http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/12/24/90129.shtml
Weapons Irregularities Charged at U.N. Headquarters
Stewart Stogel
Tuesday Dec. 24, 2002
United Nations -- For the second time this year, the United Nations Safety and Security Service has been accused of violations of U.S. weapons laws.
Despite being an independent, international entity within the United States, the U.N. is still subject to U.S. weapons controls, as per a treaty with Washington.
In a written complaint by U.N. staff committee president Rosemary Waters to U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan (a copy of which was obtained by NewsMax), it is alleged that U.N. security chief Michael McCann carries concealed hand guns not registered to the UN.
Waters also charges that McCann and his assistant security chief, Joseph Martella, of "fraudulently" using an "expired" license to process NYC pistol permits which are required of all armed U.N. security officers.
In her letter to Annan, Waters states that NYC pistol permits are normally granted only to U.S. citizens. The majority of armed officers on the U.N. security force are foreign nationals.
The letter dated November 22, 2002, was the latest in a series of complaints by the U.N. staff chief to Annan.
None have been replied to.
"I am still waiting for an answer," Waters told NewsMax. "They (Annan's staff) don't reply because they don't know what to say," she added.
Earlier this year, it was discovered that McCann circumvented established procedures of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) to obtain MP5 submachine guns to protect the U.N. leader on the streets of NYC.
The MP5 is highly restricted assault weapon made in Germany by Heckler and Koch. The rifles are restricted to law enforcement organizations under Federal law, and the U.N. is not considered one by the U.S.
As such, the U.N. was initially refused purchase permission by the ATF in 1998. McCann then called on an old friend, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, to "convince" the bureau to "review" its denial. He quietly and discreetly got the ATF rejection reversed. According to ATF officials, the reversal circumvented normal appeal procedures.
A review of McCann's activities was initiated by the ATF's legal department in Washington earlier this year. While not disclosing the results of the review, the MP5 assault rifles no longer routinely travel with Annan and only U.N. security officials who are U.S. citizens now have access to the weapons, so say U.N. sources.
McCann, a veteran of the NYPD, has been the subject of controversy since he became security chief in the mid-1990's.
In 1996, there were repeated incidents of U.N. security officers losing contact with Annan, as well as with his wife Nane.
Also in that year, the U.N. was the subject of several letter bombs which were found and later neutralized by the FBI and the NYPD.
During that incident, it was discovered that the NYPD as well as the NYFD had no site plans of the U.N. complex. The result was confusion when they first responded to the bomb threats.
In 1998, a series of complaints were circulated by U.N. security force members charging inadequate funding, inadequate training and incompetent administration.
In November 2000, several "tourists" bolted onto the floor of the General Assembly protesting the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
The protesters ran up and down the assembly hall shouting to the shocked delegates for several minutes before U.N. security could amass enough armed officers to subdue and remove them. The entire incident was caught on live television worldwide.
On September 11, 2001 confusion erupted when McCann attempted to evacuate U.N. headquarters. This, despite "emergency evacuation" plans which had been drawn up after the first World Trade Center attack in 1993. Subsequent press reports claimed that the U.N. had also been a target of Arab terrorist groups.
Just three weeks earlier, a package containing a "suspicious biological substance" was discovered in the U.N.'s underground mail room. That brought dozens of FBI and NYPD officials streaming into the U.N. compound.
The police sealed off a protective corridor around the world body's complex which stretched for several city blocks. The FBI took custody of the suspicious mail.
The U.N. still declines to reveal what the parcels contained.
Then came 9-11.
Just two months ago, an armed protester entered a normally "secure" area of the U.N. compound and discharged a hand gun into the glass-walled Secretariat building. While nobody was hurt, several bullets did shatter windows. The attacker had to be subdued by U.S. security agents who happened to be in the area.
Several days later, two tourists "vaulted" over other U.N. security barricades to take a "late night" tour. They were quickly apprehended. However, officers involved in that incident insisted that McCann was of little help.
In her letter to Annan, Waters added:
"The behavior of the senior managers of the Safety and Security Service is making a mockery of your (Annan's) human resources management reform and proves that there is neither accountability in the Organization, nor any attempt to hold managers accountable, even in verifiable cases of criminal misrepresentation."
Neither Annan nor McCann was available for comment.
Weapons Irregularities Charged at U.N. Headquarters
Stewart Stogel
Tuesday Dec. 24, 2002
United Nations -- For the second time this year, the United Nations Safety and Security Service has been accused of violations of U.S. weapons laws.
Despite being an independent, international entity within the United States, the U.N. is still subject to U.S. weapons controls, as per a treaty with Washington.
In a written complaint by U.N. staff committee president Rosemary Waters to U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan (a copy of which was obtained by NewsMax), it is alleged that U.N. security chief Michael McCann carries concealed hand guns not registered to the UN.
Waters also charges that McCann and his assistant security chief, Joseph Martella, of "fraudulently" using an "expired" license to process NYC pistol permits which are required of all armed U.N. security officers.
In her letter to Annan, Waters states that NYC pistol permits are normally granted only to U.S. citizens. The majority of armed officers on the U.N. security force are foreign nationals.
The letter dated November 22, 2002, was the latest in a series of complaints by the U.N. staff chief to Annan.
None have been replied to.
"I am still waiting for an answer," Waters told NewsMax. "They (Annan's staff) don't reply because they don't know what to say," she added.
Earlier this year, it was discovered that McCann circumvented established procedures of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) to obtain MP5 submachine guns to protect the U.N. leader on the streets of NYC.
The MP5 is highly restricted assault weapon made in Germany by Heckler and Koch. The rifles are restricted to law enforcement organizations under Federal law, and the U.N. is not considered one by the U.S.
As such, the U.N. was initially refused purchase permission by the ATF in 1998. McCann then called on an old friend, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, to "convince" the bureau to "review" its denial. He quietly and discreetly got the ATF rejection reversed. According to ATF officials, the reversal circumvented normal appeal procedures.
A review of McCann's activities was initiated by the ATF's legal department in Washington earlier this year. While not disclosing the results of the review, the MP5 assault rifles no longer routinely travel with Annan and only U.N. security officials who are U.S. citizens now have access to the weapons, so say U.N. sources.
McCann, a veteran of the NYPD, has been the subject of controversy since he became security chief in the mid-1990's.
In 1996, there were repeated incidents of U.N. security officers losing contact with Annan, as well as with his wife Nane.
Also in that year, the U.N. was the subject of several letter bombs which were found and later neutralized by the FBI and the NYPD.
During that incident, it was discovered that the NYPD as well as the NYFD had no site plans of the U.N. complex. The result was confusion when they first responded to the bomb threats.
In 1998, a series of complaints were circulated by U.N. security force members charging inadequate funding, inadequate training and incompetent administration.
In November 2000, several "tourists" bolted onto the floor of the General Assembly protesting the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
The protesters ran up and down the assembly hall shouting to the shocked delegates for several minutes before U.N. security could amass enough armed officers to subdue and remove them. The entire incident was caught on live television worldwide.
On September 11, 2001 confusion erupted when McCann attempted to evacuate U.N. headquarters. This, despite "emergency evacuation" plans which had been drawn up after the first World Trade Center attack in 1993. Subsequent press reports claimed that the U.N. had also been a target of Arab terrorist groups.
Just three weeks earlier, a package containing a "suspicious biological substance" was discovered in the U.N.'s underground mail room. That brought dozens of FBI and NYPD officials streaming into the U.N. compound.
The police sealed off a protective corridor around the world body's complex which stretched for several city blocks. The FBI took custody of the suspicious mail.
The U.N. still declines to reveal what the parcels contained.
Then came 9-11.
Just two months ago, an armed protester entered a normally "secure" area of the U.N. compound and discharged a hand gun into the glass-walled Secretariat building. While nobody was hurt, several bullets did shatter windows. The attacker had to be subdued by U.S. security agents who happened to be in the area.
Several days later, two tourists "vaulted" over other U.N. security barricades to take a "late night" tour. They were quickly apprehended. However, officers involved in that incident insisted that McCann was of little help.
In her letter to Annan, Waters added:
"The behavior of the senior managers of the Safety and Security Service is making a mockery of your (Annan's) human resources management reform and proves that there is neither accountability in the Organization, nor any attempt to hold managers accountable, even in verifiable cases of criminal misrepresentation."
Neither Annan nor McCann was available for comment.
