By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
Series
UNITED
NATIONS,
February 12, more
here, Video I here -- After Inner City
Press reported
on UK Prime
Minister David
Cameron's
angry or
"rude" call to
UN Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon,
and more than
a month after
Inner City
Press exclusively
reported on
Cameron's
second and
third nominees
to replace
Valerie Amos,
then on a
United Arab
Emirates
candidate, on
February 12
Inner City
Press learned
more about the
selection process.
Beyond Deputy
Secretary
General Jan
Eliasson, who
as on many
similar issues
Ban Ki-moon
has put in
charge of this
process, Inner
City Press is
informed that
the interview
panel consists
of two senior
UN officials
and two
outside
officials,
including "the
Swiss chief of
the International
Committee of
the Red
Cross."
That would be
Peter Maurer,
formerly
Switzerland's
Ambassador to
the UN. As one
source put it,
this puts the
UK with its
"weak"
candidates
"even further
behind the
eight ball."
Non-UK
candidates, as
Inner City
Press has
already first
reported,
include
Germany's
Martin Kobler,
the United
Arab Emirates'
Lubna Khalid
Al Qasimi --
for whom Ban
was heavily
lobbied when
he was in the
UAE recently
-- and, Inner
City Press now
hears, "a
South African
candidate."
We'll have
more on this.
Back
on February 9
Inner City
Press asked
the UN more
about the
process, and a
protest:
Inner
City Press: I
wanted to ask
a follow-up on
the
replacement of
Valerie
Amos.
The group
Avaaz has said
that it has
collected
70,000
signatures
saying that
Andrew Lansley
is not
qualified to
head OCHA. I
wanted to know
whether the UN
is aware of
that petition,
what they
think of it,
and also how
the selection
process jibes
with what the
Secretary-General
said in the
UAE, which is
that people
should be
involved in
decision-making.
What is the
process for
which either
aid groups or
individuals
that are
beneficiaries
of UN
humanitarian
assistance
have to impact
this important
decision?
Deputy
Spokesman
Farhan
Haq: The
Secretary-General
stands by what
he said.
The Deputy
Secretary-General,
Jan Eliasson,
is in charge
of the process
of determining
a successor
and is relying
on people both
inside and
outside the
system in
terms of
helping with
that
determination.
Beyond that,
we wouldn't
have much
detail to give
until a
selection is
made.
Regarding the
petition:
Yes, the
United Nations
has received
that petition.
Inner City
Press:
And will the
candidates be
interviewed
generally, I’m
asking
generally?
And two, is
Martin Kobler
in the final
list?
Deputy
Spokesman
Haq: I
wouldn't
confirm any
names of
candidates.
There is a
list of
candidates,
and there are
people who
will be
interviewed,
yes. And
with that, Mr.
Šimonovic,
please come
up. (video
here, transcript here.)
Meanwhile,
UK Channel 4
today reported
that a
decision will
be made this
week.
Citing Inner
City Press' exclusive
reporting
on
Caroline
Spelman and
Stephen
O'Brien, the
UK's second
round of
candidates
after
opposition to
Andrew
Lansley, C4's
Lindsey Hilsum
says
Germany's
candidate
Martin Kobler
led in a poll
of 200 UN
staff by Avaaz.
Whatever the
other merits,
there is now
another
unaddressed
scandal at the
UN Mission in
the DR Congo,
MONUSCO, which
Kobler is in
charge of. As
exclusively
uncovered
by Inner City
Press, UN
Police posts
in Kobler's
mission were
for sale, by
the Deputy
Permanent
Representative
of Cote
d'Ivoire to
the UN. Click
here for that.
Inner City
Press 24
hours before
this report
sought comment
and
explanation
--
particularly
for the UN
having sat on
this report
since April of
2014 -- from
Kobler and
MONUSCO,
but so far,
nothing.
Shouldn't
Kobler have to
answer? Watch
this site.
Back on
January 14,
Inner City
Press was
informed by
sources of a
minister from
the United
Arab Emirates,
Lubna Khalid
Al Qasimi, a
member of the
ruling family
of Sharjah,
put forward as
a candidate by
the UAE. The
UAE has, it
was noted,,
the
"Humanitarian
City." And the
UAE did give
$1 million to
OCHA's CERF
last month.
But the UAE
sought, and
has been
unable to
obtained, UN
Asia Pacific
Group
consensus
support for
their
candidate.
This is a
set-back.
The
UK's second
duo of
candidates,
after
opposition to
Andrew
Lansley:
Caroline
Spelman and
Stephen
O'Brien. Are
those who
oppose and
opposed
Lansley being
lobbied?
Germany's
candidate
Martin Kobler,
a close
observer
emphasizes to
Inner City
Press that
Kobler was for
a time the
UN's first
choice to be
UN Special
Coordinator on
the Middle
East, before
after
opposition by
a Permanent
Five Security
Council member
the position
went to Robert
Serry.
Now Serry is
to be replaced
by Nickolay
Mladenov,
currently UN
envoy in Iraq.
The UK --
seeming to
reflect a lack
of confidence
it will retain
OCHA -- sought
to name one of
its national
to replace
Mladenov, but
was shot down
by Iraq. That
process is now
in its final
stages.
While Inner
City Press exclusively
published the
Mladenov to
Serry switch
before
midnight in
New York on
January 30,
eleven hours
later one of
the board
members of the
UN Censorship
Alliance put
it out without
any credit at
all. That's
UNCA - Inner
City Press
quit and
co-founded the
new Free
UN Coalition
for Access,
after attempts
at censorship
and refusal of
UNCA's board
to issue even
guidance about
not stealing
exclusives.
Call it
sleaze.
Back on
November 26,
minutes after
the UN
announced the
departure of
Office for the
Coordination
of
Humanitarian
Affairs chief
Baroness
Valerie Amos,
Inner City
Press asked
UN Deputy
Spokesperson
Farhan Haq if
the vacancy
would be
advertised for
candidates
from all
countries, or
if it is set
aside for
Amos' United
Kingdom.
On January 30
Inner City
Press was
reliable
informed that
UK Prime
Minister David
Cameron
telephoned
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon and
said --
"rudely,"
according to
denizens of
the UN's 38th
floor -- that
despite the
UK's
submission of
two additional
names, below,
Ban "must"
pick Andrew
Lansley.
These sources
say that Ban,
as if to prove
independence,
will NOT
choose Lansley
but will keep
the post UK,
choosing on a
progressive
basis the
female
candidate, Caroline
Spelman. Are
those opposed
to Lansley
being lobbied
for her?
We'll have
more on this.
, 
