After
Demarche,
Sudan Still
Blocks UN
Expert
Schbley, UNSC
Reaction?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 13 --
A week after Sudan
made public
its exclusion
of the new
Expert on
Sudan
Sanctions
appointed last
month by UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon,
Ghassan
Schbley of the
United States,
on December 13
it reiterated
its
"blacklisting,"
Sudan's
Ambassador
told Inner
City Press.
After the
Security
Council heard
a briefing on
Darfur from
International
Criminal Court
prosecutor
Bensouda,
Inner City
Press asked
Council
president
Loulicki of
Morocco if he
had
"demarched"
Sudan.
Loulichki told
Inner City
Press, "I was
asked to do it
and I did. Now
I will report
to the
Council,
before
anything
else."
Moments later,
Inner City
Press asked Sudan's
Permanent
Representative
Daffa-Alla
Elhag Ali
Osman about
the meeting,
if Schbley is
still
blacklisted.
Yes,
Daffa-Alla
Elhag Ali
Osman told
Inner City
Press, he is
still on the
blacklist
until he
reconsiders
his positions
against the
interests of
the Republic
of Sudan.
So now what?
Back on
December 7, US
Mission's
Deputy
Spokesperson
Payton L.
Knopf told
Inner City
Press,
"unfettered
access for
Panels of
Experts is a
fundamental
principle. It
is
unacceptable
that Sudan or
any country
would prevent
a member of a
Panel of
Experts from
conducting his
or her work as
mandated by
the Security
Council."
Now that
Ambassador
Susan Rice has
removed her
name from
contention for
US Secretary
of State, this
could be a
focus.
A day later,
another
Security
Council
diplomat told
Inner City
Press, "The
turning back
of the Expert
at Khartoum
airport
despite his
being in
possession a
valid visa was
totally
unacceptable,
particularly
since the
reason given
was that the
Expert had
been
‘blacklisted’
because of his
previous work
on the
Somalia/Eritrea
Monitoring
Group.
"This was
raised at the
Sudan
Sanctions
consultations
and it was
agreed that
the Council
President
should express
concern to the
Sudanese
Permanent
Representative
on behalf of
the Council
and seek his
assurance that
there would be
no repeat."
But now Daffa-Alla
Elhag Ali
Osman has said
Schbley is
still on the
blacklist,
until he
"reconsiders"
his positions
against the
interests of
the Republic
of Sudan.
Inner City
Press asked
when Loulichki
will inform
the Council of
this answer.
Footnote:
while ICC
prosecutor
Bensouda did
not do a UN TV
stakeout,
Inner City
Press asked
her if there
are any new
investigations
of the M23 or
its
supporters,
beyond Bosco.
No, she
replied, "not
at this time."
See above -
and watch this
site.
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