In
Drone Wars,
ICP Asks, UN
Nesirky Tells
All Ladsous
Selex UAV
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 1 --
The UN's Herve
Ladsous, who
has refused to
answer Press
questions for
months,
bragged at
Bastille Day
he had
signed a UN
contract for
drones.
Inner
City Press
asked at the
UN's July 31
noon briefing:
who won? Who
is
getting paid?
Secretary
General
Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesperson
Martin Nesirky
said that is
not
public. Video
here.
Later
on July 31,
Inner City
Press asked Ladsous
himself - he
looked but
did not
answer. Video
here.
Then
at the August
1 noon
briefing,
without having
e-mailed an
answer to
Inner City
Press as the
media which
asked the
question (as
Nesirky
office does
with at least
some other
media),
Nesirky came
and
announced the
winner: the
Selex ES
Falco,
described as
the "the
only tactical
UAS entirely
developed in
Europe to have
been exported
and used in
operations.
Elbit of
Israel has
also ordered
the Selex."
Interestingly,
Qaddafi's
Libya was also
apply to buy a
Selex, but was
being reviewed
by the Italian
government.
Now it's said
Ladsous'
drones could
be
flying over
the Democratic
Republic of
the Congo (and
its border
with
Rwanda) as
early as
September.
Ladsous
was
France's
Deputy
Permanent
Representative
at the UN
during the
Rwanda
genocide, arguing
in open and
even more in
closed door
Security
Council
meetings for
the genocidaires
to escape into
Eastern
Congo.
When
this was
raised,
Ladsous
started to
refuse to
answer Press
questions. See
video
compilation
here.
(On
August 1,
Nesirky
refused Inner
City Press any
follow up
questions on
the claims he
had just made
about Ladsous'
drones, while
allowing
others
including
Pamela Falk,
UNCA's 2013
President, two
rounds of
questions.)
Nesirky's
office,
rather than
solving this,
has
exacerbated
it. At least
one
former UN
spokesperson
has indicated
this is an
abdication of
the UN
spokesperson's
role. But that
determination
would be up to
Ban
Ki-moon. Even
member states
who have been
speaking
against this
(non)
communications
approach don't
have any say.
Watch this
site.
, 
