In
the UN Security Council, Speeches and Stasis as Haiti is Forgotten, for a Shebaa
Farms Solution?
Byline: Matthew
Russell Lee at the UN
UNITED NATIONS,
August 8, 4:22 p.m. -- For a ceasefire in Lebanon to be enacted by the UN
Security Council in 24 or even 48 hours appears less and less likely.
Update of 11:59 p.m.,
last of day -- Despite and responding to CNN's below-quoted report quoting U.S.
Amb. Bolton's spokesman of France breaking from the U.S., the French mission's
spokesman emailed the UN press corps Tuesday night, "We totally deny that
report, negotiations between France and the U.S. are going on." So disagreeing
with CNN or the U.S. mission? Earlier Tuesday, the French spokesman and the U.S.
deputy spokesman laughed together, when the latter provided correction of who
was in the room, the P5 and "the Arab four." How fast they fall out, or CNN's
wrong. We'll see.
Update of 7:45 p.m. -- After multiple stakeout interviews, including French Ambassador
de La Sabliere choosing to do it in the dark, not before the UN TV cameras, and
John Bolton bolting, the mood on the second floor was dark. On the television
over the coffee machine, blaring CNN, Lou Dobbs turned from immigrants to pass
on word from Bolton's spokesman that France is breaking from the U.S., and
joining Lebanon in demanding that Israel withdraw. Washington was floating a
counterproposal, that Lebanon's 15,000 troops be supplement with an
international force of roughly similar size. No Israeli pull-out, under this
trial lead balloon, but an eventual pull-out more credible.
"These
people couldn't stop a pillow fight," one journalist, visual, said. "They should
turn this place into a water park."
"You
sound like Bolton," a fact collector for a television network said.
"Whatever."
In the
cafeteria, Inner City Press ran into Doctor David Nabarro, the UN's point man on
avian influenza.
"How goes
it on bird flu?"
"Bird flu
goes on," Dr. Nabarro said. "It's not big news these days. That's the nature of
news -- there's a finite amount." He added that there are in fact worries of
bird flu in Lebanon, and that's he'd like to come back to brief about it, once
the news is not so... you know. We know...
Update of 5:40 p.m.
-- Dozens of reporters press together to hear staffers who refused to be named
explain that in the room it's not "P5 plus one" -- and that would be Qatar --
but rather "P5 plus four," including the foreign minister of the United Arab
Emirates. Meanwhile Inner City Press can report that a bomb-sniffing dog, a
3-year old male Labrador who declined to be named, sniffed the coffee cups
heading in to the room. So when they drink it...
As Kofi Annan and the
afternoon's three speakers, from Qatar, Israel and Lebanon, swept into the
Council chambers past 3:30 p.m., staffers of the Permanent Five missions told
reporters not to expect immanent action. On the sidelines, Ambassador Mayoral of
Argentina was asked to show his identification card to the guard outside the
chamber. Photographers rushed up the staircase; Mark Malloch-Brown sat in his
sunglasses next to head peacekeeper Jean-Marie Guehenno.
Meanwhile the air
is sucked out of most other issues and regions. A purportedly small but telling
detail: the press corps was informed that Edmond Mulet, Kofi Annan's envoy to
Haiti, from which Mr. Annan only days ago returned, was to take questions at 4
p.m.. There are questions to be asked, about a slate of kidnappings and murders,
and Mr. Mulet's proposal to boost the UN force with a SWAT team of 100.
Haiti,
not the Middle East
Meanwhile Carlo
Lochard of the Police National d'Haiti is accused of funding his own murderous
gang. But at 4 p.m., with all reporters staring at the television showing
Israel's Dan Gillerman's speech before the Council, Mr. Mulet's briefing was
unceremoniously cancelled. It was cancelled in the second floor hallway, and not
rescheduled. A cameraman told Inner City Press that a sanctions meeting he was
slated to be at was cancelled. How long can this go on?
Long, possibly.
Wise minds at the stakeout predict the solution, if there is one, is shifting
the word-games toward the Shebaa Farms, so that each side can claim victory how
ever Pyrrhic... To be continued.
Feedback: editorial
[at] innercitypress.com
UN Office: S-453A,
UN, NY 10017 USA Tel: 212-963-1439
Reporter's mobile
(Saturday): 718-716-3540
On
Lebanon, Franco-American Resolution Reviewed at UN in Weekend Security Council
Meeting
UNITED
NATIONS, August 5 -- In a rare Saturday afternoon session, the UN Security
Council is meeting on a draft resolution on the conflict in Lebanon. The
full text of the draft resolution, circulated at the UN at 1 pm Saturday, is
placed online below (and has been, since 1:10 pm). Now updates, in reverse
chronological order:
Update of 7:30 pm --
After interviewing a variety of sources in the half-light outside the Security
Council, it appears clear that the resolution will not pass, or even be voted
on, on Sunday. It's passage is predicted Monday, without Condi Rice, or Tuesday,
if a ministerial meeting can be organized. The opposition of Lebanon and Qatar
makes such a meeting less likely. And who will do what, in the hours to come, to
change the facts on the ground? Developing...
Update of 5:45 pm --
There will be no vote today. An expert briefing began at 5 pm; there will be
another one at 10 am on Sunday. Russian Ambassador Churkin emerged and spoke of
Lebanon's objections, as did the Ambassador of Qatar. On the sidelines, Inner
City Press asked Palestine's permanent observer what would or could be done for
a cessation of hostilities in Gaza. "I wish," he said. And then another
cameraman, rushing by for an interview of the hall, hit him in the eye with his
camera.
Secretary
General Kofi Annan swept in at 4:35 pm, with no words for the press.
Photographers joked of his Miami Vice look, fresh in from Santo Domingo. When he
swept out, he urged the questioning press to "listen to the Ambassador," in this
case from Qatar. The head of UN peacekeeping stood by the elevator whispering to
a TV network's operative. Then he too was done, the back-down to Congolese
warlord and peacekeeper-kidnapper Peter Karim not addressed, the Lebanese crisis
left unresolved yet again, and Gaza not even touched, except by bombs...
Previously, at 4:22
p.m. -- in the media-frenzied space outside the Council chamber, the grumbling
about the text began at 3 pm. A U.S. embassy staffer directed the press to
Russia as the source of forthcoming delay. Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin
came out, but spoke only to "the Russian press," which consisted of three
reporters. Amb. Churkin's staffer tried to prohibit the non-Russian media from
recording her boss' sotto voce spinnings.
The ambassador
from Qatar asked for a thirty minute delay and got it. The Lebanese envoy was
interpreted as against the resolution, though he declined to stop and speak with
reporters. The Syrian ambassador strode in, also without stopping. Palestine's
permanant observer, ever polite, stopped and took Inner City Press' question;
his answer, however, was "Ask Russia," which as described above has yet to be
possible.
French
Ambassador de La Sabliere has offered expert briefings to the Council, later
Saturday or Sunday. Russia, it's said, has said no. A wise colleague advises
that Russia was in the loop, but hearing of Lebanese opposition, decided to join
in. Kofi Annan waits in the wings, but there's much reading of the tea leaves as
things slide toward five o'clock. Developing.
In
further terms of timing, it appears that not only the television images of dead
civilians, broadcast worldwide, but also communications such as that to George
Bush by the Egyptian president, of Monday as the absolute deadline before
regionalization of the conflict, played a role in the U.S. - French agreement
announced to reporters Saturday mid-morning. Inner City Press will be reporting
in real time from the Security Council for the rest of Saturday; watch this
space.
Amb.
de La Sabliere (w. SRSG "Congo-king" Swing, see below)
The text
Draft UNSC resolution
The Security Council,
PP1. Recalling all its previous resolutions on
Lebanon, in particular resolutions 425 (1978), 426 (1978), 520 (1982), 1559
(2004), 1655 (2006) and 1680 (2006), as well as the statements of its President
on the situation in Lebanon, in particular the statements of 18 June 2000 (S/PRST/2000/21),
of 19 October 2004 (S/PRST/2004/36), of 4 May 2005 (S/PRST/2005/17) of 23
January 2006 (S/PRST/2006/3) and of 30 July 2006 (S/PRST/2006/35),
PP2. Expressing its utmost concern at the continuing
escalation of hostilities in Lebanon and in Israel since Hizbollah’s attack on
Israel on 12 July 2006, which has already caused hundreds of deaths and injuries
on both sides, extensive damage to civilian infrastructure and hundreds of
thousands of internally displaced persons,
PP3. Emphasizing the need for an end of violence, but
at the same time emphasizing the need to address urgently the causes that have
given rise to the current crisis, including by the unconditional release of the
abducted Israeli soldiers,
PP4: Mindful of the sensitivity of the issue of
prisoners and encouraging the efforts aimed at settling the issue of the
Lebanese prisoners detained in Israel,
OP1. Calls for a full cessation of hostilities based
upon, in particular, the immediate cessation by Hizbollah of all attacks and the
immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations;
OP2. Reiterates its strong support for full respect
for the Blue Line;
OP3. Also reiterates its strong support for the
territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence of Lebanon within
its internationally recognized borders, as contemplated by the Israeli-Lebanese
General Armistice Agreement of 23 March 1949;
OP4. Calls on the international community to take
immediate steps to extend its financial and humanitarian assistance to the
Lebanese people, including through facilitating the safe return of displaced
persons and, under the authority of the Government of Lebanon, reopening
airports and harbours for verifiably and purely civilian purposes, and calls on
it also to consider further assistance in the future to contribute to the
reconstruction and development of Lebanon;
OP5. Emphasizes the importance of the extension of
the control of the Government of Lebanon over all Lebanese territory in
accordance with the provisions of resolution 1559 (2004) and resolution 1680
(2006), and of the relevant provisions of the Taif Accords, for it to exercise
its full sovereignty and authority;
OP6. Calls for Israel and Lebanon to support a
permanent ceasefire and a long-term solution based on the following principles
and elements:
- strict respect by all parties for the sovereignty
and territorial integrity of Israel and Lebanon;
- full respect for the Blue Line by both parties;
- delineation of the international borders of
Lebanon, especially in those areas where the border is disputed or uncertain,
including in the Shebaa farms area;
- security arrangements to prevent the resumption of
hostilities, including the establishment between the Blue Line and the Litani
river of an area free of any armed personnel, assets and weapons other than
those of the Lebanese armed and security forces and of UN mandated international
forces deployed in this area;
- full implementation of the relevant provisions of
the Taif Accords and of resolutions 1559 (2004) and 1680 (2006) that require the
disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon, so that, pursuant to the Lebanese
cabinet decision of July 27, 2006, there will be no weapons or authority in
Lebanon other than that of the Lebanese state;
- deployment of an international force in Lebanon,
consistent with paragraph 10 below;
- establishment of an international embargo on the
sale or supply of arms and related material to Lebanon except as authorized by
its government;
- elimination of foreign forces in Lebanon without
the consent of its government;
- provision to the United Nations of remaining maps
of land mines in Lebanon in Israel’s possession;
OP7: Invites the Secretary General to support efforts
to secure agreements in principle from the Government of Lebanon and the
Government of Israel to the principles and elements for a long-term solution as
set forth in paragraph 6 above;
OP8: Requests the Secretary General to develop, in
liaison with key international actors and the concerned parties, proposals to
implement the relevant provisions of the Taif Accords, and of resolutions 1559
(2004) and 1680 (2006), including disarmament, and for delineation of the
international borders of Lebanon, especially in those areas where the border is
disputed or uncertain, including by dealing with the Shebaa farms, and to
present those proposals to the Security Council within thirty days;
OP9. Calls on all parties to cooperate during this
period with the Security Council and to refrain from any action contrary to
paragraph 1 above that might adversely affect the search for a long-term
solution, humanitarian access to civilian populations, or the safe return of
displaced persons, and requests the Secretary General to keep the Council
informed in this regard;
OP10. Expresses its intention, upon confirmation to
the Security Council that the Government of Lebanon and the Government of Israel
have agreed in principle to the principles and elements for a long-term solution
as set forth in paragraph 6 above, and subject to their approval, to authorize
in a further resolution under Chapter VII of the Charter the deployment of a UN
mandated international force to support the Lebanese armed forces and government
in providing a secure environment and contribute to the implementation of a
permanent ceasefire and a long-term solution;
OP11. Requests UNIFIL, upon cessation of
hostilities, to monitor its implementation and to extend its assistance to help
ensure humanitarian access to civilian populations and the safe return of
displaced persons;
OP12. Calls upon the Government of Lebanon to ensure
arms or related materiel are not imported into Lebanon without its consent and
requests UNIFIL, conditions permitting, to assist the Government of Lebanon at
its request;
OP13. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the
Council within one week on the implementation of this resolution and to provide
any relevant information in light of the Council’s intention to adopt,
consistent with paragraph 10 above, a further resolution;
OP14. Decides to remain actively seized of the
matter.
UN
Knew of Child Soldier Use by Two Warlords Whose Entry into Congo Army the UN
Facilitated
Byline:
Matthew Russell Lee at the UN
UNITED NATIONS,
August 4 -- As in the Congo vote counting continues, now with
reports of the burning of ballots both
used and unused, further information has emerged about the UN system's knowledge
of the use of child soldiers by at least two militia leaders offered positions
in the Congolese army. Earlier in the week,
Kofi Annan's envoy to the Congo, William
Lacy Swing, disclaimed his
previously UN-reported "welcoming" of the entry into the army of Mathieu
Ngudjolo of the Congolese Revolutionary or MRC.
The UN's
own June 13 report on children and armed conflict in the DR Congo alludes to the
recruitment of child soldiers by the MRC. In an interview Friday, a well-placed
UN official told Inner City Press that Mathieu Ngudjolo will be identified by
name as a child soldier user in the follow up to the June 13 report, as will
Peter Karim, who after holding seven UN peacekeepers hostage for over 40 days
has been offered a colonel's position in the Congolese army. The follow up
report name these two individuals will, Inner City Press has been told, be
confidential, adding to the scope of impunity.
Ballots
and Congolese police
Last week
UN peacekeeping's Dmitry Titov answered Inner City Press' questions about Karim
by saying that "justice will come, eventually." The official interviewed Friday
similarly implied that as with Thomas Lubanga and Jean Pierre Biyoyo,
respectively charged by the International Criminal Court and convicted by a
Congolese military court in Bukavu, Ngudjolo and Karim might one day face
justice. It is hard to believe that neither warlord brought up issues of amnesty
during negotiations. No one yet has wanted to detail the specifics of the
negotiations, particularly the degree of UN involvement. Developing.
Zimbabwe Fog, Laws of
War Clarified, Tips in the Half-Light (on Lebanon)
While
Kofi Annan is on the island of Hispanola, at his spokesman's noon briefing Inner
City Press again asked for the UN's and Mr. Annan's response to the hundreds of
Zimbabwean protesters demanding UN action on
the UN's report on Operation Murambatsvina or "Clean Out the Trash," in which
the Mugabe government evicted at least 700,000 perceived political opponents.
Rather than yesterday's cursory reference to Zimbabwe's sovereignty, on Friday
UN spokesman Farhan Haq stated that Ben Mkapa, Mugabe's selected envoy,
particularly to the UK, will be in charge of addressing and asking on Operation
Murambatsvina as detailed in the UN report. We'll see.
Also at
the noon briefing, Inner City Press asked if the UN agrees with Israel that
placing telephone calls to civilians before bombing the neighborhoods they live
in brings the bombing in compliance with the laws of war. After the briefing,
the spokesman referred the press corps to a
statement by
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour that "while effective
advance warning of attacks which may affect the civilian population must be
given, this legal obligation does not absolve the parties to the conflict of
their other obligations under international law regarding the protection of
civilians" and "that international humanitarian law requires all parties to
avoid locating military objectives within or near densely populated areas."
In the
half-light of the Security Council stakeout at 2:50 p.m., the Palestinian
Permanent Observer to the UN called over Inner City Press. "Do you want a tip?"
he said. Of course. He detailed a group of ambassadors, including from Sudan,
Syria, Azerbaijan and Malaysia, slated now to meet with the Council president
then with Deputy Secretary General Mark Malloch-Brown at 5 p.m.. The spokesman's
office, asked by Inner City Press, confirmed the meeting, which ambassadors say
will concern more bombing of civilians, although reference to Azerbaijan's
representative, for OIC, was not included. As another reporter noted, "the real
action is at the U.S. mission."
At 4
p.m., the president of the Security Council emerged. He apologized for not
summarizing the meeting, saying he feels a need to tell the other Council
members before telling the press. He mentioned he lived in Westchester and Inner
City Press asked, where? New Rochelle. Do you go to New Roc City? With a look of
surprise he said yes, "I am a New York boy." More substantively, and full circle
for this report, he answered Inner City Press' question about the burning of
ballots in Congo by saying he hope for another briefing next week. We'll see.
At
the UN, Disinterest in Zimbabwe, Secrecy on Chechnya, Congo Polyanna and
Ineptitude on Somalia
Byline:
Matthew Russell Lee at the UN
UNITED
NATIONS, August 3 -- To what demands does the UN respond? Thursday in Zimbabwe,
hundreds of people
demonstrated in front of the UN's building,
demanding action on the UN's dormant report on the Mugabe government's mass
eviction of 700,000 people in Operation Murambatsvina or "Clean Out the Trash."
The UN's failure to act on the report, and on the evictions, take place in the
context of the Secretary-General having opened
deferred to Mr. Mugabe's chosen mediator,
Ben Mkapa, and of the UN
Development Program working on the Mugabe government's Human Rights Council
despite criticism from non-governmental human rights groups in Zimbabwe. In
order to get a response from the UN Secretariat, Inner City Press asked Kofi
Annan's spokesman's office, along with a
question about Darfur and
another on Chechnya. With all due respect, the response was unsatisfactory, or
telling.
"We can't
respond every time someone demonstrates," a UN spokesman told Inner City Press,
adding that the UN can only mediate or act on the evictions report with the
consent of the Mugabe government. That the Secretary-General in other
circumstances, including last week and this, can when he chooses call on changes
in behavior by member states was not addressed. Everything is a choice. These
choices have included devoting the vast majority of
each
day's
noon briefing
to events in Lebanon. Thursday's question about Darfur was responded to, outside
of the briefing, dismissively. Yes, the Secretary-General is traveling, to Haiti
and Santo Domingo. But when the government of Sudan says openly that it will
refuse any UN force in Darfur, and even
claims that such a force would be illegal,
some would expect a response from the Secretariat.
Even on
Lebanon, the fact are far too loose. Thursday at noon
Inner City Press inquired
into
Tuesday's statement about
three hospitals closed for lack of fuel in southern Lebanon. The spokesman's
response acknowledged indirectly that fewer had been closed:
From: varmab@un.org
To: matthew.lee [at] innercitypress.com
Sent: Wed, 2 Aug 2006 11:23 AM
Subject: your question on Lebanese
hospitals
WHO says the health sector is suffering
from lack of supplies and fuel. The fuel shortage has forced Mais Al-Jabal
hospital to close down and Marjeion hospital is to close tonight. Ghandour
hospital (also in south Lebanon) was bombed while Tyre public hospital is
running out of supplies and could close down soon.
--Brenden Varma, Office of the Spokesman
for the Secretary-General
Thursday Inner City
Press asked again, calling the situation "more complex" but requesting an
update. As of press time, none was forthcoming.
On
Chechnya, Inner City Press asked for confirmation that the UN has reduced its
danger assessment from "security phase V" or "Evacuation" to "security phase
IV," while raising its threat assessment in Kabardino-Balkaria. The official
response is that the UN's threat levels are not public, despite the fact that
they
appear in online OCHA situation reports.
Click
here
for one such report.
Chechnya
A question concerning
reports that
Russia intends to deport Uzbek dissidents
despite their designation as refugees by UNHCR also went unanswered. Yes there
are vacations and sicknesses. But the world, even outside of the Mediterranean's
eastern shore, goes on. Ethiopia has invaded Somalia, and the UN Secretariat has
said nothing. Many observers conclude that the UN is so committed to the
now-collapsing Transitional Government that it is choosing to stay silent as
Ethiopia violates the UN Security Council's arms embargo, since the arms are
going to the Transitional Federal Government, dozens of whose ministers have now
resigned, many to join the Islamic Courts Union. The endgame, some predict, will
be the same or worse than in 1993, when the UN openly targeted Aidid, and then
had no contacts after that targeting, and the main targeter, ended in failure.
If the Transitional Federal Government totally collapses, and the Islamic Courts
Union replaces it even in Baidoa, what alliance would the ICU own to the UN?
Distraction and corner-cutting leads to larger problems down the road. The
questions will continue.
At the
Security Council stakeout on Thursday,
Inner City Press asked this
month's Council president Nana Effah-Apenteng about the briefing on DR Congo
elections. Did head UN peacekeeper Jean-Marie Guehenno -- who did not come to
take questions himself after his briefing -- mention the
finished-or-not-finished investigation of the
UN's role in the attack on Kazana village
in Ituri? And what of the low voter turn-out in Kasai? Amb. Effah-Apenteng
responded to candidate and current vice president Ruberwa's accusation of fraud;
apparently, Mr. Guehenno did not mention Kazana, or presumably
Peter Karim, the kidnapper of UN
peacekeepers later offered a colonel's position in the Congolese army.
Developing.
In the
UN's basement on Wednesday, a documentary was screened about a 90-year old
survivor of the atomic bombings of both Hiroshima and Nagasaki, who after the
film took questions, remarkable lucidly and insightfully. Inner City Press asked
about the North Korean missile tests and subsequent torturously negotiated
Security Council resolution. Mr. Yamaguchi was aware of the missile that flew
toward Japan and also Hawaii; he closed his eyes and said in both English and
Japanese, "No more Hiroshimas!" And no Nagasakis either...
Impunity's in the Air, at the UN in Kinshasa and NY, for Kony and Karim and
MONUC for Kazana
Byline:
Matthew Russell Lee at the UN
UNITED
NATIONS, August 2 -- As in the Congo both
vote-counting and
vote-spinning continue,
UN envoy William Lacy Swing on Wednesday told reporters in New York all
irregularities with the election "have been dealt with by the electoral
commission."
This Mr.
Swing later modified, saying the irregularities "are being" dealt with.
These were not the only word games deployed by Mr. Swing over the video
connection. Inner City Press asked Swing to explain why he had applauded the
offer of a position in the Congolese army to Mathieu Ngudjolo, a warlord with
the Mouvement Revolutionnaire Congolais (MRC) who has previously been
quoted justifying the use of child soldiers.
"I don't
think you're quoting me on that," said Mr. Swing. "It's not my business to
applaud."
But a
UN press release
that was
read out at the noon briefing in New York on July 27 states, "William Lacy
Swing, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the DRC, welcomed
the agreement, signed yesterday in Bunia by the Congolese Government and the MRC
in the presence of UN officials, calling it a major step forward for the
elections." Perhaps there is some semantic difference between applauding and
welcoming. Less semantic is Mr. Swing's and the UN's decision to acquiesce to
the offer of a colonel's position in the Congolese army to Peter Karim, who took
hostage seven peacekeepers in the UN's MONUC mission "for forty one days," as
Mr. Swing emphasized.
"It was
absolutely our top priority to get them released," said Mr. Swing. Last week,
the UN's head of Africa peacekeeping Dmitry Titov acknowledged that the offer of
a colonel's role to Peter Karim was "as part of the negotiation" to get the
peacekeepers released. Wednesday Mr. Swing reverted to the old, previously
abandoned story, that the offer only came about after Peter Karim freed the
peacekeepers.
On the
timing of MONUC's self-exoneration, see July 28 report below, Mr. Swing stated
that MONUC had last week sent to New York its report, apparently the one page,
typo-ridden document handed to Inner City Press Friday in the spokesman's
office. Mr. Swing stated that he or his spokesman would provide the date of the
report. As of 10 p.m. Wednesday in New York, the date had not been provided.
Counting
An update
on other UN information not provided yesterday by deadline, but arriving today:
at Tuesday's noon briefing, it was
said from the podium that
three hospitals in South Lebanon had been closed for lack of fuel for
generators. Inner City Press asked for the names of the three hospitals, beyond
Bint Jbeil. Wednesday morning, the following arrived:
"WHO says the health sector is suffering
from lack of supplies and fuel. The fuel shortage has forced Mais Al-Jabal
hospital to close down and Marjeion hospital is to close tonight. Ghandour
hospital (also in south Lebanon) was bombed while Tyre public hospital is
running out of supplies and could close down soon."
Without being
needlessly contentious, that would be one hospital closed, and one to follow.
Facts are facts, and many go unascertained. For example, the presence of
Ethiopian troops in Somalia. While the UN continues to say it is not positioned
to confirm the invasion,
BBC on Wednesday quoted diplomats
that Ethiopian prime minister "Meles had privately acknowledged the presence of
Ethiopian troops on Somali soil."
Wednesday
Inner City Press asked Ghana's ambassador,
and this month's Security Council president, Nana Effah-Apenteng if and when
Somalia will appear on the Council's agenda. "When one member asks for it," he
answered. Asked about Uganda's offer of amnesty to the Lord's Resistance Army's
Joseph Kony despite his indictment for war crimes by the International Criminal
Court, Amb. Nana Effah-Apenteng stated that during the Council's recent
consideration of reports on Resolutions 1653 and 1663, the Council decided to
"let the Juba process have a chance." He added that he was not ready to express
Ghana's view on the offer of amnesty to Kony. Video is
here.
Impunity seems the
order of the day. One reporter, not this one, opined that this is the way of
the world, to let bad actors into the army, to keep them from doing even more
harm. Another reporter, also not this one, pointed out that it was under
William Lacy Swing that the scandal of UN peacekeepers trading eggs and peanut
butter for underaged sex in East Congo took place, but that Mr. Swing was never
held accountable, due to his nation's protection. Forgiveness is one thing,
impunity's another.
How does
all this make the UN appear? Wednesday
Inner City Press asked the
panel assembled for the 60th anniversary of the World Federation of United
Nations Associations whether they distinguish between the UN and Security
Council, as it appears those who looted the UN's building in Beirut did not. "We
are constructive critics, replied acting S-G Pera Wells. Inner City Press asked
if WFUNA has a position on such matters as expansion of the Security Council,
and granting permanent seats to such nations as India and Brazil, and Japan and
Germany. The matters will be discussed at an upcoming Argentine plenary. We'll
see.
UN
Still Silent on Somalia, Despite Reported Invasion, In Lead-Up to More Congo
Spin
Byline:
Matthew Russell Lee at the UN
UNITED
NATIONS, August 1 -- When troops of one country invade another, what does the UN
do? It depends.
In the
face of widespread reporting of Ethiopian troops in Somalia, Inner City Press
has for the last two days asked Kofi Annan's spokesman's office for confirmation
and comment on this fact. Monday the response was that the UN "is not in the
position" to ascertain whether there are Ethiopian soldiers in Somalia.
Tuesday the spokeswoman quoted Kofi
Annan's envoy to Somalia
Francois Lonseny Fall "at the IGAD meeting in Nairobi" on the importance of
continuing the "dialogue between the Transitional Federal Government and the
Supreme Council of Islamic Courts." Given that the TFG had in the past 24 hours
postponed the dialogue in Khartoum for at
least 15 days, Inner City Press
asked what Mr. Fall was referring to, whether it took into account the
postponement and the further defection of ministers from the TFG cabinet. "He's
aware of press reports," the spokesman answered.
Among the
members of the regional group IGAD are Ethiopia and Eritrea. So Inner City Press
asked, did Francois Lonseny Fall at least at the meeting ask the Ethiopian
representative if his country's troops have cross into Somalia? "I have his
statement," was the answer. And nothing more to say? Apparently not.
In
the UN's blind spot
The next
part of the
noon briefing,
much longer -- one wag said "disproportionate" -- concerned events in Lebanon.
It was said that three hospitals in south Lebanan have closed for lack of fuel.
Inner City Press asked for the hospitals' names and locations, beyond Bint Jbeil,
and asked for more information on the attack on the UN's building in Beirut. The
spokesman emphasized that the Lebanese government and Hezbollah both appealed to
the crowd to stop the attack. There were no injuries, he said. The staff had
been evacuated. The scope and cost of material damage has yet to be assessed.
And what
of the less tangible damage to the United Nations' image? At UN Headquarters
Tuesday, the mood was slow and languid. Drifting out from the Security Council
were the U.S. Jackie Sanders and the income Council president, the Ambassador of
Ghana. Maybe later this week, both in essence said. Maybe.
What if
the Council has a building in Beirut? The operational side of the UN is not
paralyzed. The World Food Program is charged with getting fuel into Beirut.
Twenty-five WFP staff
were in fact in the building
in Beirut was it was attacked. Monday's New York Times spoke of the U.S.
teetering on the brink of a public relations disaster. But the U.S. has stronger
building, further set back from the street. The UN Secretariat brings out the
big guns on Lebanon, without as yet effect. On another invasion, and the crisis
in Somalia, very little is said or done.
Monday
the spokesman's office referred Inner City Press, on the current question of the
TFG's allegation that Egypt, Libya and Iran are supporting the Islamic Courts
Union, to a months-old experts report on sanctions violators, S/2006/229. The
report describes arms shipment to the warlords and TFG; only Eritrea is
presenting at supporting what the report calls militant Islamic fundamentalists.
According to the report, Ethiopia drove 10 trucks to Jowhar, including 2000
AK-47s and 100 rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launchers. Yemen provided the TFG
with 15 Toyota Land Cruiser pickup trucks, to be converted into technicals. The
report refers to "clandestine third-party involvement in Somalia" in support of
the "Alliance for Peace Restoration and Combat Against Terror," APRCT. The
report states that the "Monitoring Group did not specify third-country
involvement because at the time of the writing of the present report it had not
completed its investigation." And now? Francois Lonseny Fall, where are you?
Fewer
questions exist about William Lacy Swing, at least tomorrow. At 2 p.m. Wednesday
in New York, Mr. Swing will appear on a video screen on the 32nd floor of UN
Headquarters. With
new allegations of fraud in the elections,
and outstanding questions about the incorporation of warlords into the Congolese
army and the quickly-released and now-apparently-ongoing investigation into the
events at the village of Kazana, here's hoping that the video hook-up stays
strong.
Other Inner City Press
reports are archived on
www.InnerCityPress.org -
Impunity's in
the Air, at the UN in Kinshasa and NY, for Kony and Karim and MONUC for
Kazana
UN Still Silent
on Somalia, Despite Reported Invasion, In Lead-Up to More Congo Spin
UN's Guehenno
Says Congo Warlord Just Needs Training, and Kazana Probe Continues
With Congo
Elections Approaching, UN Issues Hasty Self-Exoneration as Annan Is
Distracted
In DR Congo, UN
Applauds Entry into Army of Child-Soldier Commander Along with Kidnapper
Spinning the
Congo, UN Admits Hostage Deal with Warlord That Put Him in Congolese
Army
At the UN, Dow
Chemical's Invited In, While Teaming Up With Microsoft is Defended
Kofi Annan
Questioned about Congolese Colonel Who Kidnapped Seven UN Soldiers
At the UN,
Speeches While Gaza Stays Lightless and Insurance Not Yet Paid
At the UN
Poorest Nations Discussed, Disgust at DRC Short Shrift, Future UN
Justice?
At the UN
Wordsmiths Are At Work on Zimbabwe, Kony, Ivory Coast and Iran
UN Silent As
Congolese Kidnapper of UN Peacekeepers Is Made An Army Colonel: News
Analysis
At
the UN, New Phrase Passes Resolution called Gangster-Like by North Korea; UK
Deputy on the Law(less)
UN's Guehenno
Speaks of "Political Overstretch" Undermining Peacekeeping in Lower
Profile Zones
In Gaza Power
Station, the Role of Enron and the U.S. Government's OPIC Revealed by UN
Sources
At UN, North
Korean Knot Attacked With Fifty Year Old Precedent, Game Continues Into
Weekend
UN's Corporate
Partnerships Will Be Reviewed, While New Teaming Up with Microsoft, and
UNDP Continues
Gaza Resolution
Vetoed by U.S., While North Korea Faces Veto and Chechnya Unread
BTC Briefing,
Like Pipeline, Skirts Troublespots, Azeri Revelations
Conflicts of
Interest in UNHCR Program with SocGen and Pictet Reveal Reform Rifts
At the UN, A Day
of Resolutions on Gaza, North Korea and Iran, Georgia as Side Dish
UN Grapples with
Somalia, While UNDP Funds Mugabe's Human Rights Unit, Without
Explanation
In North Korean
War of Words, Abuses in Uganda and Impunity Go Largely Ignored
On North Korea,
Blue Words Move to a Saturday Showdown, UNDP Uzbek Stonewall
As the World
Turns in Uganda and Korea, the UN Speaks only on Gaza, from Geneva
North Korea in
the UN: Large Arms Supplant the Small, and Confusion on Uganda
UN Gives Mugabe
Time with His Friendly Mediator, Refugees Abandoned
At the UN,
Friday Night's Alright for Fighting; Annan Meets Mugabe
UN Acknowledges
Abuse in Uganda, But What Did Donors Know and When? Kazakh Questions
In Uganda, UNDP
to Make Belated Announcement of Program Halt, But Questions Remain (and
see
The New Vision,
offsite).
Disarmament
Abuse in Uganda Leads UN Agency to Suspend Its Work and Spending
Disarmament
Abuse in Uganda Blamed on UNDP, Still Silent on Finance
Alleged Abuse in
Disarmament in Uganda Known by UNDP, But Dollar Figures Still Not Given:
What Did UN Know and When?
Strong Arm on
Small Arms: Rift Within UN About Uganda's Involuntary Disarmament of
Karamojong Villages
UN in Denial on
Sudan, While Boldly Predicting the Future of Kosovo/a
UN's Selective
Vision on Somalia and Wishful Thinking on Uighurs
UN Habitat
Predicts The World Is a Ghetto, But Will Finance Be Addressed at
Vancouver World Urban Forum?
At the UN, a
Commando Unit to Quickly Stop Genocide is Proposed, by Diplomatic Sir
Brian Urquhart
UN's Annan
Concerned About Use of Terror's T-Word to Repress, Wants
Freedom of Information
UN Waffles on
Human Rights in Central Asia and China; ICC on Kony and a Hero from
Algiers
At the UN,
Internal Justice Needs Reform, While in Timor Leste, Has Evidence Gone
Missing?
UN & US,
Transparency for Finance But Not Foreign Affairs: Somalia, Sovereignty
and Senator Tom Coburn
In Bolton's Wake,
Silence and Speech at the UN, Congo and Kony, Let the Games Begin
Pro-Poor Talk and
a Critique of the World Trade Organization from a WTO Founder: In UN
Lull, Ugandan Fog and Montenegrin Mufti
Human Rights
Forgotten in UN's War of Words, Bolton versus Mark Malloch Brown: News
Analysis
In Praise of
Migration, UN Misses the Net and Bangalore While Going Soft on Financial
Exclusion
UN Sees Somalia
Through a Glass, Darkly, While Chomsky Speaks on Corporations and
Everything But Congo
AIDS Ends at the
UN? Side Deals on Patents, Side Notes on Japanese Corporations,
Salvadoran and Violence in Burundi
On AIDS at the
UN, Who Speaks and Who Remains Unseen
Corporate Spin on
AIDS, Holbrooke's Kudos to Montenegro and its Independence (May 31, 2006)
Kinshasa Election
Nightmares, from Ituri to Kasai. Au Revoir Allan Rock; the UN's
Belly-Dancing
Working with
Warlords, Insulated by Latrines: Somalia and Pakistan Addressed at the
UN
The Silence of
the Congo and Naomi Watts; Between Bolivia and the World Bank
Human Rights
Council Has Its Own Hanging Chads; Cocky U.S. State Department Spins
from SUVs
Child Labor and
Cargill and Nestle; Iran, Darfur and WHO's on First with Bird Flu
Press Freedom?
Editor Arrested by Congo-Brazzaville, As It Presides Over Security
Council
The
Place of the Cost-Cut UN in Europe's Torn-Up Heart;
Deafness to Consumers, Even by the Greens
Background Checks
at the UN, But Not the Global Compact; Teaching Statistics from
Turkmenbashi's Single Book
Ripped Off Worse
in the Big Apple, by Citigroup and Chase: High Cost Mortgages Spread in
Outer Boroughs in 2005, Study Finds
Burundi: Chaos at
Camp for Congolese Refugees, Silence from UNHCR, While Reform's Debated
by Forty Until 4 AM
In Liberia, From
Nightmare to Challenge; Lack of Generosity to Egeland's CERF, Which
China's Asked About
The Chadian
Mirage: Beyond French Bombs, Is Exxon In the Cast? Asylum and the
Uzbeks, Shadows of Stories to Come
Through the UN's
One-Way Mirror, Sustainable Development To Be Discussed by Corporations,
Even Nuclear Areva
Racial
Disparities Grew Worse in 2005 at Citigroup, HSBC and Other Large Banks
Mine Your Own
Business: Explosive Remnants of War and the Great Powers, Amid the
Paparazzi
Human Rights Are
Lost in the Mail: DR Congo Got the Letter, But the Process is Still
Murky
Iraq's Oil to be
Metered by Shell, While Basrah Project Remains Less than Clear
At the UN, Dues
Threats and Presidents-Elect, Unanswered Greek Mission Questions
Kofi, Kony,
Kagame and Coltan: This Moment in the Congo and Kampala
As Operation
Swarmer Begins, UN's Qazi Denies It's Civil War and Has No Answers if
Iraq's Oil is Being Metered
Cash Crop: In
Nepal, Bhutanese Refugees Prohibited from Income Generation Even in
their Camps
The Shorted and
Shorting in Humanitarian Aid: From Davos to Darfur, the Numbers Don't
Add Up
UN Reform:
Transparency Later, Not Now -- At Least Not for AXA - WFP Insurance
Contract
In Congolese
Chaos, Shots Fired at U.N. Helicopter Gunship
In the Sudanese
Crisis, Oil Revenue Goes Missing, UN Says
Empty Words on
Money Laundering and Narcotics, from the UN and Georgia
What is the Sound
of Eleven Uzbeks Disappearing? A Lack of Seats in Tashkent, a Turf War
at UN
Kosovo: Of
Collective Punishment and Electricity; Lights Out on Privatization of
Ferronikeli Mines
Abkhazia:
Cleansing and (Money) Laundering, Says Georgia
Post-Tsunami
Human Rights Abuses, including by UNDP in the Maldives
Who Pays for the
Global Bird Flu Fight? Not the Corporations, So Far - UN
Citigroup
Dissembles at United Nations Environmental Conference
Other Inner City Press
reports are archived on
www.InnerCityPress.org -
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