Small
Arms Survey
2012 Does Not
List Libya,
Transfer to
Sudan Not
Confirmed
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 27 --
With an
embargo today
at 1 pm,
Cambridge
University
Press
published at
367 page
"Small Arms
Survey 2012."
Strangely, in
the 11 page
index there is
no entry for
"Libya,"
major conflict
of 2011.
Inner
City Press
went to the
promoters' 11
am press
conference and
asked
the promoters
about France's
air drop of
weapons into
the Nafusa
mountains.
They replied
that they are
still setting
up their Libya
program.
As
a follow up,
Inner City
Press asked if
in Sudan,
where they
have a
program, they
could confirm
or deny the
transport by
the Justice
&
Equality
Movement of
many of
Gaddafi's
weapons. They
replied that
they have NOT
been able to
document a
large number
of such
weapons.
One
wonders, when
they get it
together, what
they'll say of
weapons
transfers to
Syrian rebels
by Qatar,
Saudi Arabia
and others.
Still
searching for
answers, Inner
City Press
went to their
1:15 pm,
post-embargo
event in the
UN's North
Lawn building.
There,
Nigerian
Ambassador Joy
Ogwu spoke to
a standing
room only
crowd, click
here for photo
on
twitter.com/innercitypress
After Ogwu
left, a slide
showed that
France has
jumped up the
table of
exporters,
with the US
still at the
top. Many in
the room were
also present
at the
death-by-whimper
of the Arms
Trade Treaty
this summer.
Interestingly,
the United
Arab Emirates
was listed as
a large and
non-transparent
exporter,
despite not
producing
weapons.
Not noted was
that hand
grenades from
Switzerland --
the major
funder of and
ranked as
Number One in
the Survey --
showed up,
through the
UAE, in Syria.
And so it goes
at the UN.
, 
