As
UN
and US Deal with Gbagbo Diplomats, Protesters Hit Angola Link,
Council in DC
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 13 -- As in Abidjan Laurent Gbagbo's soldiers had a
stand off with UN peacekeeping troops, across from the UN in New York
a group of protesters Monday morning demanded that the UN do more to
ensure Gbagbo leaves power.
The
UN Security
Council members were out of town, down in Washington with US
Ambassador Susan Rice. But Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was at UN
Headquarters, and was the target of a letter from the demonstrators.
They
called for
the full recognition of Alassane Ouattara as the winner of the
delayed Ivorian election, and said that “Gbagbo has the lone
support of Angola.”
“They have
their
families and their money there,” a protest leader told Inner City
Press, predicting that in the best case scenario, Gbagbo will go into
exile in Angola. Interestingly, Angola's co member of the Lusophone
group Portugal is joining the Security Council on January 1.
Human
rights
rogue and Lusophone wannabe Equatorial Guinea is also in touch with
Gbagbo, as is Benin reportedly.
Anti-Gbagbo protesters at UN Dec 13, UNSC and Gbagbo
dips not shown (c) MRLee
Inner City
Press on
December 9 asked
Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Martin Nesirky if the UN is still dealing
with Gbagbo's diplomats:
Inner
City
Press: after you read out the Security
Council’s statement
yesterday supporting ECOWAS [Economic Community of West African
States], which recognized Mr. Ouattara as the new President of
Côte
d'Ivoire; I just wondered, what does this mean toward, for the UN
treatment of the existing Côte d'Ivoire diplomats who were
appointed
by no longer President, apparently in the international view,
[Laurent] Gbagbo? Are they still, what’s the process, I guess? Do
they continue to be viewed by the United Nations as the legitimate
representatives of Côte d'Ivoire? The former Ambassador here is
now
the Foreign Minister under Gbagbo. So, I just wondered.
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
I think there is a set process; there is a Credentials
Committee that handles these matters. And I think that that’s the
route — speaking in general terms, not about this specific case.
Okay, thank you very much, everyone.
Even
asked again
on Monday about the UN's dealings with Gbagbo's diplomats, Ban's
spokesman Nesirky dodged the question.
At US
Ambassador Susan Rice's
holiday reception on December 9, the acting Permanent Representative
of Gbagbo's regime was present. Inner City Press asked Ambassador
Rice about it, and she said he wasn't “on the dark side.” So
could he represent Ouattara? Watch this site.
* * *
UN
Council
Agrees After 5 Days to Cote d'Ivoire Statement on Ouattara Win
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 8 -- After five days
of negotiations, the UN
Security Council at 6:30 Wednesday night agreed to a Press
Statement,
in light of ECOWAS recognition of Alassane Ouattara as the winner of
Cote d'Ivoire's election. The Statement
also deplores the suspension of non governmental media in Cote d'Ivoire.
Inner
City
Press has heard that the US urged SRSG Choi to declare Ouattara
the winner, even before the Constitutional Council had made its
statement - out of order.
Inner City Press asked African Ambassadors
for their views as they left the Council chamber.
“We wanted the
Security Council to support Africans' decisions,” Ambassador
Rugunda of Uganda told Inner City Press.
“You see?”
Gabon's Ambassador said. “A Russian contribution.”
Russia
had held
out -- several sources told Inner City Press that China supported
Russia too. Chinese Ambassador Li Baodong told Inner City Press that
the two parties should share.
Even
Uganda's
Ruganda said “we are not throwing Gbagbo out. He can stay, as
opposition.”
UN SRSG Choi: he's said he'll stay for legislative elections. Will he?
With
US Permanent
Representative Susan Rice in Washington, Brooke Anderson was picked
to read out the press statement. It was long, and Ambassador Anderson
walked away from the microphone as Inner City Press asked, "Why did
this take so long?"
While
the US was reticent to explain, they pointed to elements in the text
finally agreed, for example the section on free press, and mostly the
inclusion of Ouattara's name. Something, they say, was
accomplished. But what about the bombings in Sudan?
The
US
Mission has still not
answered questions put to it last week and on
Tuesday about murder and bombings in Sudan, including a call by the
SPLM for a Security Council investigation... But
that (apparently) is for another day.
, 
