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Blog of UN's Kovoso
Envoy Ruecker Invites Questions, But Financial Disclosures Not Made
Byline: Matthew Russell
Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: Web Analysis
UNITED NATIONS,
April 21 -- Jan Pronk, it turns out, was not the only blogging Special
Representative of the Secretary-General. Joachim Ruecker, who is said
to be
under review for promotion from the UN Mission in Kosovo to the Under
Secretary
General for Management post at UN Headquarters, if and when Alicia
Barcena
leaves, has a blog, or at least a private website. It's www.joachim-ruecker.de,
and it has pages not only in German but also in English and French -- always
an important pairing in seeking a high UN post. There are
pictures
of his family and a thumbnail bio,
with stints as mayor of Germany
city of Sindelfingen, home of the largest Mercedes plant, and perhaps
relatedly
as Germany's consul in Detroit.
In 1993 Ruecker was quoted as the
new mayor of Sindelfingen by the Toronto Star that in light of
cut-backs,
"we'll never be as well off as we were... it's hard to conceive how a
community can cope with such drastic setbacks."
Reucker's online presence, of the
type that got Jan Pronk thrown out of Sudan, is particularly surprising
in
light of his refusal of Ban Ki-moon's
urging to make at least basic public
financial disclosure. On Ban Ki-moon's website, Rucker's
form
states that "I choose not to disclose." Joachim, we
hardly knew ye...
Rueckers skiing, photo of public figure
already online and credited here
Ruecker's web site says, in English,
"if you want to ask me something, please do it here: ruecker@un.org."
So on the morning of April 21 he was sent a question: why did you
decline to
follow Ban Ki-moon's urging to make at least basic public financial
disclosure?
By 9 p.m. on Monday, he had not answered the question. On his way past
the
press in front of the Security Council Monday afternoon he was asked,
Are you resigning? He
answered, "Should I?" 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
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