaliland in
the greater
Somalia in the
process that
you’re dealing
with here?
Wilson: Well,
I think for
the process of
the elections
what we’re
most keen to
ensure is that
there’s as
much
participation
as possible.
The issue of
Somaliland is
a very complex
one, but it’s
one that I’m
expecting that
we will turn
to in
consultations.
, 
