At
UN on Congo
& M23,
Doubts About
MONUSCO,
French Spin on
Syria
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, July
30 -- When
Eastern Congo
and the M23
rebellion was
taken up by
the UN
Security
Council on
Monday
afternoon, it
was as if
France had
already taken
over the
Council
Presidency
from Colombia,
which has two
days left.
While
Ban Ki-moon
and Herve
Ladsous envoy
Roger Meece
droned on for
fifty
minutes,
giving rise to
complaints
from some
delegations,
France spun
the press on
how it was
going to be
proposing a
Council
reaction on
Monday.
But
as diplomats
wandered out
they said they
were told it
was not ready.
One wondered
if France was
delaying so
that its
Permanent
Representative
Gerard Araud
could read the
statement out
on camera,
when he
formally takes
over August 1.
There
are other
disagreements
in the Council
on the Congo
and M23,
sources
told Inner
City Press.
There is a
reticence --
"cheapness,"
one member
called it --
to financial
support the
force proposed
by
the
International
Conference on
the Great
Lakes Region.
At
the same time
there are
doubts that
Meece's
MONUSCO force
can do the
job, they who
stood by
during the
mass rapes at
Walikale, and
almost
let Goma be
taken over.
Inner
City Press
asked outgoing
Council
president
Nestor Osorio
of Colombia
how MONUSCO
could protect
civilians in
areas
controlled by
M23. We
want to avoid
a
confrontation,
he said. So
why NOT fund
the
International
Conference on
the Great
Lakes Region
proposed
force?
Araud's
deputy
Martin Briens
and lead
spokesman were
both back at
the UN on
Monday,
getting ready
for what, on
paper at
least, is a
quiet month.
Inner City
Press last
week obtained
and put online
France's draft
Program of
Work, click
here for that.
But
already it is
changing, with
Foreign
Minister
Laurent Fabius
saying
France will
convene a
ministerial
meeting on
Syria. The
French
Mission to the
UN was the
venue of a
meeting on the
Saudi Arabian
draft General
Assembly
resolution.
Saudi Arabia
had said it
would be
introduced on
Monday but it
was not:
bogged down at
the French
Mission? Watch
this site.
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