ANALYSIS / With UN flotilla probe, Ban ki-Moon is trying to stay relevant
UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon was desperate to earn a diplomatic achievement, in the wake of charges recently leveled against him by the former UN comptroller.
By Shlomo Shamir Tags: Israel news Gaza flotilla UNImmediately following Israel's raid of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla on May 31, United Nations Secretary General Ban ki-Moon began to work to form a UN probe into the incident.
Ban's lobbying efforts in recent weeks to advance a UN probe, which included meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, displayed Ban's desire to register a diplomatic achievement and earn the gratitude of the international community – two things Ban needed desperately.
 |
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon |
| Photo by: Reuters |
Ban has been coping with much pressure recently, in the wake of accusations leveled against him in a memorandum written by former UN comptroller Inga Britt-Ahlenius, a Swedish diplomat.
In a memorandum that was leaked to the Washington Post, Britt-Ahlenius charged that Ban had sabotaged her work to eliminate corruption at UN headquarters in New York.
Britt-Ahlenius wrote that the "[UN] Secretariat is drifting into irrelevance."
Last week, Ban appointed a new UN comptroller and announced a plan to make the global organization more efficient.
But even senior UN officials who refuted the charges that Britt-Ahlenius leveled against Ban acknowledge that Ban's prestige has been seriously harmed in recent months and that support for Ban among world powers has evaporated.
Ban's list of accomplishments is meager and the prevailing image among diplomats and analysts in New York is that Ban is an uninspiring bureaucrat, lacking leadership skills, who has not left a mark on the UN during his four years at its helm.
"The Secretary General had several goals in forming a UN probe of the flotilla incident," a senior diplomat told Haaretz on Monday. "He aspires to be recognized as an active player in the Middle East and sees the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a potential way to strengthen his position."
Above all, the diplomat said, Ban views the flotilla incident as a way to overshadow the recent accusations leveled against him.
Why Facebook Connect?
Comment on Haaretz.com articles with your Facebook login, and share your thoughts on your own wall.
- Latest
- Most Viewed
- Most Rated
- Open all
Sorry I meant Ban Ki-Moon. Another nincompoop like most world leaders. The UN is collapsing. Unfortunately, for me, not fast enough. What a flippin' mess the public of all countries have on their hands. Talk about useless characters. I think I've seen them all. LOLOL. Be happy your time is up Ban-Ki!
So the sock puppet is trying to "stay relevant." Ha ha ha ha ha ha, very funny , the more he speaks the more pitiful he becomes.
Until a member of the five security council Gods decides to use the UN to do something for its' own iterest. If I were in Moon's place, I'd coast along and retire happily after a book deal or two.
A tough task to stay relevant in an irrelevant organization such as the UN. The damning report on Mr. Ban by the former comptroller paints a daming picture of an organization run by a pathetic narcisstic human being. The UN has lacked any credibility as an honest organization and this latest waste of time and money witchunt against Israel proves the most obvious point.
Your political menagerie Mr. Ki-Moon is irrelevant to any Middle East game plan that you've had originally in mind. What will be relevant to you sir, are the corruption charges that will be leveled at you soon. And you can take that to the Ban Ki-Moon!
Ban ki-moon may need a diplomatic achievement. But that does not change the necessity for an ınternational probe. People do not ask for it for the sake Moon's career.
let's see if the scope includes the role of the Turkish government in the matter.
People around the world are being blown apart daily..shot, killed ...slaughtered ....1000's and the Good For Nothing org., the mighty U.N and Ban Ki-moon are spending so much time on the flotilla . The Flotilla is chicken feed compared to what is going on around the world .
All this fuss is only because it is Israel. If it was the UK ,France, or any African State it would have been history ........if you do not beleive me ask Ban Ki Moon
Israel was involved, and the UN cannot forego the opportunity to try and harm Israel.