UN's Ban says has his own leadership style

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-mmoon gestures during a meeting with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak...

Aug 31 U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon responded to Norwegian criticism of his leadership on Monday by saying he had his own style and charisma. Ban met Norway's Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg to discuss climate change during a visit that followed the leak of a scathing memo in which Norway's deputy U.N. Ambassador Mona Juul said Ban suffered from "a lack of charisma" Juul accused Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister, of weak, ineffective and at times counterproductive leadership, Norwegian daily Aftenposten had reported. Norway has stressed that the letter was an internal diplomatic memo and not a statement by the government. "We all have a different background, leadership styles. We must respect each others'," Ban told a news conference. "I have my own leadership style, my own charisma." Juul reportedly wrote that Ban was a mere "passive observer" after Myanmar's arrest of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and that his visit there to meet the hardline generals was fruitless and could create problems for lower-level diplomats. The secretary-general pointed to his diplomatic efforts last year, when he persuaded Myanmar Senior General Than Shwe to lift humanitarian aid restrictions after Cyclone Nargis. Ban said he was committed to work for democratization of Myanmar.

kilde: news.yahoo.com

Report: Secret Norwegian letter blasts UN leader

- This is a 1997 file picture of Mona Juul, Norway's ambassador to the United Nations. Norway's ambassador to the United Nations has accused Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a confidential letter of weak leadership, lack of charisma and angry outbursts, the Oslo newspaper Aftenposten newspaper reported Wednesday. The newspaper published what it said was a letter to Norway's foreign ministry from Mona Juul. "At a time when the U.N. and multilateral solutions to global crises are more needed than ever, Ban and the U.N. are notable by their absence," the letter read. - ----------------------------------------------------------- OSLO -- Norway's ambassador to the United Nations has accused Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a confidential letter of weak leadership, lack of charisma and angry outbursts, the Oslo newspaper Aftenposten newspaper reported Wednesday. The newspaper published what it said was a letter to Norway's foreign ministry from Mona Juul. "At a time when the U.N. and multilateral solutions to global crises are more needed than ever, Ban and the U.N. are notable by their absence," the letter read. Juul and her husband Terje Roed-Larsen - now a U.N. special envoy - had key roles in secretly brokering the now-failed 1993 Oslo peace agreement between Israeland the Palestinian Liberation Organization. Juul wrote that Ban showed "weak handling" of international challenges. She said he was a "passive observer" to Myanmar's arrest of opposition leader and Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, and she blasted his slow reaction to the civil war in Sri Lanka. Norwegian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marte Lerberg Kopstad refused comment on the authenticity of the letter. She referred reporters to Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere's comment to Aftenposten that he had noted the matter, and that he saw Ban as "hard working" and a "good listener." Juul's Norwegian-language letter was published halfway through Ban's term as U.N. secretary-general. He is due on an official visit to Norway starting Aug. 31. She continued: "In other crisis areas, such as Darfur, Somalia, Pakistan, Zimbabwe and not in the least the Congo, the secretary-general seems irresolute." "Ban routinely has angry outbursts that even levelheaded and experienced co-workers have trouble dealing with," the letter said. Juul added that the mood among Ban's staff is "very tense." A spokeswoman for Ban, Marie Okabe, said at U.N. headquarters in New York that his office would have no comment on the newspaper's report Wednesday. She said Ban's office was aware of the report but had not yet confirmed the authenticity of the letter. Okabe noted, however, that "preparations are still ongoing" for Ban's trip to Norway's Arctic polar ice rim between Aug. 31 and Sept. 2, which has not yet been formally announced. Asked by reporters whether Ban's trip might be canceled or affected in any way because of the letter's criticisms, Okabe declined to speculate but did not rule anything out. The trip to various scientific research stations and retreating glaciers is intended to draw attention to the earth's warming as the U.N. prepares for a climate summit in September and tries to build momentum for a new global climate treaty in Copenhagen in December. South Korean Ban became U.N. leader in January 2007. Roed-Larsen is his special envoy for implementation of a 2004 Security Council resolution on Syria and Lebanon. Kilde: Washingtonpost

Solheim krever etterforskning etter Sri Lanka-video

Utviklingsminister Erik Solheim krever at FN etterforsker anklagene om krigsforbrytelser på Sri Lanka. - Dette er noe jeg vil ta opp med Ban Ki-moon når han kommer, sier Solheim Aftenposten.no skrev onsdag om en grusom video som angivelig viser hvordan regjeringssoldater henretter ti bakbundne og nakne fanger. Opptaket skal ha blitt tatt av en soldat i januar, og ble smuglet ut av Sri Lanka denne uken av en gruppe menneskerettighetsaktivister som nylig har flyktet fra landet. Myndighetene i landet benekter at regjeringssoldatene var involvert i krigsforbrytelser, og hevder at opptaket kan være en forfalskning. Men utviklingsminister Erik Solheim sier at han ikke hadde blitt overrasket dersom opptaket er ekte.

- Det er utrolig mange mennesker som er blitt drept eller som har forsvunnet på Sri Lanka de siste årene, uten at det har kommet noen form for rettsprosess eller dom. Og det er overveldende beviser for at strukturer innenfor statsapparatet står bak mange av disse drapene, sier han til Aftenposten.no. Tar det opp med Ban Nå krever han at FN kommer på banen for å etterforske hva som skjedde i den siste fasen av den blodige borgerkrigen på Sri Lanka, en konflikt som antas å ha krevd minst 80.000 menneskeliv. - FN må ta tak i etterforskningen av eventuelle krigsforbrytelser på Sri Lanka, sier han. - Du skal møte FNs generalsekretær Ban Ki-moon når han kommer til Norge på søndag. Er dette noe du vil ta opp med ham? - Det er noe jeg helt klart vil gjøre, selv om formålet med turen hans handler om klima og miljø, sier Solheim. 34 journalister dreptSri Lankas president Mahinda Rajapakse og hans regjering har blitt anklaget for å sette menneskerettigheter og demokratiske prinsipper til side etter at han overtok makten i landet for fem år siden. Frykten er stor for de såkalte «hvite varebilene» som dukker opp utenfor husene til motstandere av regjeringen og kidnapper dem. Menneskerettighetsaktivister, journalister, ansatte i hjelpeorganisasjoner og andre grupper er blitt spesielt hardt rammet.

Utviklingsminister Erik Solheim møtte Sri Lankas president Mahinda Rajapakse i mai 2006. Nå vil han ha presidenten etterforsket for krigsforbrytelser. FOTO: AFP

Ifølge organisasjonen Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, gruppen som offentliggjorde henrettelsesvideoen, er 34 journalister og mediaarbeidere drept på Sri Lanka de siste fem årene. I tillegg har den tamilske befolkningen lidd stor nød under Rajapakse-regimet som et resultat av krigen mot opprørsgruppen LTTE, også kjent som Tamiltigrene. - Det som skjedde da han vant valget, var at staten begynte å bruke geriljabevegelsens metoder, sier Solheim. Vil ha USA og Kina på banenEt lokk ble lagt over hele det nordlige Sri Lanka i krigens siste fase. Ingen hjelpeorganisasjoner eller uavhengige journalister slapp inn, noe som gjorde det umulig å verifisere de mange ryktene som gikk om krigsforbrytelser fra Sri Lankas regjeringshær. - Dette gjør det veldig vanskelig for FN å finne ut hvordan det kan etterforskes. I tillegg har det ikke vært noen stor stemning for en slik etterforskning i Sikkerhetsrådet. Men hvert nye bevis, slik som denne videoen, forsterker kravet om en skikkelig etterforskning, sier Solheim. Han innrømmer at Norge, på tross av rollen som en tidligere fredtilrettelegger på øya, ikke har mye slagkraft for å kreve at FN kommer på banen. - Derfor er det viktig at større og mektigere nasjoner, spesielt USA og Kina, nå tar affære, sier utviklingsminister Erik Solheim.

Kilde: aftenposten

Evidence of Sri Lankan war crimes on Tamils

Shocking video - Soldiers shoot the tamils Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHsOVhGkQLs Just three months after the Sri Lankan government declared the country liberated from the Tamil Tigers, video footage has emerged apparently showing government troops summarily executing Tamils. Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka, which obtained the material, said it was filmed in January - when the international media were prevented by the Sri Lankan government from covering the conflict zone. Tonight, the Sri Lankan High Commission denied the government had carried out atrocities against the Tamil community. A Sri Lankan army spokesman also called the video a "fake". Read the response here. The Sri Lankan government launched a large scale military offensive in January capturing the Tamil Tiger held town of Kilinochchi. The army then steadily pushed the rebels into an small area of the north-east. Be warned - there are extremely disturbing scenes in this report from our foreign affairs correspondent Jonathan Miller. Sri Lanka High Commission response "The High Commission of Sri Lanka categorically deny that the Sri Lankan armed forces engaged in atrocities against Sri Lankan Tamil community. They were only engaged in a military offensive against the LTTE. "The High Commission has noted that in many instances in the past, various media institutions used doctored videos, photographs and documents to defame the Sri Lankan government and armed forces. Therefore, we request you to verify the authenticity of the video footage before the telecast". Kilde: Channel4