As de
Mistura Starts
Syria Talks,
Tales of
Cronies, to
the Top,
UNdisclosed
By Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS, May 4
-- When UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
envoy on Syria
Staffan de
Mistura came
to the UN
Security
Council
stakeout back
on April 24,
Inner City
Press asked
him about
criticism of
how he has run
his office to
date. De
Mistura
declined to
respond.
Previously,
Inner City
Press reported
on how de
Mistura
ingratiated
himself to Ban
Ki-moon by
hiring and
promoting
Ban's son in
law Siddharth
Chatterjee
while serving
as envoy in
Iraq. (Some of
that report
was censored,
but not on
Inner City
Press.) This
led to push-back
from the UN,
which continues
to this
day -
something that
the new Free
UN Coalition
for Access
opposes.
Last week the
UN said of de
Mistura's
upcoming five
to six weeks
of talks on
Syria in
Geneva that
there will be
no interviews
or stakeouts,
nor even any
photo-sprays,
during all
that time.
FUNCA opposes
this
closing-down
of the UN as
well.
A picture has
emerged of de
Mistura's
running of the
UN's Syria
office, in
which
"cronies" from
his time in
Iraq and after
that
Afghanistan
have been
favored in
jobs, with
very little to
show for it.
De Mistura's
functional
political
affairs chief,
for example,
has been
Elpida Rouka,
who was de
Mistura's "Special
Assistant"
in Iraq.
Her i-Phone
composed
political
memos have
been
exclusively
mocked to
Inner City
Press by close
associates of
de Mistura,
but de Mistura
declared her
the only
authorized
channel of
"substantive"
information to
UN
Headquarters
in New York.
At
a key moment
in de
Mistura's
doomed push
for a "freeze"
in Aleppo,
Inner City
Presss is
exclusively
informed that
de Mistura
went with,
over ceasefire
expert Julian
Hottinger, one
Matt Waldman,
listed as an
adviser not
only of de
Mistura on
Syria but also
of the
European
Institute for
Peace, which
as Inner City
Press has
reported de
Mistura remains
president of
the Board of
Governors.
(Back
in September
2014, Inner
City Press
asked the UN
Office of the
Spokesperson,
"please
confirm or
deny that Mr.
de Mistura
will be
(allowed to
be) based in
Brussels, and
separately
state his
contract
status: When
Actually
Employed? Paid
at USG level?
Is he being
allowed to
continue
working with /
for any non-UN
organization,
if so which,
and what
review of
possible
conflicts of
interest was
made, and by
whom?")
One might
think that the
UN's Syria
envoy position
is or should
be a full time
job, without
outside second
positions like
continuing as
president of
the board of a
group like the
European
Institute for
Peace. But
this is the
UN, where the
special
representative
on
Cyprus
Alexander
Downer was
allowed to
work full time
at an
investment
bank or
consultancy
Bespoke
Approach,
Tony Blair
as Middle East
Quartet
representative
and
businessman,
and now a
similar
UNdisclosed
arrangement in
Yemen.
(Inner
City Press has
four
times asked
simple public
financial
disclosure
questions
about Ban's
new Yemen
envoy Ismael
Ould Cheikh
Ahmed, without
answer.)
Now coming in
as de
Mistura's
political
officer Inner
City Press is
informed is
Stephanie
Koury, who in
Iraq headed
the UN's
Kirkuk office,
as well as a
stint in
another of the
UN's failed
(or
turned-over)
mediation
missions.
We'll see.
All of the
above said, de
Mistura is a
pleasant man;
while in
Afghanistan he
pledged
to get to the
bottom of the
murder of UN
staffer Louis
Maxwell
there although
he never did
(nor did
others in
today's
UN). But
Inner City
Press - and
FUNCA - are
committed to a
closely-covered
and open UN,
and the trend,
from the top
down, is in
quite the
opposite
direction.
Here was the
UN's "Note to
Correspondents"
-
The
Geneva
Consultations
on Syria will
begin next
week Monday, 4
May, at the
Palais des
Nations and
last for an
initial period
of five to six
weeks.
The Special
Envoy of the
Secretary-General
Staffan de
Mistura has
invited as
many of the
parties as
possible,
primarily the
Syrian parties
(government,
opposition and
civil
society), as
well as the
regional and
international
stakeholders,
to discuss
with the
Special Envoy,
the dire
situation in
Syria today
and to provide
their candid
views on where
we stand
vis-a-vis
implementation
of the Geneva
Communiqué
almost three
years since it
was adopted.
The Special
Envoy and the
Deputy Special
Envoy, Ramzy
Ezzeldine
Ramzy, will
conduct closed
and separate
consultations
with each
party.
There will be
no photo
opportunities,
no stakeouts,
and no
interviews
while the
consultations
are being
conducted at
the Palais.
However,
periodic photo
and video
feeds will be
provided by UN
Photo and UN
Television.
The UNOG
Spokesman and
Director,
a.i., of the
UN Information
Service in
Geneva, and
the Office of
the Special
Envoy's Public
Information
Officer, will
provide
periodic
updates to the
Geneva Press
Corps and
others, as and
when
appropriate
and necessary.
No major
public
announcements
are expected
during, or at
the conclusion
of, these
Consultations.
The Special
Envoy will
assess the
progress of
his
stock-taking
at the end of
the process
and report to
the
Secretary-General
with his
findings and
recommendations.
Thank you for
understanding.
Thank you
indeed.
, 
