Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday distanced himself from the idea of deploying an international presence in Gaza, saying through his deputy spokesperson Marie Okabe, that the idea is primarily President Mahmoud Abbas', and that he merely conveyed it to Security Council members over a working luncheon last Tuesday. "There has been a little confusion in some press reports," she told the daily press briefing. "I just want to make it clear that when the Secretary-General had an initial exchange of views with members of the Security Council at their monthly luncheon on Tuesday about the possibility of an international presence in Gaza, he was not presenting his own idea, as some have misinterpreted in the press.| "As you in the press well know, we at the upper echelons of the UN do not have personal opinions about anything. Ever. We just wait for the OIC or Arab League to tell us what to think." |
"The Secretary-General had spoken earlier by phone with Palestinian President Abbas, who had raised with the Secretary-General the idea of an international presence, so when he met with council members for the luncheon on Tuesday, the Secretary-General conveyed President Abbas' view and not his own," she stressed.| "We were still waiting for the fax from Amr Moussa." |
| "Oh Mr. Ban! Mr. Ban! Jerry Lewis is on line one ..." |
KUNA reported late Thursday that Ban will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday to discuss rather an international presence between Gaza and Egypt to stop the flow of weapons into Gaza.
A vague idea about a multinational force in Gaza was disclosed by Ban to reporters following that luncheon on Tuesday, without specifying whether the force would be between Gaza and Egypt or between Gaza and Israel. "This is an idea (for) which we need to explore the possibilities," Ban told reporters in answer to a question following that luncheon. "I have initially exchanged views on this issue with the Security Council members just a while (moment) ago." He added that "there are many issues which we will have to consider, whether, if we agree, or if we decide to have an international presence in Gaza, where to locate them, what would be the terms of reference, what would their missions be, and all is not clear at this time." He said both President Mahmoud Abbas and Olmert raised the issue with him the day before. "I have yet to discuss more in detail with the countries concerned." Hamas, which now controls Gaza, has already rejected the idea. |