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After Fall of Sake, Meece Spin Ignores Who Broke Ceasefire, Q Ladsous Refused

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 21 -- After UN Peacekeeping under Herve Ladsous stood by as the M23 mutineers took another town, Sake, the head of his Congo mission Roger Meece briefed the Security Council by video on Wednesday morning.

Meece hardly mentioned, much less defended, what some see as a total failure of the UN in Goma under him and Ladsous. Rather, he denounced the M23, including as too sophisticated. As an afterthought, he mentioned that two non M23 groups, the FDLR and a Mai Mai faction, had fought and killed 260 people.

Meece offered thanks to Leila Zerrougui, his previously deputy. NGOs have told Inner City Press that Meece "used Zerrougui" to defend and obfuscate his and MONUSCO's inaction during the mass rapes in Walikale. She is now the UN's envoy on Children and Armed Conflict; with the Meece machine left behind, perhaps things will go better.

But what of UN Peacekeeping? Ladsous has refused to answer or even respond to basic Press questions, such as "who broke the ceasefire" between M23 and the Congolese army. Ladsous directed one spokesman to tell UN staff to keep the microphone away from Inner City Press on November 17.

On November 18, another of Ladsous' spokesmen, now present on Wednesday, answered in writing that asking who broke the ceasefire is a "distraction."

  No, it is a factual question which MONUSCO given the money it spends should be able and required to answer.

  Ironically, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's deputy spokesman Eduardo Del Buey on November 20 said that while MONUSCO did not fire a shot as M23 took over Goma, now they are there for "recording keeping." If MONUSCO under Meece and Ladsous won't even keep and disclose records on who broke the ceasefire, what kind of record-keeping is this?

  This type of failure is what happens when the UN gives a department of over 100,000 troops to a country's designee who can't or won't answer the most basic questions.

It was indicated, to some, that Ladsous will take some questions later on Wednesday. We have questions. Watch this site.

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