At
UN, Attempts
to Keep W.
Sahara and
SPMs Off 4th
Committee,
Israel On
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
November 8 --
While UN
peacekeeping
"in all its
aspects" was
the topic in
the Fourth
Committee on
Thursday,
still an
argument was
made that
particular
peacekeeping
missions and
their
mandates, with
or without
human rights
monitoring,
should be be
discussed
there.
The
issue arose in
the Right to
Reply period
at nearly 6
pm. Morocco
chided Algeria
for bringing
up the MINURSO
mission in
Western
Sahara,
that does not
have a right
monitoring
component
largely due to
the
opposition
of Security
Council
Permanent
member France
(and that also
lacks freedom
of movement,
according to
the UN's own
reports).
Algeria
replied,
how could this
not be
discussed
under the
peacekeeping
in
all its
aspects agenda
item?
Morocco
replied
that it is the
Security
Council that
sets mandates
and it
would be
happen to
debate the
matter in the
Security
Council --
where
it but not
Algeria is a
member.
(As
an aside, it
is not always
that Council
members try to
block
discussion in
other forums.
Recently Azerbaijan,
which is on
the
Council, took
on Armenia in
a Fourth
Committee
debate on the
Peaceful
Uses of Outer
Space.
Then, it was
Armenia
arguing that
the Committee
was not the
right venue.)
The
US sent
Ambassador
Jeffrey
DeLaurentis,
who argued
among other
things
that Special
Political
Missions
should not be
discussed in
the Fourth
Committee.
"Then you
fund them," a
Permanent
Representative
muttered,
asking Inner
City Press not
to quote him
by name (or
presumably
country.) We
will have more on this,
along with the
UN budget's
Scales of
Assessment.
Ethiopia's
Permanent
Representative
urged that
troop
contributing
countries be
paid on time.
His country is
owed $56
million, as of
the last
report.
During
Thursday's
"debate,"
Norway said it
welcomes the
compromise
reached in by
the Special
Advisory Group
on
Peacekeeping
Operations.
When Inner
City Press has
asked
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesman
Martin Nesirky
about the SAG
report and
whether Sri
Lankan
general
Shavendra
Silva will be
credited in
it, there has
been no
answer.
So
where does
it stand, or
SAG? There has
been no reply,
neither from
Ban's
Office much
less from
Peacekeeping
chief Herve
Ladsous, who
openly
refuses to
answer any
Press
questions.
Earlier in
Thursday's
debate,
Morocco
complained
that the press
is too fast to
criticize UN
Peacekeeping.
Others wonder
whether having
a chief
of UN
Peacekeeping
who openly
says he won't
answer
questions from
media whose
coverage he
doesn't like
is good
for DPKO
at this time.
Back
in the
parallel world
of Right of
Reply, Syria
also spoke at
the end of
Thursday's
session,
accusing
Israel of
"insincere
support" for
UN
Peacekeeping,
citing a 1996
"targeting of
the Fijian
contingent of
UNIFIL" in
Lebanon
as well as
more recent
incidents, and
quoting Kofi
Annan.
Friday
the Fourth
Committee
turns to a
pure Israel
and Palestine
agenda
item. Israel
did not reply
at the end of
Thursday's
session.
Meanwhile
the
Palestinians'
draft
resolution for
UN Observer
State status,
which Inner
City Press put online
early Thursday
afternoon,
was
picked up with
credit by USA
Today and
elsewhere via
AP, which
added
that the
timing of the
vote in the
General
Assembly will
be discussed
in meetings of
the Arab
League foreign
ministers on
November 12
and
13. Watch this
site.
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