Assad, Sad Situation: Kofi's Lie

Yesterday's UN press briefing was devoid of outrage over the editing of the Mehlis investigation into Lebanese ex-premier Rafik Hariri's assassination, but Friday's was prefaced by the reading by the UN's spokesperson of this statement:

And I wanted to add on this issue a statement attributable to the Spokesman:

“The Secretary-General has insisted throughout the process on the importance of the independence of the Mehlis’ investigation. This is Mr. Mehlis’ investigation and his report.

The Secretary-General has at no time made any attempt to influence the content of the report.”

How does this jibe with the editing of the Mehlis report, which occurred in Annan's office after Mehlis left the report with him?

Not well. The UN press corps on Friday was all over it, with one reporter summarizing:

Question: The fact still remains that today this report has been totally discredited, and has been undermined completely, with what happened this morning in the Mehlis’ press conference, and consequently the Secretary-General’s reputation is also again being questioned. What is it that can be done to make sure that this report’s credibility is again restored? Because it is, as far as I’m concerned, it is totally discredited at this point.

Yet, the UN spokesman confirmed that the report that will be considered by the General Assembly is the discredited report, and that no names will be in it.

Question: On the Internet, there are bloggers who already have one version and the other version. Everything is right there in the open.

Spokesman: I understand that. What I’m telling you is that the final version that will be discussed in the Security Council, is the hard copy you all got yesterday [with no names].

That piece of news makes me glad John Bolton is our UN ambassador.

The UN's position is that Mehlis' staff was still editing the report, even as it was handed over to Annan, and that they not he, edited out the names of Assad's brother and his inner circle.

It's ridiculous. The sort of last-minute editing that happens on a report like this, one which has been worked on for quite some time, has to do with micro-edits -- correctings, ordering, getting the table of conents right -- not macro-edits, like whether to name names. Yet the UN soldiers on, apparently ready to sacrifice Mehlis on this one:

Question: Mr. Mehlis said that the reason he made his decision to take the four names out was when he learned the document was about to become public. Can you account for why he didn’t know that? I mean, hadn’t your office said to him “this document will become public at some point”? Was he operating under the idea that it would become public only on Tuesday?

Spokesman: I will try not to speak for Mr. Mehlis, but it’s obvious that the definition of the word “public” may have a different meaning for those of us here and those of you here in this room, than people who don’t usually work with the UN. When he was told he was given a report to the Security Council, I don’t think it was that clear to him that it would be made public.

It's ludicrous on its face. The UN defence boils down to "It depends on what your definition of public is." Mehlis came into the meeting with Annan comfortable with the inclusion of the names when the report would become public.

Annan either effectively strong-armed his "independent" investigator, or changed the document himself.

Watch the Mehlis staff. The UN knows there is a leaker on the staff:

Question: On the subject of leaks, apparently -- that’s why I’m concerned on the Mehlis’ report -- we have seen besides the New York Times getting it, there were reports from Germany, from Der Spiegel, there were reports from Damascus, so there is a leaker in Mr. Mehlis’s…

Spokesman: You know, if you find me an international organization, a Government organization, or a newspaper that doesn’t have leaks, then I will buy you lunch.

Unless they purge the staff, the leaks won't stop. And the leaks shouldn't stop. The UN has laid down a perposterous defense, and yes, the UN regularly does perposterous things, but we need digging inside and outside the investigation to nail this down.

In any case, the names are out there, whether officially or unofficially, and they will stay public.

See also:
Will This Be Kofi's End?
Assad Tightens His Grip
UN Hariri Report: Questions