For
UN in Syria,
Mood is
Replaced By
Gaye, Open
Compared to
Ladsous
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, July
20 -- The day
after the head
of the UN
Mission in
Syria
General Robert
Mood left his
post, sources
tell Inner
City Press
because he
thought a
civilian
should lead
what remains
of the
Mission, he
was replaced
by another
military man.
Babacar
Gaye
of Senegal,
previously the
UN's force
commander in
the Congo,
took over for
the 30 days
that the US
calls "final"
and
others see as
a transition
to a further
extension of
mandate.
Inner
City Press has
covered Gaye
back to his
Congo days,
when he spoke
freely,
perhaps too
freely, about
how
Sisyphus-like
he found it to
ask his
soldiers to
not have sex
for small
amount of
money with the
Congolese they
were supposed
to protect.
But
since Gaye has
been military
adviser at
DPKO, at first
under Alain Le
Roy, he has
been a
straight
shooter, most
recently this
month telling
Inner City
Press that the
report of UN
"tanks" in
Eastern
Congo was
inaccurate,
"they are APCs
with guns."
Gaye's
openness
stands in
contrast with
the
stonewalling
of the
Frenchman
who replace Le
Roy, Herve
Ladsous, who
openly refuses
to answer
Press
questions
about DPKO
killings in
the Congo,
adviser from
alleged war
criminal Sri
Lanka general
Shavendra
Silva, or
forces in
Lebanon.
DPKO even
demanded that
Inner City
Press remove
Ladsous' name
from a story
in which a
Security
Council
Permanent
Representative
told the
Press, on the
record, that
Ladsous was
going to
Damascus.
While
Ladsous had
been "blocking
release of the
UNSMIS report
on the Houla
killings" in
Syria,
according to
Security
Council
members, maybe
at least Gaye
can get that
released.
What
else can Gaye
and UNSMIS
accomplish in
the next 30
days in Syria?
Watch
this site.
, 
