By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
November 19 --
Amid reports
that the
Chadian
military has
entered
Sudan's
Darfur, in
conjunction
with an
assault on
rebels led by
Sudan's
Defense
Minister Abdel
Raheem
Mohammed
Hussein, who
has been
indicted for
war crimes by
the
International
Criminal
Court, Inner
City Press on
November 18
asked the UN
for
confirmation.
Secretary
General
Ban Ki-moon's
acting deputy
spokesperson
Farhan Haq had
near the
beginning of
the briefing mentioned
Darfur:
"the African
Union-United
Nations
Mission in
Darfur
(UNAMID)
facilitated
the travel of
the Wali, or
Governor, of
Central Darfur
and the State
Security
Committee,
yesterday.
They were
accompanied by
a team of
UNAMID
officials to
Um Dukhun to
mediate
between the
two tribes..
the Salamat
and the
Misseriya."
But
Haq had not
mentioned
Chad, or the
wider military
crackdown in
Darfur. So
Inner City
Press
asked:
Inner
City
Press: you
gave a readout
on Darfur,
there are
reports of
Chad soldiers
crossing into
Darfur in some
capacity and
actually some
of them being
killed, in
fighting in
Darfur. Since
there is a UN
mission there,
one, can you
confirm the
entry of
Chadian troops
and what is
their role in
the tribal
fighting that
the UN is
trying to
mediate and
flying people
to?
Acting
Deputy
Spokesperson
Haq: We’ll
check with
UNAMID
Twenty
four hours
went by when
at 12:09 the
next day, once
the next noon
briefing has
already
started (so no
research for
any follow-up
questions
could be
done), Haq's
office
provided this:
Subject:
Your
question on
Darfur
From: UN
Spokesperson -
Do Not Reply
[at] un.org
Date: Tue, Nov
19, 2013 at
12:09 PM
To:
Matthew.Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
Cc: Farhan Haq
[at] un.org
Regarding
your
question on
Darfur at
yesterday’s
Noon Briefing,
we have the
following from
the Department
of
Peacekeeping
Operations:
“As Um
Dukhun is
located very
close to the
Chadian
border,
Chad-Sudan
joint border
patrol forces
were the first
to intervene
and disengage
the fighting
tribesmen,
when the
conflict
between
Misseriya and
Salamat
erupted in the
town. Chad and
Sudan have an
official
agreement to
jointly patrol
their border.
UNAMID
is
trying to
confirm if
there were
Chadian
soldiers among
the
casualties.”
Compare
this
response by
the UN and UN
Peacekeeping,
led by Herve
Ladsous who
met with
ICC-indicted
Omar al Bashir
in July with
nothing to
show for it,
to reports
that
"Chad
helicopters
struck at a
rebel camp in
Tissi, close
to the
Sudan-Chad
border. The
base under
attack is
reported to
belong to the
Union of
Forces for
Resistance
(UFR). Earlier
in the year
the rebel
group
threatened the
government
that they
would reach
for their arms
after an
extended wait
for peace
talks to be
initiated. In
a separate
attack
Chad-Sudan
troops are
reported to
have sustained
casualties
while battling
Salamat tribal
fighters in
Darfur today.
The number of
casualties is
still unknown.
The tribal
militia is
also reported
to have
sustained
'heavy'
casualties
during the
battle in Umm
Duukhun."
So how
could the UN's
billion dollar
mission in
Darfur have
nothing to say
about a
neighboring
country
conducting
helicopter
attacks,
instead
focusing on
its own flying
of a Wali?
It
should be
remembered
that the UN
flew Ahmad
Haroon, also
indicted by
the ICC,
to meet with
(and rally)
the Miseriya
in Abyei. It
must also be
noted that Ladsous
decided to
include Chad's
Army in his
peacekeeping
in Mali,
despite Chad
being on the
UN's own list
of child
soldier
recruiters.
To
this has the
UN sunk. Then
at Tuesday's
briefing,
Haq's chiding
response,
after dodging
questions on Uganda's
claims against
the UN
("ask the AU")
and Israel
treating those
injured in the
Golan
("haven't
heard of it"),
was to say
that Central
African
Republic
shouldn't be
shortened, as
nearly all on
the Security
Council do, to
"CAR."
So the
UN can
pronounce very
precisely --
but refuses to
come clean
about Chad
attacks into
Darfur, or if Ladsous'
DPKO has any
Standing
Claims
Commission
anywhere in
the world. On
November 18,
it was "not a
yes or no
question."
And on
November 19?
No answer at
all. Watch
this site.
, 
