Darfur
Peacekeepers
Taken Without
a Fight,
Gambari Thumbs
Nose at Ban
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
February 21 --
In Darfur, the
credibility of
the
peacekeeping
mission and
its chief, Ibrahim
Gambari,
is under
question from
both sides:
the government
and the
Justice &
Equality
Movement
rebels.
Sometimes this
is indicative
of being fair,
equally
angering both
sides. But
sometimes not.
JEM
says
Gambari is a
tool of
Khartoum.
Notably, as
Inner City
Press
asked about
for two weeks,
Gambari took
photos with
President Omar
al
Bashir, who
has been
indicted for
genocide in
Darfur.
Finally,
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesman on
February 1
told Inner
City Press
that "Mr.
Gambari's
attention has
been drawn...
to
the need to
avoid such
encounters in
future, how
ever
unintentional
this
particular
encounter may
have been."
But
faced
with this
supposed
admonition,
Gambari
remained
defiant,
attacking
those who
questioned his
photos with
Gambari, and
in
essence
promising to
do it again in
the future.
When Inner
City
Press asked
Ban's
spokesman
Nesirky for
clarification
on February
21,
Nesirky said
the message
has been sent.
But what
message?
Meanwhile
the
Justice and
Equality
Movement in
Darfur took 49
UN
peacekeepers
hostage, then
released them
while calling
on Gambari to
resign. Inner
City Press
asked Nesirky
about it on
February 21,
particularly
what
the rules of
engagement of
the
peacekeepers
were. How can
these
peacekeepers
be protecting
civilians if
they allow
themselves to
be
taken hostage
without firing
a shot?
Nesirky
claimed that
this showed
wisdom, and
again
expressed
confidence in
Gambari
despite
his defiance.
Ban is weak,
said one wag,
and the
peacekeepers
are
weak.
Actually,
it's a
matter of
choice: a well
placed source
in UN
Peacekeeping
tells Inner
City Press
that each
troop
contributing
country has
its own rules
of
engagement.
"Ask the
Senegalese,"
the source
said. But why
not ask the UN
if they pay
full
compensation
to
peacekeepers
who say
in advance
they will not
fight, much
less protect
civilians?
Gambari
in his Hardshell
on the Hill,
accountability
not shown
Sudan's
Permanent
Representative
appeared at
the Security
Council late
Tuesday
afternoon, to
raise again
the blockage
of a UN Darfur
sanctions
monitor from
Tumsaha in
South Sudan.
Afterward he
told Inner
City
Press the
hostage taking
in Darfur
called into
question the
commitment of
UNAMID and its
"Chapter Seven
mandate."
Gambari
has been
described to
Inner City
Press by
people close
to him as
"looking
for another
job," and
using the
UNAMID jet to
do so. On
Tuesday
at the UN
there was a
suggestion:
why doesn't
Gambari try to
replace
Jean Ping atop
the African
Union? A
Francophone
West African
Permanent
Representative
countered,
"Why not Joy?"
The
reference was
to Nigeria's
Permanent
Representative
to the UN.
Another said,
Nigeria and
South Africa
won't fight,
notwithstanding
differences on
Cote d'Ivoire.
So
who
will be the
next UN
Special
Adviser on
Africa, a
position once
held by
Gambari
himself
before, after
heading DPA,
he "called in
chits" to get
Ban's African
interlocutors
to urge Ban to
keep
him on? That
will be
another story,
soon - watch
this site.
, 
