On
DRC
Fighting,
French Araud
Says "Great,
Exactly What
We Were
Hoping For"
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive with
audio
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 28 --
On Friday the
UN Security
Council
expressed
concern about
renewed
hostilities in
Eastern Congo,
called for
"maximum
restraint and
de-escalation"
and for a
political
solution. Video
here.
Inner City
Press asked
if the UN
Mission
MONUSCO was
involved in
the fighting
and was told,
by Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon
spokesperson,
no.
On
Sunday UN
envoy Martin
Kobler
announced that
a member of
MONUSCO's
Force
Intervention
Brigade or
"FIB" had been
killed -- how
that happened
without being
involved
remains
UNclear.
Then Kobler
toured land
re-taken by
the Congolese
Army which the
UN supports,
even in the
face of mass
rape.
On
Monday in
front of the
Security
Council,
French
Permanent
Representative
Gerard Araud
told the Press
about the
weekend's
developments
in the Eastern
Congo,
"What is
happening is
great.
It is the
collapse of
the rebels...
The DRC army
is restoring
the
sovereignty of
the country.
It is exactly
what we were
hoping
for." Exclusive
audio here.
How
is this
consistent
with the
Security
Council's
calls, agreed
to and
actually
drafted by
France which
"hold the pen"
for the
Council on the
DRC, for
"restraint"
and for a
political
solution
through the
Kampala talks?
Or
some now ask,
were those
calls just
lies or a
diversion, at
least for
some that
agreed to or
issued them?
When
the Security
Council
traveled
recently to
Eastern Congo,
France was
allowed to
hand-pick
which media
could go on
the UN plane
and cover
the trip.
These scribes,
predictably,
are not
raising or
reporting
these
questions.
Inner
City Press
asked Araud,
on Monday, if
MONUSCO and
its FIB had in
fact
been involved
despite the
statements
that it was
not.
Araud
said that the
killed
"Tanzanian was
part of the
Force
Intervention
Brigade. What
I heard was
the
Intervention
Brigade went
to Kiwanja
after the M23
withdrew, to
protect
civilians. At
a
roadblock,
from the side
of the M23, he
was killed."
He said
Martin Kobler
would brief
the Council by
video Monday
afternoon.
But
will Kobler
take and at
last answer
questions? Or
has he fully
inhabited the
character of
his boss Herve
Ladsous, who
refuses Press
questions? Video here, UK
coverage here.
Here
is Ladsous'
history in the
Great Lakes
region, for
France.
Here
is a question.
Araud said, of
the weekend's
fighting, "It
is
exactly what
we were hoping
for. Who is
the "we"? The
Security
Council? UN
Peacekeeping
under Herve
Ladsous?
France? Is
there any
difference
between the
latter two?
Watch this
site.
, 
