Inner City Press -- Investigative Reporting From the Inner City to Wall Street to the United Nations

As Hollande Names Ayrault, at UN Araud Angles for a Year, Bonne to Leave?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, May 15 -- Hours after Francois Hollande took over from the deposed Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris, in New York French Ambassador to the UN Gerard Araud stopped on his way into the Security Council and told the press, "I have a new prime minister, for two minutes."

  That would be Jean-Marc Ayrault, the former mayor of Nantes. While speculation continues on Araud's fate, now under Ayrault, Inner City Press was told by another Security Council member that the French Mission's political coordinator Emmanuel Bonne will be leaving. (Mr. Bonne did not reply for five hours to a request for confirmation or denial.)

  It's said that Araud is angling to be given an extra and final year; it's not clear if he'd get it. There are questions of whether the new French government should replace Herve Ladsous, who was a last minute Sarkozy appointment substituting for Jerome Bonnafont who bragged too much about getting the top UN DPKO post, and neglects his duties to publicly explain what UN peacekeepers do and are facing.

  A well place source snarked that Ladsous went for the DPKO post because he thought Sarkozy would lose and wanted to assure himself job and pay. But should it be that easy, especially if not places like Eastern Congo are being ill-served by his silence, but UN Peacekeepers too? Watch this site.