At
the UN, Ivory Coast Discussed Without Decision on Toxic Politics, the Silence of
Somalia
Byline:
Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN
UNITED
NATIONS, September 20 -- In the Ivory Coast the political as well as
environmental situation has become toxic, Gerard Stoudmann, Kofi Annan's envoy
to Abidjan, told Inner City Press on Wednesday. Following a Mini-Summit meeting
that Laurent Gbagbo boycotted, the UN's peacekeeping chief Jean-Marie Guehenno
spoke to the media. Asking about the dumping of
toxic waste in Abidjan that
led to the disbanding of the country's cabinet, Mr. Guehenno called it a "tragic
reminder" that the "broken institutions of Cote d'Ivoire" are now "playing with
health." Asked what should happen to those charged with responsibility for the
spill, which to date include
two French citizens,
Mr. Guehenno said that Kofi Annan "will call for accountability" and that those
responsible "should be prosecuted."
Following
the Mini-Summit in the basement of the UN, Inner City Press conducted an
exclusive interviewed with UN envoy Gerard Stoudmann, who confirmed that Kofi
Annan raised the issue of toxic waste at the beginning of the meeting. "I
haven't checked for myself," Mr. Stoudmann said, but I've heard the "toxic waste
is in the process of being cleaned." Asked about Laurent Gbagbo's invitation
this week for
UN troops to leave,
he noted that Gbagbo said the same in January of this year, then attended the
Day of the Peacekeeper at UNOCI in June. "M. Gbagbo," said Mr. Stoudmann, "makes
statements of all sorts." He said that so far only the ministers of environment
and transportation have paid the price for the dumping of toxic waste.
UN,
guns in Guiglo
Asked if
the
imprisonment of journalists
who linked Gbagbo's wife Louise with the waste had come up at the meeting, Mr.
Stoudmann said no. "Too nitty gitty?" asked Inner City Press. "No," said Mr.
Stoudmann. "It is symbolic of the type of atmosphere the regime has imposed on
Cote d'Ivoire... There is a toxic atmosphere in politics, and there is pollution
at different levels."
Elsewhere in the world of UN peacekeeping, Inner City Press asked
Kofi Annan's spokesman at his
Wednesday noon briefing,
in light of the
U.S.'s fast-offered but perhaps
self-serving help, if the UN
will help investigate who tried to kill Somalia's president (who has cancelled
his speech to the General Assembly). Late Wednesday, this short response
arrived: " To date, the UN has not received any formal request from the Somali
authorities and therefore has no immediate plans to join the investigation." At
least it's an answer. Inner City Press continues to await long-ago requested
answered on Somalia from Jan Egeland's humanitarian OCHA as well as from UNDP.
Also unanswerd, from Wednesday's noon briefing, is a question about Kofi Annan
and Robert Mugabe, who was spotted on Wednesday outside the Security Council.
Patience soon comes second to truth. Developing...
Feedback: editorial
[at] innercitypress.com
UN Office: S-453A,
UN, NY 10017 USA Tel: 212-963-1439
Reporter's mobile: 718-716-3540
Evo
Morales Blame Strike on Mobbed-Up Parasites, Sings Praise of Coca Leaf and Jabs
at Coca-Cola
Byline:
Matthew Russell Lee at the UN
UNITED
NATIONS, September 20 -- Evo Morales, president of Bolivia, on Wednesday
ascribed a business-owners' strike two weeks ago to "parasites on the State,"
some of whom are Mafia-connected. Responding to a question from Inner City
Press, he said that the strikes, reported by
AP,
"didn't really happened." But
as reported,
in four of Bolivia's nine states, the "capital cities appeared largely empty of
traffic. In Santa Cruz, groups waving the state's green-and-white flag chanted
anti-Morales slogans."
Inner City Press
asked if Mr. Morales blamed the strikes and the reported attempts to
split the Bolivian military on
the U.S. and on corporations. "Our policies impact different sectors
differently, and they react," Morales said. Video
here,
from Minute 27:24 to 42:42. He quoted UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan that
natural resources should be used for a country's children, and said that's the
theory of Bolivia's selective nationalizations. Petrobras, it should be noted,
has been given a reprieve - click
here for
more on that.
Mr.
Morales also cited the support of U.S. ex-Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy
Carter, whom Morales visited in Georgia before coming to New York. He reminisced
about planting peanuts. The majority of the questions at the press conference
concerned coca. Mr. Morales distinguished between the coca leaf, the use of
which he liked to coffee, and cocaine, the demand for which he suggested the
U.S. and Europe act to decrease.
Mr. Morales
pointed out the coca in Coca-Cola. Ironically, a representative of Coca-Cola was
allowed to speak from the same briefing room podium only two days prior, and on
March 8, 2006, Kofi Annan met and did a photo op with the chairman of Coca-Cola,
E. Neville Isdell, after which no questions were allowed.
Kofi
& Coke chief
Of the
European Union, Mr. Morales on Wednesday said that good from Bolivia must be let
freely in. He declined to comment on the speech and statements of Venezuelan
president Hugo Chavez, who among other things equated George Bush to a Devil.
Morales said, as he had in his speech the night before, that he sides with live,
not with death and war. Morales' comments were simpler, but some say more
effective.
On
Darfur, Hugo Chavez Asks for More Time to Study, While Planning West Africa Oil
Refinery
Byline:
Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN
UNITED
NATIONS, September 20 -- Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela who is vying for a
seat on the Security Council, said on Wednesday that he would need more time to
study the question of Darfur before recommending sending UN peacekeepers or not.
As a response to a question on Darfur from Inner City Press, he rattled off the
names of African counties he has visited, and those to which he has been
invited, including Zimbabwe.
Chavez spoke
of opening an oil refinery in West Africa, presumably through
Venezuelan-controlled Citgo. He noted that Venezuela is an observer at the
African Union, and said "we are observers, not players, in Africa... we do not
want to act like we own the world." He said of Africa, as he said of Mexico and
Colombia, that he loves it. But he did not answer on Darfur. Video
here,
Minutes 39 to 43.
Red
not blue berets
Chavez did,
however, predict that the price of oil would hit $200 a barrel if the U.S. tried
to invade Venezuela, a possibility he ascribed to "your Devil President" (in
Spanish, "su presidente diablo"). Perhaps for this reason, one
correspondent for Japanese television, himself not Japanese, declined to answer
Chavez as to where he was from. "This is not about nationality," the reporter
answered. Chavez made light of it, saying don't be ashamed. He explicitly
praised other Americans, naming Muhammad Ali, Abraham Lincoln, and Pete Rose, of
whom he noted the disgrace of betting on baseball but "who could deny his
talent." He held up a copy of Noam Chomsky's latest book, as he had in his
speech earlier in the day to the General Assembly. (Click
here for
the speech, so far only in Spanish.) He listed American communities to which
Venezuela has provided cut-rate heating oil, from Boston and Chicago to Harlem
and The Bronx. He spoke again of baseball and the many home runs there.
One correspondent
recollected a past visit to the UN General Assembly in the late 1980s of a
somewhat similar figure, then-Nicaraguan head of state Daniel Ortega. Ortega
went to Brooklyn, lead the U.S. to limit the number and scope of visas given to
Nicaragua the next year. This year, Venezuela like Iran has raised issues about
the U.S.'s processing of visa applications. The UN Secretariat confirms
receiving the complaints, but not what's been done about them. Fox News
Wednesday morning lamented the UN allowing the presidents of Venezuela and Iran,
to which it could have added Bolivia, to "spew their views" with the UN's
megaphone. But this is the UN, and questions should be asked -- and answered.
Musharraf Says Unrest in Baluchistan Is Waning, While Dodging Question on
Restoring Civilian Rule
Byline:
Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN
UNITED NATIONS,
September 20 -- Pakistan's president Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday claimed that
unrest in the Baluchistan region is on the wane and "has already died." He
called the region peaceful, as well as being "feudal and tribal" and needing
more democracy. He said the situation in Baluchistan is a result of a "political
game" set off by people trying to capitalize on the death of Nawab Akbar Khan
Bugti, longtime leader of the Baluch Liberation Movement. Musharraf answered
Inner City Press' question by stating that "incidents" elsewhere in Pakistan
that cited to Bugti have, in fact, "no relation to that person."
Since
Bugti's death on August 26, at least ten people have been killed " in bomb
blasts, attacks and clashes with police," according to
AFP,
which on September 19 reported that "a time bomb exploded in a crowded bazaar in
the south-western Pakistani city of Quetta yesterday, injuring two policemen and
three civilians...The blast could be heard from a public meeting organized by
opposition parties to protest the killing of key tribal insurgent leader Nawab
Akbar Bugti."
In his
response to Inner City Press asking when civilian rule might be restored, to
Pakistan as a whole, Musharraf limited his answer to Baluchistan, where he
pointed out that the administrator now in charge "is not a man in a uniform."
But Musharraf earlier in the press conference had called himself a man in a
uniform, who can get things done for that reason. Video
here,
from Minute 33:42.
Kofi
& General
News
analysis: Musharraf's UN press conference appeared stacked with ringers, who
asked questions along the line of, "Why are you so unfairly criticized in the
Western media, and what can you do about it?" In gleeful response, Musharraf
said that tribal elders are people of their word, who recently captured 10
Taliban. No one asked about nuclear proliferation, much less about military
dictatorship. There were softball questions about whom Musharraf would like as
next Secretary-General, and whether he thought the Pope's comments on Islam were
outrageous (he did). He blamed the situation in Afghanistan on Hamid Karzai,
stating that Mullah Omar, head of the Taliban, still lives in Kandahar. He said
again and again, we have not made peace with the Taliban. That seemed to be the
point of the press conference.
At the
UN, Cyprus Confirms 'Paramilitary' Investigation, Denies Connection to Def Min
Resignation, CBTB Update
Byline:
Matthew Russell Lee at the UN
UNITED NATIONS,
September 20 -- Tassos Papadopoulos, the president of Cyprus, also described as
Greek Cyprus, at the UN on Wednesday characterized in depth a brewing scandal in
his country. When Defense Minister Fivos Klokaris tendered his resignation on
September 6, local media drew a connection with an alternately described
paramilitary group or officers clique within the National Guard. President
Papadopoulos fired back, saying that a "so-called shadow group [inside the
military] is non-existent," and that he had "nothing but scorn for these four or
five political analysts who take it upon themselves to invent conspiracies when
there are none."
At a UN press
conference Wednesday, Inner City Press asked President Papadopoulos to address
the situation. Video
here,
from Minute 15:20 to 21:45. The President's five-minute response began that Mr.
Klokaris is a longtime friend, who in July informed him of a suddenly-arising
medical condition. The President said he asked Klokaris to seek a second medical
opinion and to stay on until the defense budget was passed, which took place on
September 5. The following day, Mr. Klokaris submitted his resignation, leading
to immediate press
stories
that "the minister resigned because President Papadopoulos rejected Klokkaris’
pleas to dismantle a paramilitary unit within the army... The government first
admitted the presence of a paramilitary unit 'with ties to a political party' in
July, but did not specify which party. This could further strain the relations
between the fragile three-party coalition forces that support Tassos
Papadopoulos’ administration."
In response to
Inner City Press' questioning, President Papadopoulos confirmed that the
investigation of "what you describe as paramilitary movements within the army"
is ongoing, by an attorney general he described as "absolutely independent."
President Papadopoulos advised Inner City Press to ask Cyprus media for more.
These inquiries resulted in the following factoids: that the scandal inside the
National Guard is real, but may or may not have anything to do with the
resignation of Mr. Klokkaris, who reportedly has cancer. And now you know.
Cyprus President
In a separate press
conference earlier on Wednesday, Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer,
speaking in favor of the Comprehensive (Nuclear) Test Ban Treaty, which is still
not in force since the U.S. and some other have not ratified it, said the Howard
administration nonetheless is in support of the U.S. - India nuclear deal, which
does not cover all of India's nuclear facilities. Video
here,
from Minute 9:28. His co-briefer said Bernard Bot, Foreign Minister of The
Netherlands, was less in support of the India-U.S. deal. Neither had any answer
on strategies to get the CBTB ratified and in force. And so it goes.
A Tale
of Three Leaders, Liberia Comes to Praise and Iran and Sudan to Bury the UN
Byline:
Matthew Russell Lee at the UN
UNITED NATIONS, September
19 -- Liberian president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf on Tuesday sung the praises of UN. To the
General Assembly, she thanked the "men and women of the United Nations Military
Mission in Liberia [who] have largely comported themselves well." The reference
was to sexual exploitation and abuse.
There are questions about UNMIL's role, or
lack of it, in Liberia's
security
breakdown, which has led the government to
call for vigilantes.
At a press conference Tuesday, Inner City Press asked President
Johnson-Sirleaf
about this, and about
UNDP reportedly not
paying wages due to Liberians. Video
here.
She said that the vigilante comment
-- which was made by her Justice Minister -- has since been clarified, that the
call was for community groups to keep their eyes open and call police. Oh.
Prez
Johnson-Sirleaf
Meanwhile, at least two other high profile speakers at the UN on Tuesday took a
different approach. Iran's President delivered a detailed critique of the
current Security Council, saying that because of the veto rights of five
countries, the Council protects only the powerful, while "children are killed in
alleyways and streets." Notably, Iran's president and U.S. Senator Norm Coleman
have called the Security Council outmoded, a relic in need of expansion.
Sudan's president Al-Bashir Tuesday told reporters, "Everyone knows who is the
real power behind the transition to a UN force... It's an attempt to dismember
Sudan" and divide it into five pieces. Then, when asked about all those
demonstrating under a banner of "Save Darfur," President al-Bashir said that
"Zionist organizations organized the rallies." To that, one CNN reporter
followed-up, talking over Bloomberg and other media, until President Al-Bashir
opined that maybe CNN is part of the conspiracy as well.
Meanwhile, General Assembly spokeswoman Sainte informed Inner City Press that
the Thai prime minister had cancelled, with only an hour to spare, his
appointment to speak to the GA -- while the coup
goes on. And, Somalia was bounced from Wednesday into next week due to the
substitution away from the head of state, despite the
explosive attempt on his life. Tough crowd...
Behind
the UN Speeches, A Thai Coup, Somali Assassins and Hit-and-Run Chirac Ignoring
Ivory Coast
Byline:
Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN
UNITED NATIONS,
September 19 -- As speeches began in the UN General Assembly, at least two of
the planned speaker had more pressing business in mind. Thai prime minister
Thaksin Shinawatra, already in New York for the General Debate, called a
television station in Bangkok to declare a state of emergency. Tanks has
surrounded government buildings and a coup d'etat is
reportedly
underway.
The
president of Somalia, scheduled to speak Wednesday at 4:30, was nearly
assassinated on
Sunday and his brother and ten others were killed by a suicide bomber in Baidoa.
The Islamic Courts Union blame the blast on Ethiopia; others more darkly point
the finger at Al Qaeda.
Meanwhile
journalists waited more than an hour for a briefing by French President Jacques
Chirac. During the hour long wait, a series of "Reserved" signs appeared on the
first two rows of seats. There was grumbling that the questioners had already
been selected, including the Associated Press. The UN Correspondents'
Association, traditionally given the first question, was told that might or
might not take place. "President Chirac will decide," his staffer said.
When
finally Monsieur le President arrived, he made three points, the last of which
was ecology. On this he spoke of Kyoto, and vaguely of the abuse of the
environment. Inner City Press prepared, as it had at Kofi Annan's spokesman's
noon briefing, to ask about Ivory Coast. As
highlighted by the Spokesman's Office:
"COTE D'IVOIRE
MINI-SUMMIT TO PROCEED: Asked whether it was confirmed that President Laurent
Gbagbo of Cote d'Ivoire would not show up for the mini-summit on Cote d'Ivoire
that was scheduled later this week, the Spokesman said that the United Nations
would wait and see whether he comes, although the indication was that he would
not. The Spokesman added that the mini-summit would go ahead, and would deal
with actions to be taken in the region. It would also address the question of
governance before the 31 October deadline."
Two
French citizens, Claude Dauphin and Jean-Pierre Valentini, have now been
arrested for
their part in the
dumping of toxic waste in Abidjan by
Trafigura Beheer BV. Inquiring
minds want to know what's the Chirac Administration's position on the deaths in
Abidjan, and on Laurent Gbagbo's plan to not attend the long-planned September
20 meeting on Cote D'Ivoire, and his invitation for the UN to
leave the Ivory Coast? Or how about the Gbagbo administration's
prosecution of journalists for suggesting that his wife Simone was connected
to the toxic waste? A long-time Cote D'Ivoire correspondent says she heard,
years ago, Simone say she would never give up power once she got it.
Kofi,
Gbagbo & Banny
There are also
questions, including in the
very mainstream press,
about Chirac's continued support for the "corrupt" Deby government in Chad, and
for having dropped a bomb
on Chadian rebels, in support of Deby.
But
neither question was allowed. There was Iran, twice; there was the tribunal on
the murder of Lebanese president Hariri, and a question from Arabic television
which Chirac unceremoniously refused to answer. And then he raised both hands
and left. "Merci for nothing," a correspondent said. Or, was it aide de camp
or aid de con?
A more productive
briefing was given at noon by Gail Bindley-Taylor Sainte, who summarized the
just-completed meeting on the least developed countries. Inner City Press had
specifically asked about the five LDCs which are rich on oil: Angola, Chad,
Equatorial Guinea, Yemen and The Sudan. Monday's video here. The answer, a day
later, was that the discussion included a recognition that not only are these
conflict or post-conflict societies, but also that "absence of good government"
and "corruption" are problems as well. The president of Equatorial Guinea is
slated to speechify Wednesday at 5:30. While he might address these issues, he
probably will not. To be continued.
Annan Pitches UN With No Mention of Reform; EU
President Dodges Human Rights and Micro-States
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at
the UN
UNITED NATIONS,
September 19 -- Globalization is not a tide that lifts all boats, outgoing UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the General Assembly on Tuesday. In a
twenty-minute speech which contained the names of four countries -- Israel,
Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan -- and one part of a country, Darfur, Mr. Annan
argued that "the only answer to this divide world must be a truly United
Nations." The phrasing was vintage Edward Mortimer, the ex-journalist who is Mr.
Annan's chief speechwriter. In a Jeremiad burst, the speech called "shameful
that last year's Summit Outcome does not contain even one word about
non-proliferation and disarmament."
One
glaring omission widely noticed in the speech was any discussion of reform or
transparency at the United Nations. In light of Mr. Annan's recent attempt to
back-away from an earlier commitment by his spokesman that he would file
financial disclosure, and for example of Mr. Mortimer's polemic,
still on the UN website,
that none of the Oil-for-Food allegations were ever proved. This UN website has
a
similar un-updated letter from
Under Secretary General Shashi Tharoor, now running to replace Mr. Annan. If the
UN is the solution, it needs to be better run. This includes how information is
released.
Kofi
& R of Congo
While much is
withheld, the UN Spokesman's office on Tuesday gave out copies of Annan's
luncheon menu. Two words on the menu were set off in quotations marks --
Pommes de Terre "Rosti" and Banana "Sundae." The last of these had one
correspondent reminiscing about Chris Munnion's now out-of-print memoir of
report from Africa, Banana Sunday. As noted by Mr. Annan, many problems in
Africa have remain unimproved over the last ten years. The problems go back
further -- an Inner City Press correspondent in Africa writes to remind that
William Lacy Swing, now pro-consul in Congo, was once the democracy advisor to
Liberia's Samuel Doe. Plus ca change.
In a
separate morning press conference, Finnish President Tarja Halonen denied that
her September 10 meeting with Filipina President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
concerned the accelerating killings of journalists and activists in the
Philippines. Asked by Inner City Press for a summary of the meeting, which was
reported to
concern the "killing of 752 civilians since Arroyo came into power into 2001,"
President Halonen said it concerned European Union and Asian relations, and will
lead to an EU presences at ASEM in December. Video
here.
Inner
City Press also asked President Halonen to comment on the September 17
referendum in Transnistria, in which 97% of those casting ballots voted for
independence from Moldova. Finland as EU president has already said it
refused to recognize the referendum.
But Tuesday Finland's president said she has not been very involved in the
issue, which she described as a "longstanding" if not "frozen" conflict. She
spoke positively of the momentum of Kosovo away from Serbia, but would not
distinguish Transnistria. She did, however, say that she agrees the next UN
Secretary-General should be from Asia, and that the current Security Council
make-up is a Cold War relic. Candor on some topics, but not on human rights, or
frozen Transnistria...
In marginal news,
with First Avenue in front of the UN filled with police, the president of Benin
was reportedly caught in traffic and missed his address to conclude the meeting
on least developed countries.
Other Inner City Press
reports are archived on
www.InnerCityPress.org -
As UN Checks
Toxins in Abidjan, the Dumper Trafigura Figured in Oil for Food Scandal,
Funded by RBS and BNP Paribas
Targeting of
African Americans For High Cost Mortgages Grew Worse in 2005, While Fed
Downplays Its Own Findings
The UN and
Nagorno-Karabakh: Flurries of Activity Leave Frozen Conflicts Unchanged;
Updates on Gaza, Gavels and Gbagbo
The UN Cries
Poor on Lawless Somalia, While Its Ex-Security Chief Does Business
Through Ruleless Revolving Door
At the UN,
Micro-States Simmer Under the Assembly's Surface, While Incoming Council
President Dodges Most Questions
"Horror Struck"
is How UN Officials Getting Free Housing from Governments Would Leave
U.S., Referral on Burma But Not Uzbekistan
Security Council
President Condemns UN Officials Getting Free Housing from Governments,
While UK "Doesn't Do It Any More"
At the UN,
Incomplete Reforms Allow for Gifts of Free Housing to UN Officials by
Member States
Rare UN Sunshine
From If Not In Chad While Blind on Somalia and Zimbabwe, UNDP With Shell
in its Ear on Nigeria
Annan Family
Ties With Purchaser from Compass, Embroiled in UN Scandal, Raise
Unanswered Ethical Questions
At the UN, from
Casamance to Transdniestria, Kosovars to Lezgines, Micro-States as
Powerful's Playthings
Inquiry Into
Housing Subsidies Contrary to UN Charter Goes Ignored for 8 Weeks, As
Head UN Peacekeeper Does Not Respond
Congo Shootout
Triggers Kofi Annan Call, While Agent Orange Protest Yields Email from
Old London
On the UN -
Corporate Beat, Dow Chemical Luncheon Chickens Come Home to Roost
UN Bets the
House on Lebanon, While Willfully Blind in Somalia and Pinned Down in
Kinshasa
Stop Bank
Branch Closings and Monopolies in the Katrina Zone, Group Says,
Challenging Regions- AmSouth Merger
Ship-Breakers
Missed by UN's Budget for Travel and Consultants in Bangladesh, Largest
UNIFIL Troop Donor
Sudan Cites
Hezbollah, While UN Dances Around Issues of Consent and Sex Abuse in the
Congo, Passing the UNIFIL Hat
With Somalia on
the Brink of Horn-Wide War, UN Avoids Question of Ethiopian Invasion
In UN's Lebanon
Frenzy, Darfur Is Ignored As Are the Disabled, "If You Crave UNIFIL,
Can't You Make Do With MONUC?"
UN Decries
Uzbekistan's Use of Torture, While Helping It To Tax and Rule; Updates
on UNIFIL and UNMIS Off-Message
At the UN,
Lebanon Resolution Passes with Loophole, Amb. Gillerman Says It Has All
Been Defensive
On Lebanon,
Russian Gambit Focuses Franco-American Minds, Short Term Resolution Goes
Blue Amid Flashes of Lightening
Africa Can Solve
Its Own Problems, Ghanaian Minister Tells Inner City Press, On LRA Peace
Talks and Kofi Annan's Views
At the UN, Jay-Z
Floats Past Questions on Water Privatization and Sweatshops, Q'Orianka
Kilcher in the Basement
In the UN
Security Council, Speeches and Stasis as Haiti is Forgotten, for a
Shebaa Farms Solution?
UN Silence on
Congo Election and Uranium, Until It's To Iran or After a Ceasefire, and
Council Rift on Kony
At the UN Some
Middle Eastern Answers, Updates on Congo and Nepal While Silence on
Somalia
On Lebanon,
Franco-American Resolution Reviewed at UN in Weekend Security Council
Meeting
UN Knew of Child
Soldier Use by Two Warlords Whose Entry into Congo Army the UN
Facilitated
At the UN,
Disinterest in Zimbabwe, Secrecy on Chechnya, Congo Polyanna and
Ineptitude on Somalia
Impunity's in
the Air, at the UN in Kinshasa and NY, for Kony and Karim and MONUC for
Kazana
UN Still Silent
on Somalia, Despite Reported Invasion, In Lead-Up to More Congo Spin
UN's Guehenno
Says Congo Warlord Just Needs Training, and Kazana Probe Continues
With Congo
Elections Approaching, UN Issues Hasty Self-Exoneration as Annan Is
Distracted
In DR Congo, UN
Applauds Entry into Army of Child-Soldier Commander Along with Kidnapper
Spinning the
Congo, UN Admits Hostage Deal with Warlord That Put Him in Congolese
Army
At the UN, Dow
Chemical's Invited In, While Teaming Up With Microsoft is Defended
Kofi Annan
Questioned about Congolese Colonel Who Kidnapped Seven UN Soldiers
At the UN,
Speeches While Gaza Stays Lightless and Insurance Not Yet Paid
At the UN
Poorest Nations Discussed, Disgust at DRC Short Shrift, Future UN
Justice?
At the UN
Wordsmiths Are At Work on Zimbabwe, Kony, Ivory Coast and Iran
UN Silent As
Congolese Kidnapper of UN Peacekeepers Is Made An Army Colonel: News
Analysis
At
the UN, New Phrase Passes Resolution called Gangster-Like by North Korea; UK
Deputy on the Law(less)
UN's Guehenno
Speaks of "Political Overstretch" Undermining Peacekeeping in Lower
Profile Zones
In Gaza Power
Station, the Role of Enron and the U.S. Government's OPIC Revealed by UN
Sources
At UN, North
Korean Knot Attacked With Fifty Year Old Precedent, Game Continues Into
Weekend
UN's Corporate
Partnerships Will Be Reviewed, While New Teaming Up with Microsoft, and
UNDP Continues
Gaza Resolution
Vetoed by U.S., While North Korea Faces Veto and Chechnya Unread
BTC Briefing,
Like Pipeline, Skirts Troublespots, Azeri Revelations
Conflicts of
Interest in UNHCR Program with SocGen and Pictet Reveal Reform Rifts
At the UN, A Day
of Resolutions on Gaza, North Korea and Iran, Georgia as Side Dish
UN Grapples with
Somalia, While UNDP Funds Mugabe's Human Rights Unit, Without
Explanation
In North Korean
War of Words, Abuses in Uganda and Impunity Go Largely Ignored
On North Korea,
Blue Words Move to a Saturday Showdown, UNDP Uzbek Stonewall
As the World
Turns in Uganda and Korea, the UN Speaks only on Gaza, from Geneva
North Korea in
the UN: Large Arms Supplant the Small, and Confusion on Uganda
UN Gives Mugabe
Time with His Friendly Mediator, Refugees Abandoned
At the UN,
Friday Night's Alright for Fighting; Annan Meets Mugabe
UN Acknowledges
Abuse in Uganda, But What Did Donors Know and When? Kazakh Questions
In Uganda, UNDP
to Make Belated Announcement of Program Halt, But Questions Remain (and
see
The New Vision,
offsite).
Disarmament
Abuse in Uganda Leads UN Agency to Suspend Its Work and Spending
Disarmament
Abuse in Uganda Blamed on UNDP, Still Silent on Finance
Alleged Abuse in
Disarmament in Uganda Known by UNDP, But Dollar Figures Still Not Given:
What Did UN Know and When?
Strong Arm on
Small Arms: Rift Within UN About Uganda's Involuntary Disarmament of
Karamojong Villages
UN in Denial on
Sudan, While Boldly Predicting the Future of Kosovo/a
UN's Selective
Vision on Somalia and Wishful Thinking on Uighurs
UN Habitat
Predicts The World Is a Ghetto, But Will Finance Be Addressed at
Vancouver World Urban Forum?
At the UN, a
Commando Unit to Quickly Stop Genocide is Proposed, by Diplomatic Sir
Brian Urquhart
UN's Annan
Concerned About Use of Terror's T-Word to Repress, Wants
Freedom of Information
UN Waffles on
Human Rights in Central Asia and China; ICC on Kony and a Hero from
Algiers
At the UN,
Internal Justice Needs Reform, While in Timor Leste, Has Evidence Gone
Missing?
UN & US,
Transparency for Finance But Not Foreign Affairs: Somalia, Sovereignty
and Senator Tom Coburn
In Bolton's Wake,
Silence and Speech at the UN, Congo and Kony, Let the Games Begin
Pro-Poor Talk and
a Critique of the World Trade Organization from a WTO Founder: In UN
Lull, Ugandan Fog and Montenegrin Mufti
Human Rights
Forgotten in UN's War of Words, Bolton versus Mark Malloch Brown: News
Analysis
In Praise of
Migration, UN Misses the Net and Bangalore While Going Soft on Financial
Exclusion
UN Sees Somalia
Through a Glass, Darkly, While Chomsky Speaks on Corporations and
Everything But Congo
AIDS Ends at the
UN? Side Deals on Patents, Side Notes on Japanese Corporations,
Salvadoran and Violence in Burundi
On AIDS at the
UN, Who Speaks and Who Remains Unseen
Corporate Spin on
AIDS, Holbrooke's Kudos to Montenegro and its Independence (May 31, 2006)
Kinshasa Election
Nightmares, from Ituri to Kasai. Au Revoir Allan Rock; the UN's
Belly-Dancing
Working with
Warlords, Insulated by Latrines: Somalia and Pakistan Addressed at the
UN
The Silence of
the Congo and Naomi Watts; Between Bolivia and the World Bank
Human Rights
Council Has Its Own Hanging Chads; Cocky U.S. State Department Spins
from SUVs
Child Labor and
Cargill and Nestle; Iran, Darfur and WHO's on First with Bird Flu
Press Freedom?
Editor Arrested by Congo-Brazzaville, As It Presides Over Security
Council
The
Place of the Cost-Cut UN in Europe's Torn-Up Heart;
Deafness to Consumers, Even by the Greens
Background Checks
at the UN, But Not the Global Compact; Teaching Statistics from
Turkmenbashi's Single Book
Ripped Off Worse
in the Big Apple, by Citigroup and Chase: High Cost Mortgages Spread in
Outer Boroughs in 2005, Study Finds
Burundi: Chaos at
Camp for Congolese Refugees, Silence from UNHCR, While Reform's Debated
by Forty Until 4 AM
In Liberia, From
Nightmare to Challenge; Lack of Generosity to Egeland's CERF, Which
China's Asked About
The Chadian
Mirage: Beyond French Bombs, Is Exxon In the Cast? Asylum and the
Uzbeks, Shadows of Stories to Come
Through the UN's
One-Way Mirror, Sustainable Development To Be Discussed by Corporations,
Even Nuclear Areva
Racial
Disparities Grew Worse in 2005 at Citigroup, HSBC and Other Large Banks
Mine Your Own
Business: Explosive Remnants of War and the Great Powers, Amid the
Paparazzi
Human Rights Are
Lost in the Mail: DR Congo Got the Letter, But the Process is Still
Murky
Iraq's Oil to be
Metered by Shell, While Basrah Project Remains Less than Clear
At the UN, Dues
Threats and Presidents-Elect, Unanswered Greek Mission Questions
Kofi, Kony,
Kagame and Coltan: This Moment in the Congo and Kampala
As Operation
Swarmer Begins, UN's Qazi Denies It's Civil War and Has No Answers if
Iraq's Oil is Being Metered
Cash Crop: In
Nepal, Bhutanese Refugees Prohibited from Income Generation Even in
their Camps
The Shorted and
Shorting in Humanitarian Aid: From Davos to Darfur, the Numbers Don't
Add Up
UN Reform:
Transparency Later, Not Now -- At Least Not for AXA - WFP Insurance
Contract
In Congolese
Chaos, Shots Fired at U.N. Helicopter Gunship
In the Sudanese
Crisis, Oil Revenue Goes Missing, UN Says
Empty Words on
Money Laundering and Narcotics, from the UN and Georgia
What is the Sound
of Eleven Uzbeks Disappearing? A Lack of Seats in Tashkent, a Turf War
at UN
Kosovo: Of
Collective Punishment and Electricity; Lights Out on Privatization of
Ferronikeli Mines
Abkhazia:
Cleansing and (Money) Laundering, Says Georgia
Post-Tsunami
Human Rights Abuses, including by UNDP in the Maldives
Who Pays for the
Global Bird Flu Fight? Not the Corporations, So Far - UN
Citigroup
Dissembles at United Nations Environmental Conference
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