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At UN, Sudan
Accuses France of Drafting Chadian Letter, Origin of Rebels Disputed
Byline:
Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
UNITED
NATIONS,
May 8 -- As rebels seek to overthrown Chadian President Deby, who
himself took power by force, Chad's Ambassador to the UN Ahmad
Allam-mi wrote a letter to the Security Council requesting an
emergency meeting. Friday morning as the meeting began, Sudan's
Ambassador to the UN told the Press that Chad's letter was “written
in the French mission.” Inner City Press asked France's
Jean-Maurice Ripert for his response to the charge. “I don't even
answer,” Ripert said. “I think this is an insult to the Chadian
government.” Video here, from Minute 4:40.
Inside
the
Council, France was pushing to include in the draft Presidential
Statement a line that the rebels originated from inside Sudan. On the
other side, Sudan's supporters were saying this should not be
included. Sudan's Ambassador asked the Press, “What about
Omdurman?” He was referring to the Justice and Equality Movement's
drive last year from Chad all the way to the suburbs of Khartoum.
Friday at noon,
the meeting broke up, to be continued at 3 o'clock. Over a lunch
with selected journalists, the French mission said that the afternoon
meeting might only take place if “the experts” worked out a
compromise.
Security in Abeche, Chad, battlewagons not shown
But the bells rang and the meeting started Friday
afternoon. Some predicted it extending to Saturday.
Monday in the
Council, Russia's center piece event of the month is slated, a
ministerial meeting on the Middle East. They have managed to push
back discussions of the UN's report on Gaza until Tuesday, and to
confine discussion of the carnage in Sri Lanka to outside the Council
chamber, most likely in the basement.
The round and round fighting
between Chad and The Sudan is on the Council's agenda, and can
therefore give rise to day long meetings about a single phrase. We
will continue to follow these issues -- watch this space.
Update of 3:51 p.m. -- a deputy Ambassador, exiting the Council, tells
Inner City Press "they are going to say the rebels came from 'outside'
of Chad." Another compromise...
Update
of 4:14
p.m. -- a five minute break has been taken, and an old draft given to
the press, with the phrase “Chadian armed groups [receiving support
and coming from the other side of the border, in Sudan]. But that was
“rev 3;” inside, they are already up to “Rev. 5.” The
Libyans, it's said, can't go further than their instructions, and
their instructors are in South Africa for the Jacob Zuma festivities.
Now there's talk of Monday...
Update
of 5:20
p.m. -- it's done, the Council agreed on a compromise statement
“condemn[ing] the renewed military incursions in eastern Chad of
Chadian armed groups, coming from outside.” Coming from where? So
far, no one has come to the stakeout to explain. US Deputy Permanent
Representative Alejandro Wolff has done in to speak with Russia's
Vitaly Churkin, this month's Council president, presumably about the
Monday meeting on the Middle East.
Click here
for a new YouTube video, mostly UN Headquarters footage, about civilian
deaths
in Sri Lanka.
Click here for Inner City
Press' March 27 UN debate
Click here for Inner City
Press March 12 UN (and AIG
bailout) debate
Click here for Inner City
Press' Feb 26 UN debate
Click
here
for Feb.
12 debate on Sri Lanka http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/17772?in=11:33&out=32:56
Click here for Inner City Press' Jan.
16, 2009 debate about Gaza
Click here for Inner City Press'
review-of-2008 UN Top Ten debate
Click here for Inner
City Press' December 24 debate on UN budget, Niger
Click here from Inner City Press'
December 12 debate on UN double standards
Click here for Inner
City Press' November 25 debate on Somalia, politics
and this October 17 debate, on
Security Council and Obama and the UN.
* * *
These
reports are
usually also available through Google
News and on Lexis-Nexis.
Click here
for a Reuters
AlertNet piece by this correspondent
about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click
here
for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali
National
Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an
undefined trust fund. Video
Analysis here
Feedback: Editorial
[at] innercitypress.com
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Other,
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in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
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2006-08 Inner City Press, Inc. To request
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