UNITED
NATIONS, May 3
-- Amid news
from the trial
of a British
businessman
for selling
fake bomb
detecting
equipment,
including
reportedly to
the UN in
Lebanon, Inner
City Press on
April 23 asked
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
deputy
spokesman
Eduardo Del
Buey if the UN
got
a refund:
Inner
City Press: a
British
businessman,
Jim McCormick,
has been found
guilty of
selling
various
parties false
bomb-detecting
equipment that
is essentially
just a golf
ball set and
they sold it,
he says, for
27,000 pounds,
including to
the UN for use
in Lebanon.
Now that this
is a final,
you know, the
Old Bailey,
what was that
procurement?
Is
the UN going
to recoup its
funds, was any
one put at
risk, what’s
the UN’s
response to
having a golf
ball detector
as a bomb
detection
equipment for
Lebanon?
Deputy
Spokesperson
Del Buey:
Matthew, I
don’t have
anything on
that
right now.
When we get
something, we
will let you
know.
Inner
City Press:
It’s in the --
Deputy
Spokesperson:
When we have
something
we’ll get back
to you.
But
for ten days,
the UN did NOT
get back to
Inner City
Press in any
way
about this.
Meanwhile,
evidence
emerged of
bribes having
been paid to
have the golf
ball detector
selected.
On
May 3, Inner
City Press tweeted
a reminded
about the case,
after it
emerged that
the fake bomb
detectors are
still in use
in Baghdad.
And
lo and behold,
after ten days
of not
responding to
Inner City
Press'
noon briefing
question, this
tweet
garnered a UN
response,
which we
immediate
publish in
full:
Subject:
Response
to your tweet
on UNIFIL
From: UN
Spokesperson -
Do Not
Reply [at]
un.org
Date: Fri, May
3, 2013 at
10:54 AM
To:
Matthew.Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
Regarding
your
tweet about
whether UNIFIL
purchased
defective
demining
equipment: We
can inform you
that the
United Nations
and UNIFIL did
not procure
the items
under that
particular
requisition
and the
procurement
was
discontinued.
The items were
not purchased.
But
were bribes
offered or
paid? Watch
this site.
Footnote:
While
we appreciate
the response,
how ever
belated, to
this morning's
tweet, we
wonder how the
UN deals with
the anonymous
troll tweets
of
wire service
reporters
affiliated
with the UN
Correspondents
Association.
These
have been brought
to the
attention of
Reuters
and of the UN
Department of
Public
Information,
which
continues to
partner with
UNCA, even
inviting UNCA
president
Pam "Queen of
the Trolls"
Falk to
its panel on
World Press
Freedom Day.
The
UNCA / Reuters
trolls
posts make
false
allegations
about funding
that have, in
past
UNCA
actions,
triggered
death threats.
So is the UN
so closely
monitoring the
tweets of its
favored
scribes? We'll
see.
, 
