Prodi
Praises Africa
on Phones
& Solar
Power, Doesn't
Know on Drones
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 10 --
The UN's envoy
on the Sahel
and Mali,
Romano
Prodi, told
the press on
Monday that he
doesn't know
what drones
are.
Pressed, he
said it's that
he's not a
military man.
Inner
City Press
asked, in the
debate between
going fast or
slow with the
use of force
in northern
Mali, which
side he comes
down on. Prodi
said one has
to prepare
militarily
now, but that
to say there
can be
a military
action soon is
"not
credible."
This
was a comment
the reclusive
chief of UN
Peacekeeping Herve
Ladsous
made recently
in
Paris. When
Inner City
Press asked
about it at
the UN, who
Ladsous
was speaking
of and if
there was a
transcript.
No transcript
has been
provided. And
not all
Security
Council
members agree
that September
2013 would be
the earliest.
Since
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon in his
speech linked
his "Energy
for All"
initiative,
co-chaired by
an executive
of Bank of
America, with
the potential
for solar
power in the
Sahel,
Inner City
Press asked
Prodi if this
was in fact a
real UN
program.
Prodi
indicated that
despite being
in Ban's
speech, it
hadn't been
directly
discussed, but
said he liked
the idea.
It's
like portable
phones in
Africa, Prodi
said - energy
should be
decentralized.
He
did not,
however,
directly
answer Inner
City Press'
question about
issues with
Mali's army,
its human
rights record
and whether
coup
leader Sonogo
is still
involved.
All of these
implicate the
UN's
stated Human
Rights Due
Diligence
Policy, on
which UN
Peacekeeping
chief Ladsous
refuses to
answer Press
questions.
Ladsous,
it
must be noted,
unlike Prodi DOES know
about drones.
And he wants
them,
having
proposed them
earlier this
year in the
C-34.
Without
getting any
approval,
he is pushing
them again.
Recently at a
stakeout where
he refused to
take Press
questions he
mentioned
"force
multipliers."
What, pray
tell, are
those? Watch
this site.
Footnote:
Inner City
Press got an
answer from
Morocco's
foreign
minister Saad
Dine El Otmani,
asked and
answered in
French, about
the role of
arms from
Libya. He said
they play a
harmful role,
merci.
Merci a vous.
But why then
did the issue
only
get added to
the
Presidential
Statement at
the last
minute?
Click here
for Inner City
Press coverage
of the Sahel
debate and
link to
the
Presidential
Statement.
, 
