Echoes
of
Abbottabad Raid from Pakistan Mission in NY But Not UN Itself, the
Silence of Ban Ki-moon
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
May 2, updated -- More than
eleven hours after US President Obama
announced the death of Osama Bin Laden in a shootout in Pakistan,
from the UN and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon there was only silence.
Update: And when Ban belatedly
spoke, it was on an unexplained 20 minute delay, without Press told in
the usual ways. See below.
Everyone
from Pakistan's Mission to the UN to State Senators from
Upper Manhattan in New York had rushed out press releases.
In
New York Mayor Mike
Bloomberg had canceled his Monday appearance at the opening in
Central Park of an installation by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, which
itself had been postponed.
The
UN had not
taken the weekend off: Sunday afternoon in a “Note to
Correspondents” Ban's
Spokesperson had told UN correspondents that
the UN's 12 international staff members in Tripoli had left the
country, just after a NATO bombing which killed one of Gaddafi's
sons, and would henceforth serve Western Libya from Tunisia.
On
Friday, the UN sent a similar note that Ban had met with the foreign
minister of the Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia, with a focus on “the status of negotiations between
Athens and Skopje on the 'name' issue.”
The
UN is assigned
such issues and, at least for eight hours, has no comment on or role
in events like Sunday's raid on Osama Bin Laden's compound in
Pakistan. As acknowledged on a background call for the Press by
“Senior Administration Officials” on Sunday night, the US did not
even tell Pakistan about the raid before it occurred.
Obama & Ban, Bin Laden and UN statement not
shown 11 hours later
Hours
afterwards,
Pakistan's Mission to the UN put out a press release that “earlier
today, President Obama telephoned President Zardari on the successful
US operation which resulted in killing of Osama bin Ladin. Osama bin
Ladin’s death illustrates the resolve of the international
community.”
The
UN, of course,
is said to represent the international community. But its Secretary
General had nothing to say. The US, it was expected, could ask for
some statement from the UN Security Council, which on Monday had
bilateral meetings scheduled under the Presidency of France.
Update: While
covering the Security Council bilateral meetings at 10:50 am, the Press
heard the UN announced that Ban would be on UN Television shortly. To
another journalist, Ban's spokesperson's office could or would not even
say where it would be.
Inner City Press ran to the North Lawn building which
contains Ban's office, but was told by UN TV it was over, already
filmed, with select journalists present. At the noon briefing Inner
City Press asked Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky to explain the delay.
He did not, except to assert that it was announced in the normal
way. If this is normal for the UN, something is wrong. Watch this
site. Here is / was Ban's statement:
Good
morning,
ladies and gentlemen. The death of Osama bin Laden,
announced by President [Barack] Obama last night, is a watershed
moment in our common global fight against terrorism. The crimes of Al
Qaeda touched most continents, bringing tragedy and loss of life to
thousands of men, women and children.
The
United
Nations condemns in the strongest possible terms terrorism in
all its forms, regardless of its purpose and wherever it is
committed. This is a day to remember the victims and families of
victims, here in the United States and everywhere in the world. The
United Nations will continue to fight against terrorism and will lead
this campaign to fight against terrorism.
I
remember,
personally, vividly, the day of September 11, 2001. I was
in New York on that dark day. The United Nations is committed to
continue to lead this campaign with world leaders to fight against
international terrorism. I thank you very much. Personally, I am very
much relieved by the news that justice has been done to such a
mastermind of international terrorism. I would like to commend the
work and the determined and principled commitment of many people in
the world who have been struggling to eradicate international
terrorism.
The
United
Nations General Assembly has adopted a global
counter-terrorism strategy, and on the basis of that, we will
continue to work together with Member States of the United Nations to
completely eradicate global terrorism. Thank you very much. I need
your support. Thank you.
* * *
UN
in
S.
Kordofan Confirms 19 Murders, Won't Say if Harun Did It:
Flights Continue?
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
May
1 -- Amid the killing in Sudan, the UN has two $1
billion peacekeeping operations but refuses to answer basic questions
about who is killing whom, much less stopping it.
While
numerous
questions
about Darfur that Inner City Press has asked the UN --
bombing of clinics by the government, alleged laying of land mies --
have gone unanswered, on April 29 the UN did send an answer to a
question asked nine day previous about South Kordofan (see below).
The
problem is,
after more than a week, the UN could or would not provide any
information about who was responsible for the killing of at least 19
civilians there. In fact, the person accused is Ahmed Harun, who
despite being indicted by the International Criminal Court for war
crimes in Darfur has been flown in UN helicopters to Abyei at least
twice.
In
the middle of April, Inner City Press began asking about allegations
that Harun
had
just
organized a militia to attack El-Faid Um Abdullah, the home
village of his deputy governor in South Kordofan, Abdelaziz al-Hilu.
The accusation
was
made
by the deputy governor himself:
“Abdelaziz
al-Hilu
accused
governor Ahmed Harun, who is from a rival party and
will contest local elections against him on May 2, of 'organizing an
attack by the Popular Defence Forces on my village, El-Faid Um
Abdullah. They killed more than 20 people and burned between 300 and
500 houses in the early morning. Two women and four children were
among those who burned inside the houses,' he said.”
Inner
City
Press
asked US State Department spokesman Mark Toner, and then UN deputy
spokesman Farhan Haq on April 20:
Inner
City
Press:
On Sudan, there is this report from the Deputy Governor
of South Kordofan, saying that the popular defence force attacked his
village, killed 20 people. And he blames it on Ahmed Haroun… in
fact the Governor, the Khartoum-backed Governor of the state. So,
it’s a pretty high-profile person accusing him of being behind this
attack, and I wonder, does UNMIS, what have they done in terms of
investigating Mr. Haroun’s role, given that they have been flying
Mr. Haroun as an ostensible peacemaker to Abyei?
Acting
Deputy
Spokesperson
Haq: I was told that UNMIS has gone to this area
in Southern Kordofan, and it is trying to obtain more information
about what’s been going on there.
For
more than a
week, there was no answer from the UN spokesperson's office. In the
interim, Inner City Press asked number
two UN Peacekeeping official
Atul Khare, and US Ambassador Susan Rice about it.
Khare
said
that
the killing including “inter alia women and
children,” in “the village of the deputy governor.” He said the
UN would be paying more attention to the area, mentioning
humanitarian issues.
But
what about investigating Abdelaziz al-Hilu's claim that Ahmed Harun
was involved? If the UN confirmed this, could or would they keep
flying Harun around on UN helicopters?
Ban & Khare, murders by and flights to Ahmed Harun not shown
As
US Ambassador
Susan Rice left a UN Security Council meeting on April 20, Inner
City Press asked her if the new charges against Harun should end the
UN's flights for Harun. "He was already indicted," Rice
said. "At this point the concern is constant."
But
has the US spoken against the UN flying Harun? Inner City Press has
repeatedly asked the US Mission for a comment, without receiving any.
Finally
on
April
28 leaving another session about UN Peacekeeping, Inner City Press
asked an official of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations
about the failure to answer questions, not only about South Kordofan
but also Darfur.
While
the
Darfur
questions still remain unresponded to, on April 29 the following was
sent:
From:
UN
Spokesperson
- Do Not Reply
<unspokesperson-donotreply@un.org>
Date: Fri, Apr 29, 2011
at 10:54 AM
To: Matthew Lee [at] innercitypress.com
Subject:
Your question on Southern Kordofan
The
upcoming
elections
in Southern Kordofan, which are to commence on 2
May, are of importance to both parties and the increase in violence
is of great concern to us. The National Congress Party/Southern Sudan
People's Liberation Moverment partnership was a stabilising factor
over the last two years but since this election will influence
Southern Kordofan’s political balance of power, the rhetoric of the
election campaign has been increasingly aggressive. As a result, on
13 April 2011, four predominantly Nuba villages within the Locality
of Al Rashad (200 kms NE of Kadugli) were targeted, resulting in the
death of 19 persons (3 children, 4 females, 12 males) and the injury
of 29 (3 females, 24 males).
Not
only is this
response 16 days after the fact, and nine days after the question was
asked -- it also make no effort to identify who is responsible. Since
the person accused is one whom the UN has flown around in a
helicopter to meet with the type of nomadic tribes accused of murder,
shouldn't the UN want to know, and be required to disclose? Watch
this site.
Footnote:
On
the
Doha process on Darfur, after Djibril Bassole announced it
would become foreign minister of post-mutiny Burkina Faso, Inner City
Press asked the UN if he would be allowed to stay on as mediator, as
he reportedly wanted. Finally the UN squawked an answer, that he
would end as mediator on April 30. This is how Khartoum wants it.
A
top UN
peacekeeping official told Inner City Press that Bassole will attend
the upcoming session in Doha, but only as foreign minister of Burkina
Faso for its involvement in the process. This too is how Khartoum
wants it. Watch this site.
, 
