At the
UN, Questions of Myanmar and Belarus, Qatar's Ruperez Tapes at Sharm El Sheikh,
Chevron to Cop a Plea
Byline:
Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN
UNITED NATIONS, May 8
-- It was a day at the UN of things not said, not disclosed, not confronted, not
reported. The Security Council met at 10 a.m. on Ethiopia and Eritrea, reading a
narrative of violations and distrust, click
here to
view. Afterwards U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad emerged, read out a
press statement
and then took some questions. Inner City Press asked first, as transcribed by
the U.S. mission:
Ambassador Khalilzad: I can answer your
questions in my national capacity.
Inner City Press: Mr. Ambassador, was
there any discussion of the Somalia conflict in this discussion of Ethiopia,
given that it's part --
Ambassador Khalilzad: There was not.
Inner City Press: And I wanted to ask you
one thing: You've been quoted as saying that
Myanmar -- or Burma as it's called [by
some] in this country -- may be on the agenda somehow this month, but I don't
see it on your program of work. When do you expect it to be on?
Ambassador Khalilzad: I don't have a date
for it. I discussed it as a possibility.
It was
not within the UN, but at the Permanent Mission of Afghanistan, that Amb.
Khalilzad was quoted that it's "on the agenda, I think, for the month. We will
work with others." But it's not on the agenda, if that means the written
program of work, regarding which Amb. Khalilzad has yet to hold a press
conference.
On May 4,
Inner City Press asked his deputy spokesman about the lack of a press conference
on the program of work, which all other Council presidents have held. It was
explained that "the Ambassador is available almost on a continual basis... The
briefings in Room 226 are a tool, a method" for some. "We feel so close
already," he joked, then acknowledged that this is "not necessarily a
satisfactory answer."
It is
not, including because the stakeout rarely allows for follow-up questions --
otherwise, the reporter who on Monday asked about the just released report on
Resolution 1559 would not have allowed a response that dealt only with "Nicholas
Michel" and the proposed Hariri tribunal. Video
here. Live and
learn.
President
for May, agenda less than clear
Out in
the wider world, there broke on Monday a U.S. connection with the Oil for Good
scandal: the prospective guilty plea of Chevron, click
here
for that. There is, it has been raised, an Oil for Food connection with Javier
Ruperez, who abruptly resigned on Friday as executive director of the UN
Counter-Terrorism Secretariat. Ruperez' name appeared in the reports,
transliterated into Arabic. Ironically, Inner City Press is told that the push
to oust Ruperez was delivered in Sharm El Sheikh while Ban Ki-moon was there, by
Qatar, reportedly involving an audio play-back after which the die was cast.
We'll have more on this.
It is not
everyday that the spokespeople of the President of the General Assembly take
questions. And so on Tuesday, Inner City Press
asked:
Inner City Press: There's a 17 May
election by the General Assembly for the Human Rights Council. There was a
briefing here by two NGOs who called on
the General Assembly to get involved in asking particular groups, particularly
one with Belarus in it, to find other candidates.
I wonder two things: One, whether the GA President has had any involvement in
trying to address these concerns that are in the public, and if she has met with
civil society, or anyone else, on the issue of the Human Rights Council
elections?
Spokesperson: I don't know if she has met
with them. I have to check on that. I can ask her.
Inner City Press: And has she had any
involvement, do you know her views of these...
Spokesperson: I’m not aware of that.
These were requests by NGOs, right? It’s not that I have any disrespect for
NGOs, it’s just that...
Inner City Press: No, I understand... no,
absolutely... it's just that I’ve heard she's big with civil society...
Spokesperson: ... this borders on
interference in Member States' affairs. These are sovereign countries, and
whether you like Belarus or you don't like Belarus, it's a sovereign country.
It has the right to run for membership on the Human Rights Council. If the
system does not allow for people to be satisfied completely with some countries,
well, that's the fault of the system. We have to change it.
Yes, the
system has to change...
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