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Inner City Press -- Investigative Reporting From the Inner City to Wall Street to the United Nations

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In UNSC Race, Canada Blames Ignatieff for Loss, S. Africa Favors Deferral for Bashir

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, October 12 -- After Canada withdrew for the Security Council seat competition it spent time and money on, Foreign Minister blamed the flame out on opposition leader Michael Ignatieff's statements. But in Inner City Press' reporting, no one had mentioned Ignatieff.

  Rather, they spoke about Canada's defunding of UNRWA and, in Africa, its temporarily blocking of debt relief for the Democratic Republic of Congo in order to gain leverage for one of its mining companies in the DRC.

  When Cannon went forward with his press conference scheduled for 1:15 on Tuesday, less than an hour after withdrawal, Inner City Press asked him to respond on UNRWA and the blocking of debt relief to the Congo, since he'd repeatedly said Canada would still to its “principled” foreign policy.

Cannon claimed that the UNRWA issues have been resolved, and that no one had raised the Congo issues to him. Apparently he never spoke to any DRC diplomats.

  Cannon walked out of his press conference after that question, with a question about mistreatment of Tamils ringing in his ears.


Ignatieff, UNRWA, DRC and UNSC loss not shown

Back in front of the General Assembly, Inner City Press asked South Africa's Foreign Minister if on Sudan her country will promote the African Union line that the indictments of Omar al Bashir by the International Criminal Court should be deferred for at least one year.

Yes, she said, that is our position. (India's Hardeep Singh Puri declined to state India's position, while telling Inner City Press that he knew Pakistan voted for India.) Inner City Press then asked UK Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant, who was in charge of the Darfur leg of the Council's trip to Sudan, what he thought of South Africa's position on Bashir. He answered that any resolution -- i.e. one to defer the indictments -- would require votes on the Council (on which the US, UK and France each have vetoes).

Inner City Press said, can I ask you another question about Darfur? But Lyall Grant walked off.

Footnote: India's Hardeep Singh Puri said that he knew that Pakistan had voted for India -- apparently, the ballot paper was shown -- and so the lone vote for Pakistan must have come from somewhere else. The same for Swaziland. But what explains the fall off in Canada's vote from first to second round? This reflects “capitals” controlling the first round vote, while New York based Permanent Representative have more freedom on the second and subsequent rounds. So Canada dropped out.

* * *
At UN, Canada and Portugal in Second Round Slugfest for Council Seat, Germany Squeaks In

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, October 12 -- Neither Canada nor Portugal made it onto the UN Security Council on the first ballot on Tuesday. In the Western European and Other states Group, 127 votes were needed to get a seat. Germany, despite all it spent, barely made it with 128. Portugal just missed with 122, with Canada in third place with 114. A second round was called for.

In the run up to the vote, numerous Ambassadors told Inner City Press that while they didn't like Canada's current policies, they also didn't want to see two more Europeans on the Council. There was a mood of “anything but two more Europeans” which seemed to favor Canada. But not enough.

India got the most votes with 187 -- Pakistan got one vote, which most feel came from Pakistan itself. Similarly, South Africa got 182 votes, with one for (and by?) Swaliland. Colombia got 186 votes.

Now, Portugal's Permanent Representative with his omnipresent bow tie is working the crowd. Lawrence Cannon, Canada's foreign minister, may have to delay or even cancel his press conference. Watch this site.

* * *

At UN, Will “Right Wing” Canada Sweep in Because 4 Europeans on Council Are Too Many?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, October 11 -- The battle for UN Security Council seats between Germany, Portugal and Canada reached its final stage on Monday night, with the Ambassadors of all three countries chatting up different parts of the crowd at South Africa's de facto victory party.

South Africa, India and Colombia are running unopposed, though Colombia does not have the endorsement of its regional group. But for the Western European and Other States Group, there are only two seats for the three above named candidates.

  Each has taken Ambassadors, notably from Africa, on junket like vacations. But it is a secret ballot and few on Monday night would predict the outcome.

   What were offered instead were theories. Canada's theory is that developing countries won't want two more European countries on the Council to join the UK and France.

  Others point to Portugal's more progressive politics -- it's “almost a developing country,” one G-77 member told Inner City Press, seeming to refer to politics rather than Portugal's battered economy.

A well place Ambassador told Inner City Press that this WEOG election will show to where it is more important to direct advocacy, a country's Mission to the UN in New York, or foreign minister back in the capital.

  Monday at noon, Ion Botnaru of the Department of General Assembly and Conference Management briefed the press about the rules of procedures for Tuesday's vote. He said that the African and Asian Groups had a formal agreement that of each two vacancies, one should go to each continent.

Inner City Press asked Botnaru about Canada's theory that there is an unwritten rule that in WEOG, only one seat goes to Europe, the other, to Other. Botnaru said he's aware of no rule to that effect. But still the pitch is made.

  Ironically, left leaning Portugal may pay for the arrogance of the EU's campaign for special speaking rights, and Sweden's drive-by attack on ten countries' human rights records during the General Debate.


Cannon at UN, Richard Butler not shown

   A reporter trashed Germany for excluding the media from its reception on Monday night, unlike South African. Current Swiss President of the GA Joseph Deiss was seen heading to the Germany reception at 6:30, but he never showed up at the South Africans.

Whatever happens in the Western European and Other states Group, with the election India and South Africa to join Brazil on the Council, major powers which want permanent seats will be on the Council. While one might hope they'd band together and be more transparent, do things in a different way, the Permanent Representative of one of these countries argued to Inner City Press on Monday that the three will try to show they can get along with the P-5, that they are not “mavericks.”

But what if the UN needs more mavericks? To be continued.

Footnote: some old UN hands reminisce about Portugal's victory in the 1996 over Australia, whose Permanent Representative Richard Butler held a victory press conference before actually winning. When Portugal and its Permanent Representative Antonio Monterio beat Canada, Butler was called to account, and resurfaced at UNSCOM. Given Lawrence Cannon's Tuesday press conference, can we be expected to one day inspect Myanmar for nuclear weapons? Just asking.

Australia is now on record as running in 2013, and already counting votes...

* * *

For UNSC Seats, Canada & Germany Offer Junkets, Colombia Opposed by Chavez & Alba Group? India In, Zuma MIA?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 2 -- To choose the five new non permanent members of the UN Security Council, one contest is known, another only rumored.

India and South Africa are running unopposed, even though the latter's president Jacob Zuma is now not coming to the UN General Debate in late September. Colombia still maintains it's unopposed, but sources say that the endorsement of the regional group GRULAC is by no means assured, due to opposition from Venezuela and members of the ALBA group.

Inner City Press asked Venezuela's Ambassador Valero about the controversy on the evening of September 1. He acknowledged GRULAC support was being withheld, but said this might change if relations with new Colombian president Santos continued to improve.

Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's appointment of Alvaro Urbibe to his panel of the assault on the Gaza flotilla continues to chafe the Grupo Alba. Venezuela is slated to head the Group of 77 and China in the coming year, and will act on that appointment at that time.

  Skeptical observers link Ban's Uribe appointment not only to a desire to please the U.S. and Israel, but also Colombia, as it would have a vote on Ban's second term. Ban's backtrack on Kashmir is also seen in this light.

The competition between Germany, Canada and Portugal for the two Western Europe and Other Group (WEOG) seats is heating up, with attempts to buy votes. The Permanent Representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo complained to Inner City Press about Canada flying five African Ambassadors north last weekend, and said he was not going.

Last month outside the General Assembly's session on the floods in Pakistan, Inner City Press asked Canada's foreign minister Lawrence Cannon how the campaign was going. Good, good, he said with a smile.

On the evening of August 30, simultaneous with Russia's End of Security Council Presidency party uptown, Germany held a reception in the UN's North Lawn building, promoting its funding of African border demarcations.

Sources told Inner City Press that Germany behind the scenes was topping Canada by inviting African and other developing world Ambassadors for a European junket.

  Inner City Press asked the German mission to “please confirm or deny that Germany recently invited a number of developing world diplomats and their spouses to Germany. Please state how many diplomats and spouses were invited, including how many from Africa and from which countries, to where, and why. Please comment on the relation between these invitations and Germany's run for a Security Council seat 2011-12.”

Six hours later Inner City Press received a response from the German mission to the UN, below.


UN's Ban & Angela Merkel,
Gästeprogramm not shown

Subject: Re: press questions
From: .NEWYVN POL-2-6 Eberl, Alexander
To: "Matthew R. Lee" Inner City Press
Date: Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 6:49 PM

Dear Mr. Lee, thank you for your mail... Within the framework of the so-called “Gästeprogramm der Bundesrepublik Deutschland” (Visitors Programm of the Federal Republic of Germany) the Federal Government and the German Bundestag jointly and regularly invite different groups of foreign personalities to Germany.

This well-established programme stretches back to the early years of the Federal Republic and has through time covered a wide variety of countries and topics. It is aimed at foreign personalities with an accentuated role in their country, be it in politics, society or culture – or journalism. The programme intends to foster the dialogue between Germany and other countries, societies and cultures. Please note, that spouses are not invited or covered by the programme.

Various groups – among them this year all in all around fifty diplomats from developing countries based in New York – were invited to Germany. They held fruitful meetings and talks both in Berlin as well as in other German places.

The aim of the Visitors Programme has always been to make insights available and thereby improve the understanding of Germany. It goes without saying that Germany – as a keen multilateralist – has an interest to provide decision-makers with opportunities of firsthand information.

Best regards,

Alexander Eberl, Press & Public Relations
Permanent Mission of Germany to the United Nations

Can Portugal, given its financial problems, keep up? Should UN Security Council seats be for sale? Watch this site.

 Click here for an Inner City Press YouTube channel video, mostly UN Headquarters footage, about civilian deaths in Sri Lanka.

Click here for Inner City Press' March 27 UN debate

Click here for Inner City Press March 12 UN (and AIG bailout) debate

Click here for Inner City Press' Feb 26 UN debate

Click here for Feb. 12 debate on Sri Lanka http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/17772?in=11:33&out=32:56

Click here for Inner City Press' Jan. 16, 2009 debate about Gaza

Click here for Inner City Press' review-of-2008 UN Top Ten debate

Click here for Inner City Press' December 24 debate on UN budget, Niger

Click here from Inner City Press' December 12 debate on UN double standards

Click here for Inner City Press' November 25 debate on Somalia, politics

and this October 17 debate, on Security Council and Obama and the UN.

* * *

These reports are usually also available through Google News and on Lexis-Nexis.

Click here for a Reuters AlertNet piece by this correspondent about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click here for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali National Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an undefined trust fund.  Video Analysis here

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