UN
Tells
ICP Ladsous'
DRC Drone Cost
10 M Euros,
Run by
Contractor
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 5 --
After Inner
City Press published
an exclusive
story and
asked about
crashes in
Pakistan and
Wales by the
the exact
drone
model that UN
Peacekeeping
chief Herve
Ladsous has
procured for
Eastern Congo,
the Selex ES
Falco, and
questioned the
cost,
management and
use of
information,
the UN's
spokesperson
Martin
Nesirky at
Monday's noon
briefing
answered some
of Inner City
Press'
questions.
The
single drone
will cost 10
million Euros,
apparently per
year, for a
three year
contract with
two additional
years as an
option.
(Nersirky
did not say at
whose option
these two
years would
be: the
contract
should be made
public.)
Nesirky
answered
that 25
companies from
11 countries
visited the
Democratic
Republic of
the Congo and
"a number"
submitted
proposal.
Nesirky did
not say WHAT
number: this,
and the
proposals,
should be
made public.
When
Inner City
Press asked
again who
would run the
drone, and who
would
get the
information,
Nesirky said
that "the
contractor"
will run the
UAV. Would
that be
Finmeccanica,
the ultimate
parent,
also involved
in cyber
intelligence?
This should be
specified.
Will
the drone be
controlled
from Goma,
Kinshasa, or
in US style, a
room
under Las
Vegas? Or in
Rome?
Nesirky
said
that the
information
will be
provided
"exclusively"
to
the MONUSCO
mission. Inner
City Press
asked if
MONUSCO would
then in
turn provide
information to
the Congolese
Army. Nesirky
insisted:
exclusively to
MONUSCO.
Does
that mean
MONUSCO would
never share
the positions
or movement of
armed groups
with the
FARDC?
Or
with the
Permanent Five
members of the
Security
Council, one
of which
(France) Herve
Ladsous represented
in the
Security
Council as Deputy
Permanent
Representative
during the
Rwanda
genocide,
arguing for
the
escape of genocidaires
into Eastern
Congo
which he will
now be
observing with
this murky --
and crash
prone --
drone? Watch
this
site.
, 
