By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 9 --
On Libya, the
UN Security
Council in
late November
heard a
proposal from
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon for
235 security
officers to
protect the UN
Mission there,
UNSMIL.
Inner
City Press
covered that
closed door
meeting, and
the next day
asked the
Council's
then-presidency,
China, about
the status.
The Chinese
Ambassador replied
that he had
just signed
the approval
letter.
But a
week
ago
alongside
Inner City
Press' exclusive
report on
layoffs in UN
Security,
none of the
officials
Inner City
Press spoke
with knew of
the Libyan
security
mission or if
it could be a
place laid off
UN Security
staff could
apply to
serve.
Now on December
9 UN envoy to
Libya Tarek
Mitri said that
some groups in
Libya are
"going so far
as suspecting
the proposed
arrangement to
be a prelude
to an
international
intervention."
He said "we
will have to
spare no
effort in
dispelling
misinterpretations
and suspicions,
no matter how
unjustified
they may
seem."
French ambassador
Gerard Araud,
December's
Security
Council
president,
later said
that the issue
is "on the
table" -- that
is, it seems,
still not
approved.
In part this
grows inside
the UN -- the
secretive
planning as
when the
Mission was
being designed,
and sloppy
reporting by
the UN's
scribes and spies.
Inner City Press
obtained and
exclusively
published then
envoy Ian
Martin's plan
for 200 UN personnel.
When this was
opposed from
Libya, the UN
was never clear
about the provenance
of the
document;
scribes tried
to downplay it
saying that by
mere allusion
they had reported
it.
Now today,
December 9,
the Reuters
wire service
paid so little
attention to
the Security
Council
session on
Libya that it
entirely
mis-identified
the UN envoy
there, calling
him Abdel Alah
al Khatib --
the envoy
BEFORE Ian
Martin. Click
here, where
this remains
online.
During the
Security Council's
session on
Libya, there
was no Reuters
presence at
the stakeout.
The article
with the error
lists no editor,
only the
writer -- Louis
Charbonneau,
who previously
turned over an
anti Press
internal United
Nations
Correspondents
Association
documents to
the UN, three
minutes after
promising not
to do so. Story
here, document
here, audio here.
This has yet
to be
addressed,
including by
UNCA, now
known as the
UN's
Censorship
Alliance.
We note this
error because
of Charbonneau's
and Reuters'
request to the
UN to throw
Inner City
Press out --
while they
can't even get
the name of
the UN's envoy
to Libya
right. This
goes beyond
"misinterpretation."
To
clear those
up, at the
December 2
noon briefing,
Inner City
Press asked
about the new
Libya mission,
and afterward
Ban's
spokesperson's
office sent
Inner City
Press this:
Subject:
Press
release from
the UN Support
Mission in
Libya (UNSMIL)
on a guard
team for its
headquarters
To:
Matthew.Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
From: UN
Spokesperson -
Do Not Reply
[at] un.org
Date: Mon, Dec
2, 2013 at
1:17 PM
Clarification
by
the United
Nations
Support
Mission in
Libya On the
Allocation of
a Guard Team
for its
Headquarters
in Tripoli
Tripoli,
28
November 2013-
The
United
Nations
Security
Council has
given initial
approval to
the request of
the United
Nations
Secretary
General
regarding the
enhancement of
the protection
of the United
Nations
Support
Mission in
Libya (UNSMIL)
through a
dedicated
guard team for
its
headquarters
in Tripoli.
This team
should not
exceed 235
elements,
including a
number of
administrative
and services
staff. The
functions of
aforementioned
team shall be
limited to the
protection of
the office and
accommodation
premises
occupied by
UNSMIL staff
members. The
scope of its
work shall not
exceed the
perimeters of
UNSMIL
headquarters.
The
Mission
had already
informed the
competent
Libyan
authorities
that it is in
the process of
preparing for
this measure,
which was
discussed by
the Security
Council. Once
all needed
measures are
finalized, and
as per the
applicable
international
customs and
principles,
the United
Nations shall
send an
official
letter in
which it will
inform the
Libyan
authorities of
those measure
seeking
necessary
approval.
The
Mission
reiterates
that the guard
team will not
be tasked with
any role
beyond the
function for
which it was
established,
and that the
formation of
such team is a
common
practice
adopted by
international
organizations
and embassies
in a large
number of
countries for
ensuring the
safety of its
staff and
premises.
Perhaps
UN Security,
from which ten
staffers stand
to be laid
off, didn't
know about
these posts
because,
despite
Security
Council
approval, it
has not yet
been approved
by the Libyan
authorities.
Earlier, when
Inner City
Press first
published then
UN official
Ian Martin's
plan for Libya
including 200
armed staff,
the Libyan
authorities
balked and it
went nowhere.
Now
again we ask:
will they
accept these
235? Watch
this site.
, 
