By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
With exclusive
audio
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 28,
updated with
Statement --
After the
Security
Council met
about Eastern
Congo at
France's
request on
Monday
afternoon, the
first
announcement
came from
French
Ambassador
Gerard Araud.
He said
the M23 has
met its
"military
end." Others
noted that
while M23 left
towns it had
controlled, it
was not wiped
out, a la Sri
Lanka (no
matter how
much it seems
France would
have liked
that.)
The meeting
was called by
France on the
death of a
Tanzanian
member of the
UN's Force
Intervention
Brigade or
FIB. Inner
City Press
asked Araud of
the UN's role
in the
military
"finishing" of
M23.
Araud, more
detailed than
in the morning
(see below)
said that the
Tanzanian
soldier had
his helmet on,
but was shot
in the neck.
Inner City
Press
understands
that in the
consultations,
the 21 shells
into Rwanda
from the DRC
were raised,
leading to the
death of two
civilians and
injuring of
ten. Araud
told Inner
City Press,
that is in the
press
statement.
[Added below:
"
condolences
for the loss
of civilian
lives in the
Democratic
Republic of
the Congo, and
in Rwanda
following
shells landing
on its
territory."]
On Friday the
UN Security
Council
expressed
concern about
renewed
hostilities in
Eastern Congo,
called for
"maximum
restraint and
de-escalation"
and for a
political
solution. Video
here.
Inner City
Press asked
if the UN
Mission
MONUSCO was
involved in
the fighting
and was told,
by Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon
spokesperson,
no.
On
Sunday UN
envoy Martin
Kobler
announced that
a member of
MONUSCO's
Force
Intervention
Brigade or
"FIB" had been
killed -- how that
happened
without being
involved
remains
UNclear.
Then Kobler
toured land
re-taken by
the Congolese
Army which the
UN supports,
even in the
face of mass
rape.
On
Monday in
front of the
Security
Council,
French
Permanent
Representative
Gerard Araud
told the Press
about the
weekend's
developments
in the Eastern
Congo,
"What is
happening is
great. It is
the collapse
of the
rebels... The
DRC army is
restoring the
sovereignty of
the country.
It is exactly
what we were
hoping
for." Exclusive
audio here.
How is
this
consistent
with the
Security
Council's
calls, agreed
to and
actually
drafted by
France which
"hold the pen"
for the
Council on the
DRC, for
"restraint"
and for a
political
solution
through the
Kampala talks?
Or
some now ask,
were those
calls just
lies or a
diversion, at
least for some
that agreed to
or issued
them?
When
the Security
Council
traveled
recently to
Eastern Congo,
France was
allowed to
hand-pick
which media
could go on
the UN plane
and cover the
trip. These
scribes,
predictably,
are not
raising or
reporting
these
questions.
Inner
City Press
asked Araud,
on Monday, if
MONUSCO and
its FIB had in
fact been
involved
despite the
statements
that it was
not.
Araud
said that the
killed
"Tanzanian was
part of the
Force
Intervention
Brigade. What
I heard was
the
Intervention
Brigade went
to Kiwanja
after the M23
withdrew, to
protect
civilians. At
a roadblock,
from the side
of the M23, he
was killed."
He said Martin
Kobler would
brief the
Council by
video Monday
afternoon.
But
will Kobler
take and at
last answer
questions? Or
has he fully
inhabited the
character of
his boss Herve
Ladsous, who
refuses Press
questions? Video here, UK
coverage here.
Here
is Ladsous'
history in the
Great Lakes
region, for
France.
Here
is a question.
Araud said, of
the weekend's
fighting, "It
is exactly
what we were
hoping for.
Who is the
"we"? The
Security
Council? UN
Peacekeeping
under Herve
Ladsous?
France? Is
there any
difference
between the
latter two?
Watch this
site.
As
emailed out by
UN past 5 pm:
Security
Council Press
statement –
attacks
against
MONUSCO
The members of
the Security
Council
condemned in
the strongest
terms the
attacks by M23
rebel group
against the
United Nations
Organization
Stabilization
Mission
(MONUSCO) in
North Kivu in
eastern
Democratic
Republic of
the Congo,
killing one
Tanzanian
peacekeeper.
The members of
the Security
Council
expressed
their
condolences to
the family of
the
peacekeeper
killed in the
attack, as
well as to the
Government of
the United
Republic of
Tanzania and
to MONUSCO.
They called on
the Government
of the
Democratic
Republic of
the Congo
swiftly to
investigate
the incident
and bring the
perpetrators
to justice.
They also
expressed
their
condolences
for the loss
of civilian
lives in the
Democratic
Republic of
the Congo, and
in Rwanda
following
shells landing
on its
territory.
The members of
the Security
Council
reiterated
their full
support for
MONUSCO and
called on all
parties to
cooperate
fully with the
mission.
28 October
2013
, 
