Ladsous
Says Syria
Opposition
Trains
Salafists,
Won't Answer
on
Congo Army
Rapes
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 5 --
When the UN on
December 3
announced it
was
pulling non
essential
staff out of
Syria and
suspending
missions,
many media
linked this to
a separate
story of the
day on
chemical
weapons.
But
UN sources
told Inner
City Press to
"check with
the Austrians
and
Croatians,"
whose
personnel in
the UNDOF
mission had
come
under attack.
Now
sometimes reclusive
UN
Peacekeeping
chief Herve
Ladsous has surfaced,
where else, in
Paris in his
native France,
saying of two
shot
Austrians,
"certain
countries are
concerned. We
will reinforce
security, most
notably with
armored
vehicles and
we plan to
send more
political
advisers to
analyze the
situation on
the ground."
Whether
UN
"political
advisers" is
the solution
that Troop
Contributing
Countries are
asking for is
unclear.
On
November 30
the
peacekeeping
advisor of a
major TCC told
Inner City
Press,
"Ladsous is
the worst head
of DPKO we've
ever had, even
the French
think so." He
added, "Le Roy
was a king by
comparison,"
referring to
Ladsous'
predecessor
Alain Le Roy
who
was the third
of now four
Frenchmen in a
row to be
given the UN
post.
When
Ladsous
moved to pull
UN observers
out of Syria
this past
summer,
many saw it as
him doing the
bidding of
France.
But now in
fairness,
Ladsous in
Paris went on
to veer from
the Hollande
administration
narrative,
saying that
"the situation
in Syria
sparked a
cascade
of insecurity
which has had
consequences
highlighted by
the presence
of armed
groups
belonging to
the Syrian
opposition in
the
disengagement
zones ...
There are
people being
trained that
appear a
lot like
(hardline
Muslim)
Salafists."
Is
Ladsous
veering to
address the
mounting
criticism of
him? Click
here
for video of
Ladsous' last
stakeout
inside the UN
in New York,
where
he refused to
answer Press
questions
about rapes in
Minova, DRC
while
the Congolese
Army retreated
there.
If
even
outside of the
UN Ladsous
won't disclose
which
Congolese Army
units were
there, nor
which units
his MONUSCO
mission works
with, how can
the UN's
supposed
Human Rights
Due Diligence
Policy be
assessed?
Reviews, if
not
assessments,
are coming in.
Watch this
site.
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