As
France Bombs
Mali, UNclear
If Ban
"Confirmed in
Advance" SC
Satisfaction
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 13 --
As France
expands its
air strike on
Mali from
Konna to Gao,
claiming it is
all within the
"framework of
international
law," questions
remain
unanswered.
The
law at issue
is Security
Council
Resolution
2085,
drafted by
France
and adopted as
modified on
December 20,
2011. In
Operative
Paragraph
11, which a country
involved in
the
negotiation
described
to Inner
City Press as
the "Algerian
element,"
various
safeguards
and steps are
required:
"11.
Emphasizes
that the
military
planning will
need to be
further
refined
before the
commencement
of the
offensive
operation and
requests that
the
Secretary-General,
in close
coordination
with Mali,
ECOWAS, the
African Union,
the
neighbouring
countries of
Mali, other
countries in
the region and
all other
interested
bilateral
partners and
international
organizations,
continue to
support the
planning and
the
preparations
for the
deployment of
AFISMA,
regularly
inform the
Council of the
progress of
the process,
and requests
that the
Secretary-General
also confirm
in advance the
Council's
satisfaction
with the
planned
military
offensive
operation."
Focusing
on
the last
clause, that
UN Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon should
"confirm in
advance the
Council's
satisfaction
with the
planned
military
offensive
operation,"
Inner City
Press on
January 12
asked Ban's
top three
spokespeople
to "Please
state, both as
of
the beginning
of France's
military
operation and
as of your
response,
what the
Secretary
General did to
'confirm in
advance the
Council's
satisfaction
with the
planned
military
offensive
operation,'
specifying
both what the
Secretary
General knew
about the
plans and
operation, and
what he knew
of the
Council's
position on
those plans
and
operation(s).
Also, less
pressingly,
what did Mr.
Prodi do while
in Bamako?"
So
far, there has
been no
answer;
whatever is
provided will
be
published. But
there are
questions of
how Ban
Ki-moon even
COULD have
confirmed in
advance the
Council's
satisfaction
with France's
military
offensive.
On
January
10 at the
Security
Council,
where France
proposed and
procured a non-binding
press
statement
calling for a
speed up of
the
deployment of
the
African-led
AFISMA
mission,
France did not
meaningfully
present its
plans for a
military
offensive. So
how could
Ban "confirm
in advance the
Council's
satisfaction"?
Watch
this site.
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