In
Syria,
UN Military To
Be Cut 50%,
Ladsous Tells
TCCs,
Before UNSC
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Partial
exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
July 10 --
When top UN
Peacekeeper
Herve Ladsous
strutted
out of
Conference
Room 6 where
he met with
Syria Troop
Contributing
Countries on
Tuesday
afternoon,
some attendees
expressed
surprise to
Inner City
Press.
"He
said
the military
component will
be cut fifty
percent in
UNSMIS,"
a TCC
representative
exclusively
told Inner
City Press,
referring to
the UN
Mission in
Syria. "But
how does he
know what the
Security
Council will
do?"
Usually
the UN
Secretariat
says that they
can only
propose, not
decide. But
here,
Ladsous told
TCCs what will
happened --
just as on
June 15 he
told
the Security
Council that
the Mission in
Syria HAD
already
limited
its mobile
operations as
of 6 pm that
day, local
time.
As
Inner
City Press,
which
exclusively
obtained and
published
Ladsous'
DPKO notice,
later was told
by sources
staying in the
Hotel Dame
Rose
in Damascus,
General Robert
Mood on the
night of June
15 didn't talk
about the
limitation,
and his deputy
and personnel
went out on
patrol
on the morning
of June 16.
Now,
at
least one
Permanent Five
member of the
Security
Council tells
Inner City
Press that
Mood does not
want to
continue in a
"merely
political
mission."
Perhaps with
fifty percent
of the
military
retained.
Perhaps. Watch
this site.
Footnotes:
also
exiting with
Ladsous was
his military
adviser, and
former
commander in
Congo, Babacar
Gaye. At the
same time back
in the
Security
Council
consultations
room, Roger
Meece was
briefing the
Council about
(in) action in
North Kivu.
Shouldn't Gaye
be on that
too?
After the
meeting,
Department of
Field Support
chief Amira
Haq was on the
North Lawn's
second floor
with her
predecessor
and now Ban
chief of staff
Susana
Malcorra. Some
wonder why it
was Haq's
deputy Tony
Banbury and
not Haq
herself in the
Syria TCC
meeting. We
are wishing
Amira Haq
well; this
Syria debate
needs more
voices,
including for
hte UN's own
credibility.
Watch this
site.
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