Inner City Press

Inner City Press -- Investigative Reporting From the Inner City to Wall Street to the United Nations

These reports are usually available through Google News and on Lexis-Nexis

Google
  Search innercitypress.com Search WWW (censored?)

In Other Media -e.g. Somalia, Nepal, Ghana, Azerbaijan, The Gambia  For further info, click here to contact us         .

Home -

These reports are usually available through Google News and on Lexis-Nexis

CONTRIBUTE

Subscribe to RSS feed

BloggingHeads.tv 3/7/08

Video (new)

BloggingHeads 2/08

On BloggingHeads.tv
Top 10 '07 UN Stories

Reuters AlertNet 8/17/07

Reuters AlertNet 7/14/07

 

BloggingHeads.tv 7/19/07

BloggingHeads.tv 6/29/07

BloggingHeads.tv 6/14/7

BloggingHeads.tv 6/1/7

Support this work by buying this book

Click on cover for secure site orders

also includes "Toxic Credit in the Global Inner City"
 

 

 


Community
Reinvestment

Bank Beat

Freedom of Information
 

How to Contact Us


At UN, Of Missing Staff and Letters, Venom in the Council Triggers Mistranslation Charge

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis

UNITED NATIONS, March 25 -- "There's been a mistake in translation," Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin on Tuesday told the Security Council, of which he serves as President this month. "The time limit on statements is five minutes, not fifteen or twenty."

            The UN's now-routine monthly briefing on the Middle East included back-and-forth between Israel and not only the Palestinian Permanent Observer and Syrian Ambassador, but also Cuba and Sudan. Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman denounced Libya for having blocked action after the killing of religious students in Jerusalem, referred to Sudan as the "monsters of Darfur," and questioned whether Cuba really speaks for the Non-Aligned Movement.  Yes, Cuba answered, it spoke for all of NAM's 118 members.

            Meanwhile, Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson maintained that the Group of 77's letter protesting Ban's proposed merger of the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa with Small Island Developing States and other mandates had still not been received. A G-77 member expressed wonder at what he called the breakdown in the UN's postal system. "It's that they don't want to answer the substance of the protest," he said. "So they say the letter's not been received." We'll see.

            Speaking of letters, Inner City Press asked the head of the UN's Alliance of Civilizations Jorge Sampaio, at a briefing about an upcoming event on tuberculosis, about the letter he wrote to Pakistan's Pervez Musharraf back in December, with condolences for the still unsolved murder of Benazir Bhutto. Did Sampaio check with the Secretariat or his board of advisors and friends before issuing the letter? No, he said. It was only a condolence. Video here, last question. And now the new Prime Minister of Pakistan is asking for a UN investigation of Bhutto's murder.


            Inner City Press asked the spokesperson's office Tuesday morning for a list of the 40 missing, arrested or detained staff members listed in the UN's press release. Twelve hours later, no such list was provided. This was the day of solidarity with missing staff, celebrated Monday by attendance at a film about Sergio de Mello, click here for that. The most recent Secretary-General's report lists 22 "staff members under arrest, detained or missing." So where are the other eighteen -- missing? There are other outstanding questions. Watch this site.

* * *

These reports are usually also available through Google News and on Lexis-Nexis.

Click here for a Reuters AlertNet piece by this correspondent about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click here for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali National Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an undefined trust fund.  Video Analysis here

Feedback: Editorial [at] innercitypress.com

UN Office: S-453A, UN, NY 10017 USA Tel: 212-963-1439

Reporter's mobile (and weekends): 718-716-3540

Google
  Search innercitypress.com  Search WWW (censored?)

Other, earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.

            Copyright 2006-08 Inner City Press, Inc. To request reprint or other permission, e-contact Editorial [at] innercitypress.com -