Chad Closed Radio Station, Used Swiss Plane for
Wounded, Zoe's Ark Pardon Being Considered
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at
the UN: News Analysis
UNITED NATIONS, February 26 -- Chad's
President Deby, who so recently survived a coup attempt with the support of
France, will now consider pardoning the French staff of Zoe's Ark, Chad's
Foreign Minister Ahmad Allam-Mi told Inner City Press on Tuesday, while denying
any quid pro quo. They were convicted of kidnapping children from Chad under the
false claim that they were orphans, and are now serving eight year prison terms
not in Chad but in France. Chad sentenced them to hard labor but, Minister Allam-Mi
said, that is just a matter of an "old code" that has not been amended to
conform with Chad's signature of international agreements. Deby has been busy
fending off a coup. Allam-Mi joked, "I trust we find in the archives the file"
of Zoe's Ark. Video
here,
from Minute 35:47 until cut off
at 38:55
after reference to French president Sarkozy.
Inner City Press asked about
Chad's use a Swiss plane in its fight with Sudan, and about a human rights
worker and radio station manager on the run. The Chadian radio station FM
Liberte "was shut down, that is true," Allam-Mi said. But, he pointed out, that
was before the coup attempt -- not after. Inner City Press asked if the station
will be allowed to re-open. The answer was a reference to a case of defamation.
Video
here,
from Minute 17:27.
Pilatus PC-9: bombs away?
Regarding Swiss government accusations
from that Chad used a Pilatus PC-9 plane it imported from Switzerland as part of
its military campaign in The Sudan, Allam-Mi called this "propaganda," an
internal fight in Switzerland between majority and opposition. He said that the
plane is only used for reconnaissance and "transporting the wounded." Of
Switzerland he said, "they can come and verify." We'll see.
Chadian foreign minister
Allam-Mi and Ban Ki-moon, Feb. 26, 2008
* * *
These reports are
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Click
here for a
Reuters
AlertNet piece by this correspondent about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army.
Click
here
for an earlier
Reuters AlertNet
piece about the Somali National Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's
$200,000 contribution from an undefined trust fund.
Video
Analysis here
Because a number of Inner City Press' UN sources go
out of their way to express commitment to serving the poor, and while it should
be unnecessary, Inner City Press is compelled to conclude this installment in a
necessarily-ongoing series by saluting the stated goals of the UN agencies and
many of their staff. Keep those cards, letters and emails coming, and phone
calls too, we apologize for any phone tag, but please continue trying, and keep
the information flowing.
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