The UN Press Conference Room, New York City, March 24, 2005

The UN Press Conference, noon, March 24, 2005, was not noticeable by
what
was presented but by what was omitted; journalists asked questions on
several items of major importance but answers were not forthcoming.

(a) On Kyrgyzstan: It was already known that the people took over the
government headquarters, the long-time President, Alkayev, fled, the
regime’s opponent Felix Kulov was freed from prison and declared that
the
opposition would guarantee Alkayev’s security “because there must be a
peaceful transfer of power”. The Secretary-General’s spokesman was
asked
about this but had no comment.

On its face value, this third drastic - people initiated change in a
former
Soviet Republic - now an independent member-state of the UN - within a
month
and a half following the examples of Georgia and the Ukraine - could
have
been a tailor-made example for the new United Nations the
Secretary-General
wrote about. We realize the political implications for the SG of
encouraging
such moves, but at least this was something to be noticed and tacitly
approved off, if the UN Secretariat wants to be taken seriously. In
addition, Kyrgystan is an Islamic state harboring military bases of
Russia
and the US, bordering China, and within short distance of Afghanistan;
one
could just as well see in these events also a sequel to the elections
in
Iraq, at the Palestinian Authority, the actions of the people of
Lebanon,
and the budding possible changes in other Muslim countries - we believe
this
is an event of major importance. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for a
democratic Kyrgystan and let us help people find Kyrgystan on the
global
map.

(b) On the investigation of the killing of Mr. Hariri in Lebanon: Here
the
Spokesman for the SG said that the report by the deputy police
commissioner
of Ireland, Peter Fitzgerald, who led the UN fact finding mission, was
received by the SG and will be given to the Security Council with a
cover
letter. A journalist, clearly with ideas about transparency in his
mind,
simply asked why the the report is not being made available to the
press
now, as it is clear that it will be obtained anyway, as it will be
public.
The Spokesman said that this was only a fact finding mission and the
Security Council will now have to mandate a full investigation.

The report describes a meeting between Mr. Hariri and Syria’s President
Assad, where Assad told him that if he and the Druze leader Walid
Jumblat
will not back Syria-favored Lebanese President Lahoud, they will
encounter
physical harm. Mr. Fitzgerald’s report finds that no conclusive
investigation is possible as long as the current Syrian-controlled
Lebanese
authority runs the country.

(c) On the Iraqi oil-for-food funds: The Secretariat has released this
week
a letter saying that the previous Chef-de-Cabinet, Mr. Iqbal Riza, has
made
the promises to pay the legal expenses of Mr. Sevan from the 2.2% of
the oil
money retained by the UN for administrative expenses. The Iraqi
ambassador
reacted expressing outrage. “The idea that Iraqi state assets are
being
used to defray the legal fees of someone alleged to have stolen money
from
the people of Iraq is shameful. This is like a bank employee accused
of
stealing funds, and requiring the depositor to pay his legal fees”.
According to the press, the Iraqi Ambassador then proceeded to ask that
the
arrears of Iraq’s dues to the UN be taken from the 2.2% account. The
reporter’s question was what is the reaction of the Secretariat to
above
proposal? The Spokesman’s very believable answer was that he never
heard of
this.

(d) There were quite a few more questions of equal availability of
people
for interviews dealing with other areas.

Now, these comments are not intended as reflecting on the Spokesman who
can
work only with what is supplied to him by the inner bureaucracy. The
problem lies there, and perhaps with the reluctance of the SG to step
in
taking stronger positions - also the nature of the topics involved
point in
a very disquieting direction - namely a possible influence by Arab
governments. Treating the Syrian dictator with kid gloves? Allowing
Syria’s membership in the Security Council? Seeing off the SG to
Algiers,
to a meeting attended only by half of the leadership of the League of
Arab
States and leaving Mrs. Annan to take care of the Jordanian King being
present at a price-receiving event at the UN headquarters? Now,
seriously,
King Abdullah II has suggested to the Arab states to establish
relations
with Israel - right now - in order to facilitated a solution to the
Palestinian situation. The King’s suggestion was rejected by the Arab
League but cries out for the UN SG backing, not his pandering to those
that
came to Algiers in order to support Syria in its efforts to hang on to
Lebanon. Did the SG expect there backing to his “IN LARGER FREEDOM”?
Oh - the press that is in the way!

Just an additional reminder - we were not able to pry loose earlier
the list of countries that did not back the call for the UN Holocaust
special session, probably because it would have been a list of mostly
Arab
states. Also, in our area of immediate interest, the UN Department of
Public Information has still not introduced to the world press, via a
press
conference, those that started in 2005 the Decade of Education for
Sustainable Development. Are we here watching all sorts of cover-up?