According to Press Briefing on July 13, 2007 US State Department comment on Ahtisaari Corruption Case :
QUESTION: On Kosovo. Mr. Casey, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov suggested today Martti Ahtisaari unfitness* to mediate further talks based on a bunch of reports that Albanian mafia bribe the UN Kosovo mediator, something which has been most* confirmed by Washington-based Global Information System, GIS, and Gregory Copely of Defense and Foreign Affairs Institute. Given the U.S. Government concern about corruption at the UN, should the U.S. Government be calling for an investigation into this matter? How do these allegations impact U.S. confidence in Ahtisaari's fitness to mediate further talks in Kosovo?
MR. CASEY: Mr. Lambros, I think that the reports you're referring to probably fall into the category of spurious. But look, Mr. Ahtisaari is a distinguished former head of government of Finland, a person with a tremendous amount of experience and a track record in working on these issues. He has the full confidence of the Secretary General who appointed him UN and certainly the plan that Mr. Ahtisaari put forward has the full endorsement of the United States as the basis for moving forward.
We've put forward a Security Council resolution with others that calls presently for a period of additional discussions among the parties prior to implementation of those recommendations. But again, I don't see any reason why there should be any question about the work that he did. We very much appreciate and respect the efforts that he made. We believe that he came up with a good plan and one that's in the best interests of the Kosovars, of the Serbian people and of the region as a whole.
QUESTION: One more on the same issue. According to reports, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon already started an investigation about these payments, confirmed the existence by a report prepared for him by the German intelligence agency BND unit assigned to the UN mission in Kosovo. Any comment on it?
MR. CASEY: Mr. Lambros, you're free to go ask the UN what investigations it has or hasn't started. The facts are very simple here. There needs to be a resolution of the situation in Kosovo. The plan that Mr. Ahtisaari came up with is the best solution possible, we believe, as a basis for such a resolution. That's what we're working forward on. If you'd like to pursue shadows, feel free to talk to the UN about it.
QUESTION: Thank you.
MR. CASEY: Yeah.
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MR. CASEY: Mr. Lambros, I think that the reports you're referring to probably fall into the category of spurious. But look, Mr. Ahtisaari is a distinguished former head of government of Finland, a person with a tremendous amount of experience and a track record in working on these issues. He has the full confidence of the Secretary General who appointed him UN and certainly the plan that Mr. Ahtisaari put forward has the full endorsement of the United States as the basis for moving forward.
We've put forward a Security Council resolution with others that calls presently for a period of additional discussions among the parties prior to implementation of those recommendations. But again, I don't see any reason why there should be any question about the work that he did. We very much appreciate and respect the efforts that he made. We believe that he came up with a good plan and one that's in the best interests of the Kosovars, of the Serbian people and of the region as a whole.
QUESTION: One more on the same issue. According to reports, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon already started an investigation about these payments, confirmed the existence by a report prepared for him by the German intelligence agency BND unit assigned to the UN mission in Kosovo. Any comment on it?
MR. CASEY: Mr. Lambros, you're free to go ask the UN what investigations it has or hasn't started. The facts are very simple here. There needs to be a resolution of the situation in Kosovo. The plan that Mr. Ahtisaari came up with is the best solution possible, we believe, as a basis for such a resolution. That's what we're working forward on. If you'd like to pursue shadows, feel free to talk to the UN about it.
QUESTION: Thank you.
MR. CASEY: Yeah.
Related article about this case : Fifty Million Dollars and Up for Dismembering a Medium-Size Sovereign State
