At
UN
on Libya,
Rebel Flag
Removed from
Photo Op,
Gaddafi's
Ouster Not
Accepted by
Some
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 20
-- When Libyan
National
Transitional
Council
leader Jebril
met with UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon on
Tuesday
morning, the
pre-Gaddafi
TNC flag was
set up for the
photo
opportunity.
Since
the General
Assembly voted
last week to
give the TNC
Libya's seat
for the
General
Debate, and
since the
rebel flag now
flew outside
the UN in New
York and
Geneva, it
seemed that
switching the
flag would
also follow.
But
Inner City
Press is told
that just
before the
photo was
taken, UN
Protocol
unceremoniously
removed the
hard fought
rebel flag.
The reason is
not
clear.
Meanwhile
less nitty
gritty, in the
scrum outside
the UN's high
level meeting
on Libya, an
NTC official
told Inner
City Press
that some
leaders -- he
gave the
example of
Chad's Idriss
Deby, click
here for Inner
City Press' interview on
September 19
with Deby
-- "don't
accept that
Gaddafi is
over."
Deby
had
complained
about the
treatment of
Chadian in
Libya, saying
they have
been recruited
to fight not
only by
Gaddafi but
also the NTC,
some of
whose leaders
he called
"hypocrites"
in that they
worked
before with
Gaddafi. Watch
this site.
* * *
At
UN,
Deby On TNC's
"Hypocrisy, "
400,000
Chadians
"Blocked" in
Libya, "No
Prisoners in
Chad"
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 19
-- Chad's
President
Idriss Deby
told Inner
City
Press on
Monday that
there remain
400,000
Chadian's
"blocked"
inside Libya.
He
said the vast
majority had
gone to Libya
to work.
Some had been
recruited to
fight but by
both sides, he
insisted,
Gaddafi and
the National
Transitional
Council.
He said that
going forward
the
international
community
should help
reconcile all
Libyans,
"including
those who
worked with
Gaddafi." Video here, 1st part
of interview.
Deby
accused the
leaders of the
"New Libya,"
the National
Transitional
Council, of
hypocrisy as
many of them
previously
worked with
Gaddafi.
He said there
should be
greater
African Union
involvement in
the New
Libya, and
chafed at
Inner City
Press'
statement that
South Africa
has led on
that issue,
and on that of
African
migrants.
"There
are
other African
countries on
the Security
Council," he
said,
naming Gabon
and then
Nigeria.
Inner
City Press
asked Deby for
his view of
developments
in Sudan. Deby
spoke of
Southern
Kordofan and
"Nil Bleu,"
Blue Nile,
then said that
much remains
to be solved
between North
and South
Sudan.
On
this, Inner
City Press
asked Deby to
respond to reports
that the
publication
N'Djamena
Bi-Hebdo was
told not to
compare South
Sudan to
Southern
Chad:
"In
the
October 14 to
17 edition of
the local
newspaper
N'Djamena
Bi-Hebdo, the
publishers
included an
article
comparing
southern Sudan
with southern
Chad. The
prime minister
called the
article
'dangerous'
and asked the
HCC to act on
the matter. On
October 19,
the HCC met
with
journalists
and warned
N'Djamena
Bi-Hebdo in
particular and
all
media houses
in general to
"observe
ethics rules"
by not
printing
articles that
risked
inciting
hatred,
violence, or
separatist
sentiment."
Deby
said he
didn't know
about the
case. He said
"come to Chad"
to see
the freedom of
the press, and
also said that
"there are no
political
prisons in
Chad." Inner
City Press
began to ask
of
one example --
Ibni
Oumar Mahamat
Saleh --
but Deby
didn't answer
on
it.
Deby and the
author, smiles
on Libya,
other answers
not show
The
interview was
over, and
Inner City
Press left the
Plaza
Hotel. Deby
will speak
before the
General
Assembly on
Friday, after
meeting with
Ban Ki-moon
the day
before. "Mais
vous savez de
tout,"
Deby said. Not
as much as
we'd like to.
Watch this
site.
, 
