On
Libya,
After France Brags of Breaking Embargo, It Says Others Like Qatar Can
Too: Russia “Expected” to Pursue
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
July 5, updated -- After bragging
about air-dropping weapons to
rebels in Western Libya, France now claims that others can step in.
French Defense Minister Gerard Longuet was quoted
July 5 that the
rebels' “autonomy allows them to establish relations with external
partners, including when it comes to equipping themselves in
self-defense.”
There
is a UN
Security Council arms embargo on Libya, on all sides of the conflict.
Inner City Press on Tuesday morning outside the Council asked the
chairman of the Libya Sanctions committee, Portugal's Permanent
Representative Cabral, if there has been any move to consider if
France's admitted actions violated the embargo.
“We are
expecting the Russians to raise it today,” Cabral told Inner City
Press before going back into the Council for a closed door meeting,
initially on July's program of work under the new German presidency.
Sarkozy glad-hands Ban, notification under
Reso
1973 and top DPKO post not shown
Since
France's
admission, Gaddafi's forces say they have intercepted weapons from
Qatar meant for the rebels. With Qatar having just acquired the
Presidency of the UN General Assembly, among other posts and events,
things could get interesting. Watch this site.
Update
of
11:52 am -- after the consultations broke up, Western sources said
that French ambassador Gerard Araud argued at length why dropped arms
into Libya is “notwithstanding” legal, and claimed there was
little opposition. The Russian delegation told Inner City Press “we
cannot agree,” and said they asked Libya sanctions chair Cabral to
convene a meeting of the committee.
Cabral
himself
told Inner City Press that no meeting has been scheduled and he
doubts that one will before UN part time envoy Al Khatib comes to
brief the Security Council on July 11. We'll see.
Update
of
12:52 pm -- At German Permanent Representative Wittig's 12:30
press conference about the Security Council's program of work during
his month as president, Inner City Press asked him about the
morning's closed door consultations at which France's dropping of
weapons was discussed. He acknowledged it was discussed but said that
there was “no agreement.”
So
even a meeting
of the Sanctions Committee on this issue was blocked? July 11 will
be al Khatib.
* * *
On
Libya,
UN
Won't Confirm Hiring Vandewalle, Defers to France on
Weapons
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
July
1 -- On Libya, the UN
Secretariat's approach under Ban
Ki-moon has been stealth to say the least. When Ban appointed Al
Khatib as his envoy, he wouldn't say if Al Khatib was still getting
paid by Jordan, where he remains a Senator, or even if Al Khatib is a
UN staff member.
Then
Inner
City
Press learned that Ban has appointed Ian Martin as an Special Adviser
on “post-transition” Libya. But Ban's spokesperson's office
declined to confirm the hiring, or even to say if Martin is an Under
Secretary General.
Now
Dartmouth
College
has
announced that
“Dirk
Vandewalle, associate professor of government and adjunct associate
professor at the Tuck School of Business, has been appointed
Political Advisor to United Nations Special Advisor Ian Martin.
Martin is coordinating the U.N.’s post-conflict planning for Libya.
Vandewalle’s task through July 2011 is to provide expertise and
advice on initial and final drafts of proposals made by U.N.
departments.”
On
July 1, Inner
City Press asked Ban's acting deputy spokesman Farhan Haq to confirm
the hiring of Vandewalle, an author on Libya who has testified to the
US Congress, and to describe the recruitment process.
Haq
would not or
could not even confirm that Vandewalle had been hired by the UN,
something already announced by Dartmouth. We'll have more on this.
Inner
City
Press
also asked
if it is Ban's Secretariat's position that Libya
Resolution 1973 doesn't require prior notification of the Secretary
General for, as France has, dropping weapons into Libya, and how Ban
interprets the word “immediate” as applied to notification in the
Resolution.
Haq
again said
“Ask France.”
Vandewalle by Dartmouth wall, UN recruitment and
confirmation not shown
But earlier
on June 1 when a correspondent
approached French Ambassador to the UN Gerard Araud and asked about
France's weapons drop into Libya, Araud told the correspondent “I
have nothing to say on that.” (With France-friendly media, Araud
has spouted defenses of the weapons drop.)
If
Ban's
Secretariat's involvement in the military action in Libya was
supposed to make it more legitimate, it may not be working out: Ban
is not requiring even notification, is not transparent about when
notifications are received, and won't even confirm the hiring of an
adviser on post-transition Libya. Watch this site.
* * *
, 
