Inner City Press: Investigative Reporting from the United Nations

As Juppe Says Ban Demands Gbagbo Letter, UN No Comments, Vatican & Japan Q

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 6 -- A day after French foreign minister Alain Juppe said that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon agrees that Laurent Gbagbo must sign a letter ceding power to Alassane Ouattara, Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky if that is, in fact, Ban's position.

“I don't speak for the French Foreign Minister,” Nesirky said.

“But you do speak for the Secretary General,” Inner City Press asked. Is it Ban's position or not?

Nesirky would not answer, saying he would not characterize the Secretary General's communications with Juppe. Thus does the UN thumbs its nose at transparency and lose credibility, by being used as Juppe used Ban, and France used UNOCI.

Inner City Press was told by a Security Council member's Deputy Permanent Representative that UN peacekeepers have not gotten to the residences in Abidjan of the representative of the Vatican as well as the Japanese Ambassador.

Ban & Juppe, joint demand of letter as condition not shown

It was unclear, he said, which side was blocking access -- noting that it is Vatican charity Caritas which reported 1000 dead in Duekoue, which many largely blame on supporters of Ouattara.

Nesirky would not answer about which side is blocking access, although he repeatedly blamed the UN's failure to even protect journalists in a hotel on “heavy weapons.”

Inner City Press asked him if Ouattara's forces have heavy weapons too. Nesirky would not answer. He repeatedly insisted that the UN is impartial. Watch this site.

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On Cote d'Ivoire, Juppe Says Ban Ki-moon Also Demands Gbagbo's Signature

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 5 -- In what appears to be an endgame in Abidjan, the relation between France and the the UN of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has been put into the spotlight.

Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky on April 5 if UN attack helicopters had fired at Laurent Gbagbo's residence in self-defense.

Nesirky bristled that it was not the UN which fired on Gbagbo's residence. Video here.

But when a French reporter stated that helicopters of the French Force Licorne had fied on Gbagbo's house, and ask if that was on behalf of the UN, all Nesirky said was that it was legal for Licorne to support the UN.

Then Nesirky dodged a series of questions about the UN's role in negotiating with Gbagbo, who reportedly retreated to a bunker under his fired-upon residence.

When a reporter read him a quote from France that the UN was engaged in negotiations, Nesirky said that because he did not have a wireless computer with him, he did not know. Video here.

French minister of foreign affairs Alain Juppe, however, said that Gbagbo must sign a letter relinquishing power to Alassane Ouattara, and that “Ban Ki-moon agrees with me on that.”

Even if Security Council Resolution 1975, authorizing the UN to shoot at and “take out” heavy weapons of Gbagbo's forces if they were to be used to fire on civilians, can be read to permit UNOCI and Licorne to fire missiles at Gbagbo's house -- Russian foreign minister Lavrov, among others, was not convinced on Tuesday -- the resolution is not about Ban adopting France's demands as a condition of ending military action.

So who, some want to know, is working for whom? Watch this site.

Footnote: after Ban's spokesman Nesirky's noon briefing, a more senior Ban official suggested to Inner City Press that Gbagbo, “if he's smart,” will demand UN protection at the Golf Hotel, where Ouattara stayed, and begin holding press conferences there. That, is seems clear, France would not accept.

The Ban official also noted that until recently, it was Ban's envoy Choi Young-jin who was hiding in a basement. Turn about is fair play?

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At UN, Bamba of Cote d'Ivoire Takes 7 Questions on Video, France Partners with Nigeria, Invisible Commandos

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, March 25 -- At Friday's UN Security Council meeting on Cote d'Ivoire, the Ambassador sent by Alassane Ouattara to replace Laurent Gbagbo's Djedje spoke in the Council for the first time. Yousoufou “Joseph” Bamba, now Permanent Representative to the UN, came afterward to take questions on camera from Inner City Press. Click here for YouTube video.

Inner City Press asked Bamba a range of question, from comparisons to the military enforcement action in Libya to reported killings by Ouattara supporters and the lack of medicine in Abidjan due to EU sanctions.

Bamba did not dispute the impact of sanctions, saying only that if Ouattara were allowed to act as president these problems would not exist. He had said that the energy put into Libya, compared to that in Cote d'Ivoire, made up a form of “bias.” But he backed away from that.

In fact, as Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin walked into the Council for the meeting, he was asked about requests for more action by the UN mission in Cote d'Ivoire, ONUCI. “Another big war,” he said sarcastically. “Just what we need.”

Inner City Press conveyed Churkin's remarks to India's Permanent Representative Hardeep Singh Puri. who said, “You want another war? With clear objectives?”

Ban & Bamba, action on Invisible Commandos not shown

In other comments, Bamba said that the helicopter ONUCI says Gbagbo forces are repairing is one of those destroyed by France in the past. He said that both Gbagbo and Ouattara have asked for International Criminal Court intervention and investigation.

France on Friday circulated a draft resolution including the ICC, new sanctions and a call for Gbagbo to leave. Despite saying it was a joint submission with Nigeria, the French draft does not include things that Nigeria and ECOWAS want, like authorization for intervention.

The back story is the while the French mission at the UN had intended to confer with South Africa on elements of a resolution, South Africa was not going to join in at least until the African Union meeting. Since President Nicolas Sarkozy had announced on Thursday night that France was drafting a resolution for Friday, a new partner had to be found. Whether this serves Nigeria is unclear. Watch this site.

Click for Mar 1, '11 BloggingHeads.tv re Libya, Sri Lanka, UN Corruption

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

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

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