UK
In November Has No Cameroon
Meeting In UNSC As
London-Based Tower Deals With
Biya
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Photos,
Periscope
UN GATE, Nov 3 –
With the UN Security Council
presidency for November being
taken over by the UK Mission
and its Karen Pierce, she
bragged in his 1 November 2019
press conference that the UK
would have a lot of meetings
about Africa. Video from
presser here.
But none,
it quickly became clear, about
Cameroon, despite Paul Biya's
killings there. As it turns
out, just as Liam Fox bragged
about New Age oil's deal with
Biya, now London-based Tower
Resources is bragging about
its "in" with Biya's ministry:
"Tower Resources said it had
hired Geoquip Marine
Operations to conduct a site
survey of a planned well
location at its Thali block in
Cameroon. The contract
provided for investigator to
arrive in Cameroon between 15
November and 30 December,
subject to all relevant
permits and the requisite
license extension being
received from the Ministry of
Mines, Industry and
Technological
Development... 'We are
looking forward to getting the
site survey underway, which
should be the final
operational step before
commencing drilling operations
at Njonji,' chief executive
Jeremy Asher said. 'We
are still awaiting the formal
extension from the ministry,
but we are confident that this
will be in place in good time
for the survey.'"
The
UK has denied Inner City
Press' FOIA request on its
role in Cameroon, and its
Mission and Pierce did nothing
when UNSG Antonio Guterres had
Inner City Press roughed up
and banned now 485 days amid
its questions about Guterres'
Budget Committee deal with
Biya's Tommo Monthe,
procedural favors for silence.
By Africa
Pierce apparently meant only
those countries where
neo-colonial UK still wants to
have a role, if only by
getting its national appointed
to UN roles, like Somalia and
Libya.
While
there were mostly softball
questions about rugby and,
from Chinese state media, on
the UK's supposed love of
mediation and/or
reconciliation, Pierce
pointedly and repeatedly
demanded to know who one
questioning journalist was,
and his media.
Apparently
Inner City Press which would
have her, as it did Jonathan
Allen, about Cameroon was not
enough - she wanted only
friendly questions. She said
UK diplomacy is alive and
well. That's not the story
that FOIA, and the Mission's
continued support of Guterres'
ban on Inner City Press,
tells.
The UK has
have a debate on Africa on
November 4, and reconciliation
on the 19th. There's Libya on
the 18th, and Somalia no less
than twice (but no Somaliland,
Pierce made clear). November
22 is Yemen, on which Pierce
took a question from a Saudi
media she often pals around
with, Jamal Khashoggi
notwithstanding.
Cyprus, of
course, on November 25 - and
Big Tony's Big Lunch on
November 20. Inner City Press
will cover as many of these as
it can, including from the
Delegates Entrance Gate where
the UK Mission watched and did
nothing, or worse, as
censorship of Press took place
right in front of them. Watch
this site.
***
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