As
UNSC
Eyes Sudan, Martin & Johnson Vie, Vladimir Safronkov Hands Cup
to UK's Quarrey
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
May 16 -- As the UN
Security Council prepares to travel to
Sudan, albeit not to Darfur, the question arose Monday of who will
replace Haile Menkerios atop the UN Mission in Sudan.
Sources
tell Inner
City Press that at least two current UN officials wants the post:
Hilde Johnson of UNICEF, and Ian Martin of the Department of
Political Affairs, only recently tapped for post-transition (or
post-Gaddafi) Libya.
The
question arose
at a reception at the Russian Mission to the UN, a farewell to
Vladimir K. Safronkov, Russia's political coordinator. It was a good
turn out, including among other DPA chief Lynn Pascoe, UK Permanent
Representative Mark Lyall Grant and US Deputy Permanent
Representative Rosemary DiCarlo.
The
ceremonial
highlight of the evening was the passing of the torch, or the “cup
of dean of P-5 political coordinators,” to David Quarrey of the UK. He
joked that he will only hold it for six week, then pass it on to
France. From there it will go to China.
At
the back,
political coordinators from non Permanent Security Council members
groused about not being in line for the cup, about Sudan, Libya and
Cote d'Ivoire.
One
asked Inner
City Press, what's up with Alain Le Roy? Well placed UN sources tell
Inner City Press he will be replaced, by another Frenchman, who's
already been selected. The question, then, is Pascoe, or maybe Angela
Kane.
Vladimir with hands crossed: he will be missed
Vladimir,
who is returning to Moscow to work on multilateral diplomacy and
international organizations, has been
well-liked in the UN. Inner City Press can speak highly of him as far
away as a tarmac in Goma in the Congo, calming other ambassadors down
after their plane was shot, from the inside.
As
of Monday
evening, the logistics of the Council's upcoming trip were still not
set. Le Roy's Department of Peacekeeping Operations is to briefing
them on Tuesday afternoon; for now they will land at Kadugli on their
way to Abyei. Ahmed Haroun, the ICC indictee who Menkerios has
insisted on flying, will not meet with them. And so it goes at the
UN. Watch this site.
* * *
As
UN
Confirms
Sudan Arrest of Staff, Council Stalled on Wau Airport for
Abyei
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
May
10 -- The day after Security
Council president Gerard
Araud told the Press the Council's Sudan trip later this month will
definitely go to Abyei, only “which airport” is being discussed,
Sudan continued to maintain that it has not yet given approval, even
that the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations has not yet issued
its final recommendation.
Inner
City
Press
asked top UN Peacekeeper Alain Le Roy about this, and if Khalil
Ibrahim of Darfur's Justice & Equality Movement is still trapped
in Tripoli.
Yes, Le Roy
said, Ibrahim is still there. He could not
or would not explain the UN's response to requests that they
extricate Ibrahim from Libya, as the UN did with its own
international staff.
On
Abyei, it is
explained to Inner City Press that a choice would have to be made
between airports in Kadugli and Wau. (The latter was supposed to be a
stop on the Council's October 2010 trip to Juba, Darfur and Khartoum,
but plane trouble canceled it -- click here
for Inner City Press'
coverage.)
Wau
cannot
accommodate the large plane on which the Council will fly from Addis
Ababa to Khartoum. Kadugli can, but the helicopters needed for
further transport to Abyei are easier staged out of Wau and not
Kadugli.
The
Sudanese,
meanwhile, say the Council was first considering flying to the UN's
El Obeid base. They confirm that DPKO cannot give its final
recommendation until these “logistical” issues are solved.
UN air craft in Wau, UNSC and IDP answers not shown
On
May 9, Inner
City Press asked Ban Ki-moon's acting deputy spokesman Farhan Haq:
Inner
City
Press:
a person active in the [internally displaced persons]
camps, Hawa Abdullah, has been arrested by the Government and charged
with Christianization and being a member of the Abdul Wahid Nur
group. There is some uproar there, and I wonder if UNAMID has any
awareness of this case or comment on it.
Acting
Deputy
Spokesperson
Haq: We’ll check with UNAMID whether they have
any reaction. They haven't disclosed any reaction so far. But we’ll
see whether they say anything down the line.
The
following
morning at 11 am, Haq's office sent the following:
From:
UN
Spokesperson
- Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Tue, May 10, 2011
at 11:14 AM
Subject: Your question on UNAMID staff member
To:
Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com
Regarding
your
question
from yesterday, UNAMID has said the following:
UNAMID
confirms
that
on 6 May a female national staff member was detained by
National Security personnel at her residence in Abu Shouk Internally
Displaced Persons camp. The Mission is in contact with local and
state authorities to determine the cause behind her detention.
Meanwhile,
questions
from
a full week ago have still not been answered. On May 3, Inner
City Press asked Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky:
there
have
been
two separate reports of children dying in IDP [internally
displaced persons] camps in Darfur due to, they say, lack of medical
care, the residents of the camps...And I am just wondering how to
square with this, I saw a recent UN News Centre, UN press release,
about increased humanitarian access. Is UNAMID [African Union-UN
Hybrid Operation in Darfur] aware of people dying in camps due to
lack of medical care and if so, what is being done to gain access to
those camps?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
I’ll
ask my colleagues in DPKO [Department of Peacekeeping
Operations] to provide an update.
But
there's been no
answer from DPKO or Nesirky's Office. Now the UN Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has been asked. Watch this site.
* * *
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