By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive
UNITED NATIONS, May 23, 2015 -- The UN's bungling of Yemen mediation has become ever more clear, according to multiple sources and documents exclusively seen by Inner City Press.
First the UN allowed US Secretary of State John Kerry to tell it not to dare hold Yemen talks in Geneva on May 11 as the UN had planned, as Inner City Press exclusively reported on May 6.
Now the May 28 talks in Geneva, conveniently after the Houthi-less talks in Riyadh, will be stacked in ways both pro-Saudi and laughable, sources tell Inner City Press.
New Saudi-picked "UN" envoy Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed, who appeared on the podium in Riyadh, has dropped from the list of documents on which the May 28 talks are based the Peace and Partnership Agreement that all Yemeni political parties agreed to on September 21, 2014.
The reason? Saudi Arabia doesn't like what was agreed to at that time: it created obligations not only for the Houthis but also for Hadi. So it is gone.
In attendance on May 28 will be the Saudi-led Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Gulf Cooperation Council and its Secretary-General Abdullatif Al-Zayani - but notably not Iran. The number of seats for the Houthis will be limited.
Who else is slated to go? Causing laughter in diplomatic circle and in Yemen where it is sorely needed, Cheikh Ahmed is angling to fly in the so-called Children's Parliament organized by an NGO in Yemen, as well as their parents and guardians. "Who is paying for this?" one source demanded of Inner City Press.
This last step is blamed by the sources on Cheikh Ahmed having little political background. Inner City Press has already reported on his failure while previously in Yemen to protect UN staff -- failure to pick up the armored vehicles from the airport or have the recommended security detail with staff going to the airport, leading to the long kidnapping of a UNICEF staffer.
But even at UNICEF, Cheikh Ahmed was in human resources, not substantive policy. And the Press questions about his fishing business and its funders remain UNanswered. We'll have more on this.
For now, this: Inner City Press is informed that after Cheikh Ahmed's quick visit to Iran, he was summoned back to Riyadh and, highly irregular for the UN, went without his policy "team," not even a note-taker. What might have been discussed?
The UN, we note, routinely refuses to answer Press questions.
Back on April 29, Inner City Press asked the UN's deputy spokesperson to confirm that the UN was considering Geneva as a venue to continue Yemen talks, after its previous envoy Jamal Benomar resigned in protest of Saudi airstrikes and was replaced by a more amenable envoy, Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed.
UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq replied that “we do not officially have a venue yet. Geneva is certainly one of the venues that is being considered, and that may very well be where it's taking place.”
After that, Inner City Press has learned, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon spoke with US Secretary of State John Kerry, who discourage -- rejected, in essence -- the date of May 11 in Geneva which the UN had put in writing, in multiple documents since seen by Inner City Press.
The UN's argument, tellingly, was the May 11 would work well for Ban Ki-moon's schedule (he would be returning from his May 9 attendance of Victory Day in Moscow) and that the Houthis were more likely, but not certain, to attend in Geneva rather a Saudi selected venue.
In an echo of the UN's failing mediation on Syria, the UN acknowledged that while Iran should attend in Geneva, Saudi Arabia might refuse to attend in Iran did.
And so the UN's idea was a Yemeni-only event in Geneva, with Ban Ki-moon to speak and then leave. New enovy Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed would then conduct consultations -- like Staffan de Mistura is doing on Syria, the UN analogized without apparent irony -- and perhaps move the ongoing talks to Muscat, Oman.
(Involved in all this planning, not surprisingly, has been American Jeffrey Feltman, previously of the US State Department. While a nice enough guy, this combined with France's even more open domination of UN Peacekeeping through USG Herve Ladsous, has also caused the UN to increasingly be viewed as partial. The UK controls Humanitarian Affairs through incoming Stephen O'Brien as exclusively reported by Inner City Press, credited by UK Channel 4 and the Telegraph.)
As to the UN's idea of May 11 talks in Geneva, Kerry said no, that the UN should wait until after the Saudi convened event, now set for May 17 in Riyadh. The Houthis, of course, will not attend that. Ban Ki-moon is invited, but might see it smells of failure or partiality.
In any event, while the UN has not announced it South Korean sources say Ban will be in South Korea for four whole days around May 20. (Some say he has an interest in running for office there.)
But if Ismael Ould Cheikh Amhed attends the Riyadh meeting and is put on display on the podium, what possible credibility with or access to the Houthis could he have?
Tellingly, while others have reported the Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed is going to Paris before visting Riyadh, they have not said why. Inner City Press is informed the Paris stop over is at the request or demand of the head of the Gulf Cooperation Council, who is on vacation in Paris. This is today's UN.
(SPA subsequently reported or bragged that Ismael "Wild" Cheikh Ahmed met in Paris with GCC Secretary General Abdullatif bin Rashed Al-Zayani.)
Tellingly, while Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed rushed to Washington DC to meet at the US State Department on May 1, as of the late afternoon of May 5 the president of the UN Security Council had yet to meet Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed.
On April 25, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on April 25 named Ismael Ould Cheikh Ahmed to replace Jamal Benomar as envoy on Yemen.
Three times Inner City Press had asked the Office of the UN Spokesperson why Ould Cheikh Ahmed is not listed on Ban's webpage of public financial discloure and to say, yes or no, if he has an interest in a business which received funding from the Gulf. Three times the Office of Spokesperson promised to look into and give an answer, but never did. This is Ban's UN.
On April 28, Inner City Press asked again:
Inner City Press: I wanted to ask on the new Yemen Special Adviser, Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed, there was this understanding of why on the page of the Secretary-General there's no public financial disclosure.
Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq: Regarding that, we did check with the ethics office, and he has made available his disclosure in line with the existing rules and procedures, and so he is up to date on those. There are times when for… for a variety of different reasons people's disclosures may not be on the website.
Inner City Press: But is he one of the officials that's decided to not make even the summary public? I want… because when the name is listed, there’s a checkbox…
Deputy Spokesman Haq: I've said what I have to say on that, but he has made his disclosures in line with the appropriate rules and regulations.
Inner City Press: And also Stéphane had said that he would check whether a letter was received by the Office of the Secretary-General from a number of parties in Yemen concerning the appointment of this new envoy. Did he do that? Have you received that letter?
Deputy Spokesman: I don't know. This was when?
Inner City Press: It was on Friday, I believe, that I asked him and he said he would check. The reports are that the… a variety of the parties in Yemen wrote a letter about the process of replacing Mr. Benomar. And I wanted to obviously just to know if you got it…
Deputy Spokesman: Certainly… In the day after you asked, we announced the appointment, so that is part of our answer. And with that, let me bring our guest.
So, none of the public financial disclosure which Ban talked so much about. Why not?
On April 24, Inner City Press had asked Ban's spokesman Stephane Dujarric:
Question: Okay. I'm also informed of a letter from political parties in Yemen, including those representing Houthis and others, directed at the Secretary-General making two requests. One, that Mr. Ould Cheikh Ahmed not be named as a replacement to Mr. [Jamal] Benomar and that someone be appointed or retained who actually they will speak with. And I wanted to know… you may not know of this letter yet, but I'm reliably informed it is either there or on its way…
Spokesman: All right. I will look for the letter.
Question: And I guess my question would be, do you… has the Secretary-General… since we've already… we've heard from some of the ambassadors from the Security Council that he's put forward a name. Did he put any effort to speak to the parties on the ground in Yemen, the actual Yemenis?
Spokesman: I think the… when we're ready to announce the person, we will. Obviously, for a… an appointment as delicate as this… as this ongoing… to represent the Secretary-General in this ongoing crisis, it is normal to have as broad of a consultation as possible, and what is obviously extremely important is that once that envoy is named, that adviser is named, that all the parties give him access and engage with him.
Question: If you get the letter, will you squawk it? Does it mean that these parties that wrote…
Spokesman: I think…
Question: …once consulted…
Spokesman: It's an ongoing humanitarian crisis. It's an ongoing conflict. And we are trying to get the political process back on track. So we'd like to have a special envoy as soon as… a Special Adviser as soon as possible, and again hope that all the parties engage with him.
Question: Didn't you have one? That's my question. Didn't you actually have a Special Adviser?
Spokesman: Yes, we have Mr. Benomar…
Question: Is it your understanding that he's entirely unwilling to continue in the post?
Spokesman: Well, I think he's… he's… he's expressed his desire to move on and, as we said, we are… we're in the process of naming somebody shortly.
No response about the letter, either. This does not bode well.