In
Cote d'Ivoire,
UN to Cut
Battalion
& Monitor
Speech,
Pushing Back
Press
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
July 18 -- As
the Cote
d'Ivoire envoy
under UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon and Herve
Ladsous of the
Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations,
Bert Koenders,
briefed the
Security
Council
on Wednesday
several
members
emerged to
tell Inner
City Press,
"He
sure likes to
talk."
They
said
Koenders'
"long"
briefing was
cut short,
because the
Council had to
also discuss
is working
methods on
peacekeeping
missions'
mandates. One
member said,
"Koenders
would still be
talking."
But
Koenders
was apparently
under other
instructions
outside. He
came out
of the Council
and said,
despite a
press pen
nearly full
(albeit in
search of
Syria news),
that "I don't
think there's
anyone."
Inner
City
Press said no,
there's
interest, and
asked why DPKO
wants to
reduce its
service in
Cote d'Ivoire
when Ivorian
Ambassador
Bamba had
just said they
are still
needed?
After
some
strange back
and forth
reported
below,
Koenders
eventually
answered this
question by
saying that,
yes, one full
battalion is
proposed to be
withdrawn,
pulling some
750 out from a
mission of
9000. Other
Council
members told
Inner City
Press that
DPKO's idea is
to pull forces
out of
Abidjan.
Inner
City
Press also
managed to ask
Koenders when
there will be
accountability
for the
killings in
Duekoue, which
are seem as
attributable
to (high
profile)
supporters of
the Ouattara
government.
Koenders
replied that
he and the UN
have told the
government
there
should be
accountability.
But when will
the report be
done?
Meanwhile
press
accounts --
really, press
releases --
from UNOCI
have Koenders
inveighing
against
"virulent
language"
and say that
"UNOCI
has a
mandate... to
monitor the
behavior of
the media."
On
that,
when Inner
City Press
first said no,
it's not that
there's no
one here,
there is
interest, and
asked why DPKO
wants to
reduce its
service in
Cote d'Ivoire,
Koenders
countered, "is
the idea that
you ask me
questions? Or
I can say
something?"
Sure,
Inner
City Press,
why don't we
go to the UN
TV stakeout
camera?
Koender
said no,
"Could you
just let me
speak? That
would be
nice." Then
with a half
dozen
Syria-focused
journalists
holding up
microphones
and Inner City
Press standing
behind them
and a
barricade,
Koender said,
"could you
take a little
distance from
me?" For now,
perhaps this
is not
attributable
to
Koenders.
These seem to
be DPKO's
chief's and
spokeman's new
press
instructions
- absurd, and
unlike those
for example of
the Department
of Political
Affairs (click
here for a
contrasting
DPA interview
on
July 17)
and the
countries on
the Council.
But this is
Ladsous' DPKO,
and
ultimately,
Ban's UN.
Watch this
site.
, 
