In
Iraq,
UN
Negotiates to Take Over USAID Site, Ditch Bunker, Malcorra
Confirms
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee, Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
December
20 -- Contrary to previous UN plans to build a mega
facility in Iraq, dubbed the bunker, the new plan is to take over a
USAID site in Baghdad once the US leaves next year, UN official
Susana Malcorra confirmed to Inner City Press on Monday.
Inner
City
Press
reported last week, when US Vice President Joseph Biden was at the UN
for an Iraq meeting, that the UN's Advisory Committee on
Administrative & Budgetary Questions had urged that the UN stop
paying on a $5 million contract with an architectural consultant
hired for the bunker.
Ms.
Malcorra on
Monday said that negotiations to terminate the contract are ongoing
with UN Procurement, and that she would not comment further on it.
But she did answer Inner City Press's request for confirmation of the
plan to switch to the USAID site. This was discussed in closed door
ACABQ consultations, but not mentioned by USAID name in their report.
Malcorra said yes, USAID.
Susana Malcorra with Sudan 3, answer on Kalma 5 not shown
Still
unconfirmed
by
the UN are reports that US troops now provide security to SRSG Ad
Melkert. Watch this site.
Footnote: Ms.
Malcorra declined to answer Inner City Press' request for an update on
the negotiations by Ibrahim Gambari in Darfur to turn over five sheikhs
in Kalma camp supportive of Fur rebel Abdel Wahid Nur to the government
of Omar al Bashir, indicted for war crimes. We will keep asking.
* * *
At
UN,
Oil
for
Food Resolution Kept Open by Iraqi Letter Delay, Nuke
Doubts by 3
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December
15
-- As US Vice President Joe Biden
travels to the
UN on Wednesday hoping to preside over the passage of three
resolution on Iraq in the Security Council, well placed sources
have
told Inner City Press which of the three resolutions had still not
been finalized late Tuesday, and which Council members opposed the
other, nuclear resolution.
At
5:30 Tuesday
afternoon, a self described “senior US official” told some of the
UN press corps that two of the three resolutions were “in blue,”
meaning with text to vote on finalized, and a third was still not
ready.
The official
also argued that despite Iraq's failure to yet
ratify the International Atomic Energy Agency additional protocol, a
resolution allowing nuclear imports should be adopted Wednesday.
From
this,
some
assumed
that it was the nuclear or Weapons of Mass Destruction
resolution which was the one outstanding.
But
later on Tuesday Inner
City Press was informed that “the Oil for Food resolution was
delayed, Iraq was supposed to turn in a letter but only turned it in
late, let's see if the bureaucratic wheels turn fast enough for Biden
to brag about its passage.”
Biden previously at UN as Senator, Iraq IAEA
ratification not shown
Inner
City
Press
was
also informed that opposition in the Council to removing nuclear
import restrictions on Iraq began with the United Kingdom, then
Austria -- specifically objecting to Council action before Iraq
ratifies the IAEA additional protocol -- and then, and perhaps still,
China.
* * *
At
UN,
Biden
Visit
to Include 2 or 3 Iraq Resolutions, No Answers on
Costs or Security
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December
14
-- One of three Security Council resolution
which the US would like adopted at the December 15 meeting chaired by
Vice President Joe Biden has not yet been finalized for a vote, a
self-described senior US official told the press on Tuesday.
Beyond
ending
the
Oil
for Food Program, the US would like to removing restrictions on
Iraq's import of nuclear material, despite the country not yet having
ratified the additional protocol of the International Atomic Energy
Agency.
The Chinese
mission to the UN has indicated a preference to
await full ratification by Iraq, but late Tuesday the senior US
official was still talking about all three resolutions being passed.
The
context of the
remarks was a conference call. Inner City Press dialed in, and to ask
a question pushed Star 1 as directed, giving name and affiliation
again. But Inner City Press was never called on, even as the
moderator said “it appears there are no more questions.”
Beyond
asking
for
confirmation
that it is the Weapons of Mass Destruction or nuclear
resolution that is not yet finalized, Inner City Press had wanted
ask, as it has the UN Spokesman, who is paying for the alternations
in and around the Security Council for Joe Biden's visit.
On
December 10, a
large US delegation entered the Council chamber talking of Verizon
and putting in new communications lines for Wednesday's session. A
Council staffer told Inner City Press that Wednesday will be the
first time a US Vice President chairs the Security Council since
George H.W. Bush, as Reagans' VP, chaired a meeting. On the morning
of December 14 new metal detectors were in place. At the noon
briefing, Inner City Press asked
UN
Spokesman
Martin Nesirky:
Inner
City
Press:
for
this Wednesday, tomorrow’s Security Council event
featuring Vice-President Joe Biden, there have been a lot of, they’ve
even installed metal detectors, but on Friday, there was people going
into the Council to install new telephone lines. So, it all led me
to wonder, who is paying for this? Is it… is it… does the US
specifically reimburse the UN for these special security…
particularly, let’s say the phone lines, or is it something that
the UN absorbs the cost and, if so, what’s the basis of doing it
for this meeting and not other similarly vice-presidential meetings?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
Well,
you’re
making assumptions there before establishing
the facts. So, let’s do that.
But
five hours
later, no answer had been given. Similarly, last month Inner City
Press asked Nesirky's Office to confirm that the UN in Iraq,
including SRSG Ad Melkert, is accepting security from the US forces.
The UN refused to confirm it, despite a New
Orleans
Times
Picayune
report that:
“The
soldiers of Alpha Battery, 1/141, started out providing armed troops
and armored vehicles to protect the supply convoys. They now act as
the quick reaction force, which includes providing ground medical
evacuation to area helicopters that cannot reach and secure landing
zones, Fernandez said. They also staff entries to the United Nations
Villa, a compound where UN workers live, and specifically guard the
residence for the special representative for the UN secretary-general
in Iraq. While the UN officials have personal security personnel,
they also are shadowed by Alpha Battery when they travel. “They’re
not allowed to move without us,” Fernandez said. “They don’t
want to move without us.”
Perhaps
the
US
Mission
to the UN or State Department will have an answer.
UN's Ban and Biden, previously, security, costs and IAEA ratification
not shown
A UN
budget document just released mentions that the UN's architectural
contractor in
Iraq is in default:
A/65/604
-
7
December
2010
Programme
budget
for
the
biennium 2010-2011
First
performance
report
on
the programme budget for the biennium 2010-2011
Report
of
the
Advisory
Committee
...5.
The
Advisory
Committee
recalls that the General Assembly, in section
VI of its resolution 64/245, approved a commitment authority of up to
$5 million for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI),
under section 33, Construction, alteration, improvement and major
maintenance, for the biennium 2010-2011, in order to undertake design
work for the construction of an integrated compound in Baghdad. The
Secretary-General indicates in paragraph 13 of his report that,
during 2010, a Project Manager (P-5) was recruited and an
architectural services contract was awarded for the project’s
schematic design, design development and construction documentation
phases. Upon enquiry, the Committee was informed that, to date, UNAMI
has entered into commitments with the contractor in the amount of
$2.97 million, comprising obligations of $2.39 million and
disbursements of $0.58 million.
6.
The
Advisory
Committee
notes with concern that, as at 19 July 2010,
the architectural services contract has been in a “condition of
default” and that it is therefore unlikely that a full
specification design would be available until early 2011. The
Committee was also informed that the estimated costs would be far
higher than originally expected and that the construction timelines
would extend much further than planned. UNAMI is currently
considering alternative options in Baghdad and has identified an
existing site that will become available in 2011. The Committee notes
that the Secretary-General is seeking approval to appropriate the
amount of $5 million already approved as a commitment authority.
7.
In
the
context
of its report on the budget for the United Nations
Assistance Mission in Iraq for 2011, the Advisory Committee has
expressed its concern about the reported situation that has resulted
in delays in the construction project and urged the Secretary-General
to resolve the problems at hand (see A/65/602, paras. 217-221).
Therefore, in view of the uncertainties concerning the planned
project, the Committee recommends that the amount of $5 million
already approved as a commitment authority not be appropriated at
present but rather that any actual expenditures arising from the
commitment authority be reported in the context of the second
performance report for the biennium 2010-2011.
Watch
this
site.
, 
