Ban
Sets Syria
Task Force
Under Former
Saleh
Minister: UN
Democracy Now?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
February 2 --
As the UN
Security
Council
battles on
Syria
whether to
"fully
support" or
merely "take
into
consideration"
the Arab
League plan,
UN Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon is
setting up a
UN system Task
Force on
Syria, meeting
today,
Inner City
Press has
learned.
But,
of concern to
democracy
advocates, Ban
has selected
as the chair
of his Syria
task
force a person
who served as
a minister and
ambassador for
Ali Saleh,
Yemen's
dictator: Amat
Al Alim
Alsoswa.
What
is Ban
saying, these
whistleblowing
critics asked
Inner City
Press, by put
in charge of
the UN's
response to
Syria a person
who served
another
dictatorship
and, they say,
has even now
been lobbying
for the UN to
not be
involved in or
monitor the
promised
democratization
in Yemen?
(c) UN Photo
Ban
& Assad:
Saleh
ex-minister Amat
Al Alim
Alsoswa not
shown
Serving
as Amat Al
Alim Alsoswa's
deputy, the
sources say,
will be Oscar
Fernandez
Tarranco, now
with the UN
Department of
Political
Affairs but
previously
working with
Amat Al Alim
Alsoswa at the
UN Development
Program.
On
the same day,
Yemenis and
others
scheduled a
protest
against
Saleh's
immunity in
front of the
Ritz Carlton
-- and,
incongruously,
Lebanon's
Mission
tweeted a
photo of the
protest, here.
"Retweets
are not an
endorsement,
indeed," one
wag said. But
this wasn't a
re-tweet: it
was
reporting.
Watch this
site.
Footnote:
At
Thursday's UN
noon briefing,
Ban's
spokesman
Martin Nesirky
began at 12:10
and then ended
abruptly at
12:25, leaving
even question
that were
in-queue not
responded
to. Even
those that
were allowed
to be asked
were not
answered,
including a
request for an
answer
promised 10
days ago; not
even an
explanation
for the lack
of
follow-through
has been
provided. We
aim to have
more on this.
, 
