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Let Zimbabwe's Cricket Players Travel, UN's Advisor
Lemke Says, UK Disagrees, Croatia Zim Role Questioned
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of
Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
UNITED NATIONS,
June 27 -- With Robert Mugabe
running his version of an election today in Zimbabwe, and in light of
the UK's
Gordon Brown vowing to work to block the Zimbabwean cricket team from
traveling
to play in the UK, Inner City Press asked the UN's new Special Advisor
on Sports
and Development and Peace, Willi Lemke, for his view on Brown's
athletic travel
ban plans. "I disagree with the position of the UK government," Lemke
replied. "If they train hard, then politicians say" they cannot
travel, "it is very hard to understand for the people that trained."
Video here,
from Minute 14:20.
Inner City Press asked
the UK's Ambassador to the UN John Sawers about Lemke's comments. "He
doesn't understand the relation between the Zimbabwean government and
the Zimbabwe Cricket Union," Ambassador Sawers said.
Lemke was
pressed to answer if he is asking to visit Tibet. He replied that yes
he would
like to visit, to look into sports issues, such as if there are
physical
education classes in the schools. That there may be more pressing
issues in
Tibet did not come up. "I don't want to get into trouble," Lemke had
answered Inner City Press. When a reporter tried to ask what the
"Peace" in his title means, the question was cut off. Afterwards,
Lemke confirmed to Inner City Pres that he remains on the advisor board
of the Werder Bremen football club. Might this raise a conflict of
interest?
Lemke, in red tie: from the playgrounds of
Tibet to cricket field of Harare, ever the sportsman
Inner City
Press asked Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson if Mr. Ban agrees with the
position of
his Special Adviser. The Spokesperson said it is not possible to
comment on
every statement by his Special Advisors. When Inner City Press noted
that
Zimbabwe was a topic in the news -- in fact, the spokesperson had
actively
solicited someone to ask Ban "the Zimbabwe question" at the previous
day's stakeout interview -- the response was that Ban has full
confidence in
his advisor. The inference seems inescapable that Ban, then, also
"disagrees
with the position of the UK government."
News analysis: so
China was mad at Ban for saying
publicly he will not go the Olympics, Russia remains mad at his
position on
Kosovo, and now his Special Advisor disses the UK for its stance on
Zimbabwe,
at least as to cricket. Just another week at the UN...
Footnote: as the
Security Council met to consider a
draft statement on Zimbabwe, South African Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo
scoffed,
about the country introducing the draft, they're using Croatia to do
it. Some
of these guys couldn't even find Zimbabwe on the map.
Just as Costa Rica shot back at Sudan's
Ambassador calling it a banana republic, a geographical retort from
Croatia
would seem to be in the cards.
Friday at 6 p.m. U.S.
Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, as president of the Council, read notes to
the press that all members reaffirmed their June 23 position, regreted
that the election had gone forward, and would meet again "in the coming
says." When asked if that meant the weekend, UK Ambassador Sawers said
probably not. Asked if it meant after the African Union meeting, Monday
in Egypt, Amb. Sawers said that would be a good guess. 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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[at] innercitypress.com
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Other,
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