In
Libya,
UN Wants to
Train Police,
Confers with
EU, Martin
May Have 2
Rivals
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 9 --
UN adviser on
"post
conflict"
Libya
Ian
Martin briefed
the Security
Council on
Friday and
then took
questions from
the Press.
Inner
City Press
asked Martin
if he wants to
become the
Special
Representative
for
Libya, if that
requires the
National
Transitional
Council's
consent,
and what has
happened to UN
mediator Al
Khatib.
Of
those three
questions,
Martin's only
answer was
that it is up
the the
Secretary
General, Ban
Ki-moon. A
well placed
Council source
told Inner
City
Press that
while "the
"Brit" Martin
is the front
runner,
another UN
official from
the UK,
Michael
Williams,
might also
be considered,
as well as
Oscar
Fernandez
Taranco. Al
Khatib, the
source said,
is entirely
out of the
picture.
Inner
City Press
asked Martin
if the
training of
police he
described
would be done
by
member states,
or regional
groups, or UN
staff
themselves.
Martin
said the UN is
meeting with
"actors"
interested in
training
police in
Libya. After
the stakeout
Inner City
Press asked
him if
these actors
included
member states.
Yes, Martin
said, and the
European
Union. Inner
City Press
asked, "The
Finns?" He
said yes.
Martin
and Lynn
Pascoe briefed
the Security
Council on a
three month
mission plan
by
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon which
the UN
withheld for
14 hours
after Inner
City Press published
it on Thursday
night.
At Friday's
noon briefing,
another
correspondent
asked why the
UN had not
released,
since it was
already on
InnerCityPress.com.
The Deputy
Spokesman said
he didn't
know; twenty
minutes later,
the UN
belatedly
put it online.
Thus is
transparency
at the UN.
Khatib, Ban
& Martin
on Aug 26,
Khatib now
MIA, Martin
has 2 rivals?
The
next step will
be circulation
as early as
Monday of a
resolution
being drafted
by
the UK, about
the mission
and about
removing some
sanctions.
Libya
Sanctions
Committee
chairman
Cabral told
Inner City
Press that
travel
bans on
individuals
would remain,
and that some
institutions
are not
yet under the
full control
of the NTC. UK
Permanent
Representative
Lyall Grant
said it will
be important
in revising
sanctions to
make
sure all money
goes to the
Libyan people.
A
European
spokesman
afterward said
that the
mandate of
NATO will not
be
impacted, it
has no sunset.
Watch this
site.
* * *
At
UN
on Libya, Ban
Ki-moon Letter
Asks for 3
Month UNSMIL
Mission,
Martin Said to
Head, NATO
Unmentioned
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 8 --
Scaling back
the UN's
initial plans
for 200
military
observers in
Libya,
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon to the
Security
Council has
proposed a
three month UN
Support
Mission to
Libya (UNSMIL)
in a letter
obtained by
Inner City
Press and put online
here.
Ban
writes
that UNSMIL
will "be
headed by a
Special
Representative
and will have
a Deputy
Special
Representative."
Well-placed
UN sources
tell Inner
City Press
that with
mediator Al
Khatib frozen
out -- not
even mentioned
in the letter
-- Ian Martin
is slated to
be the SRSG,
with or
without Libyan
approval.
The Deputy
SRSG, the
sources have
told Inner
City Press,
would be
Finland's
Georg
Charpentier,
accused by
human rights
groups of
being far too
close with
Khartoum in
Sudan.
While
much
limited from Ian Martin's
initial
military plan,
excluively
obtained and
published by
Inner City
Press, sources
say the
Transitional
National
Council is
still dubious.
Ban
sets
forth six
mandates he
wants the
Security
Council to
approve, see
here.
These include:
(a)
restore public
security and
order and
promote the
rule of law;
(b)
undertake
inclusive
political
dialogue,
promote
national
reconciliation
and embark on
the
constitution-making
and electoral
processes;
(c)
extend state
authority,
including
through the
strengthening
of emerging
accountable
institutions
and the
restoration of
public
services;
(d)
protect human
rights,
particularly
for vulnerable
groups, and
support
transitional
justice;
(e)
take the
immediate
steps required
to initiate
economic
recovery; and
(f)
coordinate the
support that
may be
requested from
other
multilateral
or bilateral
actors.
Ironically,
Ban's support
for this
endeavor comes
from some
countries
which
abstained on
Resolution
1973, now on
the theory
that it is
better for the
UN to take the
lead rather
than NATO.
Thursday
in front of
the Council,
South Africa's
Permanent
Representative
Baso Sangqu
told Inner
City Press,
"we hope the
NATO bombing
stops." But
NATO is not
mentioned in
Ban's letter,
nor reportedly
in the
resolution
that the UK
was preparing
even before
Ban's letter.
A
wild card here
is that in the
UK the
Conservative
David Cameron
government is
not enamored
of Ian Martin,
who is
decidedly to
the Left,
having run for
political
positions for
Labor and
being involved
in the Fabian
group.
But
Ban's
political
chief Lynn
Pascoe, also
slated to
brief the
Council at
11:30 am on
Friday, has
reportedly
sought to
appoint Martin
and other
Brits to top
posts in an
attempt to
forestall a UK
push for the
top DPA post
that he holds.
Sources
say Pascoe has
more to fear
from
Washington
wanting a more
Obama-aligned
Under
Secretary
General. Watch
this site.
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