By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 3 --
When French
Defense
Minister
Jean-Yves Le
Drian came
to the UN
on October 3,
he was running
late. But what
topics would
he discuss
with the UN's
Ban Ki-moon?
Earlier
in
the day Le
Drian had met
with US
Secretary of
Defense Chuck
Hagel, and
Hagel said
they discussed
if France will
join the US in
airstrikes in
Syria. Would
Le Drian
discuss this
with Ban as
well?
(Even
France 24
reported what
Hagel said.
To extrapolate
to the UN is
not a stretch
- except,
apparently,
for big wigs
or grands
fromages
in the UN
press corps.)
With
Ban for the
meeting was
Herve Ladsous,
a former
French
diplomat who
is the fourth
Frenchman in a
row to head
UN
Peacekeeping.
As regards
Syria, Ladsous
most recently
ordered
peacekeepers
from Fiji and
the
Philippines to
surrender to
the Jabhat al
Nusra rebels,
or terrorists,
in the Golan
Heights.
When
Inner City
Press tried to
asked Ladsous
questions on
September 26,
Ladsous
refused to
answer. On
September 27,
as Inner City
Press
filmed from
the entirely
legal UN
General
Assembly
stakeout area,
Ladsous came
over and
blocked Inner
City Press'
camera and
demanded, what
do you want
with this?
UN
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric has
been asked
twice about
what Ladsous
did, for the Free UN Coalition for Access, but has
yet to
respond.
Dujarric
previously
told FUNCA
that then
French
Ambassador
Gerard Araud
should have
accorded a UN
correspondent
from Lebanon
(more) respect
rather
than telling
the
correspondents,
“You are not a
journalist,
you are an
agent.”
But Dujarric
declined to
instruct the
French mission
to this
effect. Of
Araud's
replacement
Francois
Delattre the
Press so far
knows little
but retains an
open mind.
Conceivably
Le
Drian would
begin with
discussion of
Mali and the
Central
African
Republic,
French
operations
Serval and
Sangaris
respectively.
In Mali
Ladsous stands
accused by
Chad of using
Chadian troops
as cannon
fodder. In
Central
African
Republic, the
Sangaris
forces killed
seven in
Bambari this
week; Inner
City Press
asked Dujarric
if Ladsous'
MINUSCA
mission will
look into it:
no answer.
For a
meeting like
Ban's with Le
Drian, there
should be a a
read-out.
Watch this
site.
, 
