コバーン上院議員が呆れるヒルの北朝鮮擁護 |
下記ニュースについて
1週間ほど前のものだが、スザンヌ・ショルティが知らせてくれた『ニューヨーク・サン』紙の記事を転載しておく。
国連開発計画(UNDP)が北朝鮮に提供してきた資金や銀行口座が、金正日一派によって目的外使用(すなわち悪用)されていたいわゆるCash for Kim(キムに現金)スキャンダルの実態を調べてきた米上院の小委員会が、1月24日付で報告書を発表した。
面白いのは次の点だ(原文の下線部)。
米財務省は、報告書の全文公表に何の異議も唱えなかったが、国務省のクリストファー・ヒルが、特に北が困る部分を非公表にして欲しいと議員らに要請してきたという。
私はかねてヒル氏のことを、“在ワシントン北朝鮮利益代表部長”と呼んでいるが、六者協議がうまくいっていると見せるためなら、どんな恥ずかしい行為でも平気という節操のなさには感心する。
文中にあるトム・コバーン上院議員(共和党)なども相当呆れているようだ。日米有志議員が連携してライス・ヒルの迷走を止めていくという機運がますます高まりつつあるといえよう。
Solons Suspect Coverup In
By BENNY AVNI
Staff Reporter of the Sun
January 25, 2008
UNITED NATIONS Republican lawmakers yesterday expressed suspicions that as part of the Bush administration's attempts at diplomacy with
A Senate investigation, which detailed the North Korean government's manipulations of the U.N. Development Program and the use of its facilities as a backdoor channel for moving funds around the globe, also led some lawmakers to question
During a hearing yesterday of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Senator Coburn, a Republican of Oklahoma, aired a suspicion that the State Department had tried to cover up some damning findings in the subcommittee's UNDP report in order to preserve the diplomatic process with
Although the Treasury Department had no problem releasing all parts of the Senate report to the public, Mr. Coburn said, the State Department's point man on the North Korean diplomacy, Christopher Hill, "wanted to keep classified" some of the report's findings. "Is there any other reason why the State Department authorized Ambassador Hill to censor the information, other than to protect the reputation of the six-party talks?" Mr. Coburn asked. "I'm not aware of any political reasons for doing that, senator,"
The UNDP suspended its activities in
The subcommittee's report was based in part on what its chairman, Senator Levin, Democrat of Michigan, described as "frankly, a surprisingly open exchange" between Senate staffers and North Korean officials in
UNDP officials say all the agency's activities in