|
UN Dodges on Kosovo and Myanmar Votes,
Pope Face-Time and Officials' Pay, Banner Day
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at
the UN: News Analysis
UNITED NATIONS,
April 13 -- This week
the UN dodged questions about two hotspots, Kosovo and Myanmar, and
refused to
provide the numeric basis of the Secretary-General's statement on April
8 that
some of his special envoys are paid less than their counterparts at
agencies
like the UN Development Program.
On
Kosovo, when Inner City Press asked on what basis the UN
Mission in
Kosovo said it could prevent Serbia from tallying the votes of Serbs in
Kosovo in
its May 11 election, rather than answer a referral was made to the UN
in
Pristina. But there they said the decision-making now comes from New
York.
Later in the week, with Ban Ki-moon in Moscow, the UNMIK position was
reportedly
rescinded.
On
Myanmar, when asked about an AFP
report
that the military government warned embassies in Rangoon not to speak
to the
opposition parties, the Deputy Spokesperson said she hadn't seen
the article.
Even after Inner City Press then emailed her the
article, there was no answer.
After Ban
Ki-moon gave a speech calling again for reform, Inner
City Press asked,
"In his
speech just now on management reform, the Secretary-General has said
that some
of his Special Representatives earn less and serve under less favorable
conditions than those in UN funds or programs.
Can we get more information on what he meant, in
terms of what Special
Representatives of the Secretary-General are paid and who in UNDP or
any
program he's comparing it to? Are all
Special Representatives of the Secretary-General paid the same amount?"
Spokesperson: We can get
that information for you from the
Management Office. I don't have it with
me now.
But
the answer was never given.
Ban Ki-moon and Lavrov in Moscow, Kosovo
answers not shown
Outside of the briefings, Inner City Press asked
around about a report
that some six representatives of Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army are
getting
visas to come to New York, for a Security Council meeting that,
after repeated
postponements, is now back on the schedule for late April. The LRA
leadership
has been indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court,
and the
LRA is on a U.S. terrorist watch-list, for targeting civilians. No one
would
comment on the visas, or reports that the Council may vote to suspend
the
indictments for a year.
The
UN publishes it own "The Week Ahead," which in
this case omits an April 14
appearance by the UN's head
of humanitarian affairs John Holmes, about his trip to the Gulf Region.
Inner
City Press' counter Week Ahead includes the buzz already being
s(t)imulated for
the flying of a Mbeki, Do the Right Thing on Zimbabwe banner over the
East
River behind the UN on April 16. We're paraphrasing the
virally-promoted
banner, of course. And for April 18 apparition of the Pope at the UN,
while
there will perhaps not surprisingly be no media Q&A, there will be
a
private receiving line to the side of the General Assembly hall, not
only for
diplomats but then also for select UN officials. But how will these
favored
ones, these elect, be selected? 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
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 -
|
