As
UN Attacked in
Golan, It Has
No Answers on
Croatians
Fleeing
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, March
6, updated
-- Amid
reports and
YouTube video
of an attack
on
UNDOF
Peacekeepers
in Golan, the
UN at
Wednesday's
noon briefing
rebuffed
questions from
the press.
Inner
City Press
asked for a
description of
the UN's
knowledge and
dealings
with the
Al-Yarmouk
Brigade, shown
as taking
credit. Deputy
Spokesman
Eduardo Del
Buey said he
had nothing on
that.
Update
of 1:37 pm
-- Inner City
Press put the
same question
to UN Security
Council
President
Vitaly
Churkin, if it
was Yarmouk
and if they
demanded that
the Syrian
Army leave the
village of
Jamla.
Churkin
said there
were demands
made about the
situation "on
the ground;"
in his
national
capacity he
said countries
with influence
on the armed
Syrian
opposition
should tell
them to
release the
twenty
peacekeepers.
Two
days earlier
on March 4
Inner City
Press asked
Del Buey about
insecurity in
UNDOF:
Inner
City Press:
Eduardo, I
want to ask
you about
Syria, or
UNDOF, more
particularly,
Croatia has
announced that
it wants to
withdraw 100
of
its soldiers
that it has in
UNDOF, saying
that it has
become unsafe
after reports
of Syrian
rebels getting
weapons from
the Balkans,
including
Croatia.
What’s the
plan? From
DPKO’s
(Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations)
perspective,
how fast is
Croatia
pulling out
and does it
have some
plan? What
countries is
it asking to
replace
these soldiers
in UNDOF?
Deputy
Spokesperson:
Well, to date
we have had no
formal word
from the
Croatian
authorities
that they are
planning to do
that, so it
remains
hypothetical.
Is
it still
hypothetical?
And what
countries,
now, would
step in to
replace the
Croatians?
There were no
answers at
Wednesday's UN
noon briefing.
Running
back
to the UN
Security
Council, Inner
City Press
spotted the
unscheduled
arrival of the
head of DPKO,
Herve Ladsous.
He was last
seen to the
side of the
Security
Council
stakeout at 5
pm on Tuesday.
Ladsous
left as
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon
answered the
second of what
were to be two
questions (on
Hugo Chavez).
So he didn't
hear, nor of
course answer,
the third
question from
Inner City
Press about
his
inaction on
the 126 rapes
in Minova by
the Congolese
Army, his
partners.
Now,
reportedly,
the Al-Yarmouk
Brigades
accuse the UN
Peacekeepers
of
"helping
government
forces to
redeploy in
areas that was
under
rebels'
control.”
Inner
City Press has
asked the
Syrian Mission
about the
village of
Jamla;
to Del Buey at
noon Inner
City Press
asked about a
new March 6
letter
the Syrian
Mission told
Inner City
Press it filed
with the
Security
Council and
Ban. Del Buey
said he would
check - for
now, we'll put
the letter
online here.
Watch this
site.
Footnote:
Ladsous'
predecessor
Alain Le Roy,
in
circumstances
where UN
Peacekeepers
were attacked,
would
invariably
speak to the
Press.
Ladsous does
not - who is
served?
Update:
here's a
transcript of
what Del Buey
read out at
noon:
"The
UN
Disengagement
Observer Force
(UNDOF) has
reported that,
earlier today,
approximately
30 armed
fighters
stopped and
detained a
group of
around 20
peacekeepers
within the
Area of
Limitation,
east of the
B-Line.
The UN
observers were
on a regular
supply mission
and were
stopped near
Observation
Post 58, which
had sustained
damage and was
evacuated this
past weekend
following
heavy combat
in close
proximity, at
Jamla. The
Mission is
dispatching a
team to assess
the situation
and attempt a
resolution."
, 
