UN Still Defers to Khartoum, on Suleiman Jamous and the Hybrid Force for Darfur

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis

UNITED NATIONS, August 15 -- Suleiman Jamous "is not a prisoner [but] the government of Sudan has to agree for the UN to transport him to Nairobi," Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson told Inner City Press on Wednesday.

            Jamous, previously the liaison for humanitarian relief in rebel-held area of Darfur, was taken by the UN to a hospital in Kadugli, Sudan 13 months ago. He is widely described as key to any political process between Khartoum and the rebels. He now needs a colonoscopy, and he set August 16 as the deadline for the UN to fly him to Kenya. But when at the UN's noon briefing on August 15 Inner City Press asked for the UN's decision, the spokesperson's response was that the UN is waiting to hear from the Al Bashir government in Khartoum.

            As to Mr. Jamous not being a prisoner, back on August 3 Inner City Press asked

Inner City Press: On the talks in Arusha about Darfur, there's this issue of the SLA's Humanitarian Coordinator, Suleiman Jamous.  There's at least one article saying that Jan Eliasson didn't raise it.

Associate Spokesperson:  That's false.  In fact, I spoke to Eliasson and he made it very clear.  He and his African Union counterpart, Salim Ahmed Salim, have raised the issue at the highest levels, including with President [Omer al-] Bashir, and they're certainly hopeful that the pressure that's being brought to bear on this case will help to contribute to the early release of Suleiman Jamous.

      If a person is not a prisoner, what's this reference to his "release"?  And it's 12 days later, and the UN is still waiting for Al-Bashir to "agree for the UN to transport him to Nairobi."

            Last week, a spokesman for the UN Mission in Sudan, George Somerwill, said that "the minute he leaves, we are no longer responsible for his safety."  Some wonder if the UN has its priorities straight. Why can't the UN protect Suleiman Jamous (or "be responsible for this safety") between Kadugli and Kenya, for the urgently required colonoscopy and biopsy?

            The UN does not want to offered the Al Bashir government. For that reason, Ban Ki-moon and his spokespeople have had little to nothing to say about the African Union's announcement that only AU soldiers will serve in the AU-"UN hybrid" force in Darfur -- despite the fact that the AU has provided only 1700 of the 8000 troops which were supposed to be in Somalia as part of AMISOM.

Hospital in Sudan

            The Washington Post of Wednesday, August 8 cited skepticism "that the Sudanese government would abide by a pledge not to rearrest Jamous. But the presence of U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, who is expected in Khartoum on Saturday, would likely deter such an action."

            Mr. Ban did not appear in Khartoum on Saturday, August 11. And even if he had, on what basis does the Washington Post predict that would deter arrests or other actions by the Al Bashir government? If the prediction is true, the best thing Ban Ki-moon could do is to head to Khartoum. To be continued.

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Click here for a Reuters AlertNet piece by this correspondent about the Somali National Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an undefined trust fund.  Video Analysis here

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