By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 8 --
When despite
the continuing
crisis in the
Central
African
Republic
France wanted
to pull out
its Gazelle
helicopters
and other
equipment, to
a base of its
in Chad, how
did it do it?
With a Russian
cargo plane,
it emerges,
one that when
it landed in
Kano was
grounded by
Nigerian
authorities.
Eventually
they were
released, and
the pull-out
from CAR
continued. How
did the
copters get to
CAR in the
first place?
Ironically,
France got a
contract from
the UN to run
and got paid
for airfield
services in
northern Mali.
Now this.
Meanwhile,
since UN
Peacekeeping's
Herve Ladsous
left
unanswered the
Press question
raised about
his
reported
desire to
eavesdrop in
Mali,
MaliActu
picked it up,
here.
Back on
October 4,
more than
twenty four
hours after
French Defense
Minister
Jean-Yves Le
Drian came
to the UN
on October 3
and met the
UN's Ban
Ki-moon
and former
French
diplomat Herve
Ladsous, the
UN had
provided no
read-out.
Earlier
on October 3
Le Drian had
met with (soon
outgoing) US
Secretary of
Defense Chuck
Hagel, and
Hagel said
they discussed
if France will
join the US in
airstrikes in
Syria. Did Le
Drian discuss
this with Ban
and Ladsous as
well?
Even
France 24
reported what
Hagel said.
To extrapolate
to the UN is
not a stretch
- except,
apparently,
for big wigs
or grands
fromages
in the UN
press corps.
At NPR,
Michele
Kelemen
interviewed Le
Drian who said
France is very
"transparent"
about its
positions on
Syria. So why
no read-out?
There
emerges a photo of Le Drian
and Ladsous,
marking some
agreement,
here.
Ostensibly
it's for the
French troops
in Sangaris to
cooperate with
Ladsous'
MINUSCA
mission in the
Central
African
Republic. But
with reports
of French
troops killing
in CAR, most
recently in
Bambari, would
UN
Peacekeeping
under former
French
diplomat Herve
Ladsous really
look into
this? He does
not answer
Press
questions.
As regards
Syria, Ladsous
ordered
peacekeepers
from Fiji and
the
Philippines to
surrender to
the Jabhat al
Nusra rebels,
or terrorists,
in the Golan
Heights.
Now the UN vehicles
Nusra took
have been used
for suicide
bombings in
Daraa. Inner
City Press
asked UN
Spokesman Stephane
Dujarric on
December 8
when UN Peacekeeping
had done to
try to get the
vehicles back,
and how many
Nusra had, and
has - without
receiving any
substantive
answer.
When
Inner City
Press tried to
asked Ladsous
questions on
September 26,
Ladsous
refused to
answer. On
September 27,
as Inner City
Press
filmed from
the entirely
legal UN
General
Assembly
stakeout area,
Ladsous came
over and
blocked Inner
City Press'
camera and
demanded, what
do you want
with this?
UN
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric has
been asked
twice about
what Ladsous
did, for the Free UN Coalition for Access, but has
yet to respond
substantively.
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