Mission
to Mali
Deferred on
Who Will Pay
for ECOWAS
Plans, French
Qs
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
July 5 -- When
a Mali
resolution was
belatedly
adopted by
the UN
Security
Council on
Monday
morning,
already the
focus was on a
second
resolution
that would
provide funds
for a mission
to Mali.
Inner
City
Press asked
French
Ambassador
Gerard Araud
who would pay
for
such a
mission, and
if it would
have a human
rights
monitoring
component.
Araud
replied
that his
ECOWAS
colleague who
was waiting to
speak would
address those
questions, but
that funding
might come for
example from
the European
Union, and
that the
Council would
not give
ECOWAS a
"carte
blanche" in
Mali.
Next,
Inner
City Press
asked ECOWAS
Commission
President
Kadre Desire
OUEDRAOGO the
same question:
who will pay,
and will there
by a human
rights
monitoring
component?
The
latter
question he
answered in
terms of
humanitarian
needs, not
human
rights
monitoring.
This seems to
be the new
trend, whether
in the
AMISOM mission
in Somalia,
the
Ethiopian-only
UNISFA mission
in
Abyei, or even
the UN's own
mission in
Western
Sahara,
MINURSO, which
does not have
human right
monitors.
Inner
City
Press followed
up by asking
if the 3200
personnel
cited by Kadre
Desire
OUEDRAOGO
-- up from the
3000 of which
he told Inner
City
Press back
on June 15
-- would
include
police. Yes,
he said, and
civilians.
(On that,
specifically
the top
civilians
post, Inner
City Press
deadpan told
ECOWAS'
Commissioner
for Political
Affairs
Salamatu
Hussaini
Suleiman that
Ibrahim
Gambari might
be available.
He came to the
UN Envoys'
retreat at
Greentree in
New York and
resigned from
UNAMID, as
Inner City
Press
exclusively
reported.
Gambari in
Timbuku with
another
$600,000
house?)
Finally
Moroccan
Permanent
Representative
Loulichki came
out and spoke
in Arabic, but
graceously
took questions
from Inner
City Press in
English,
including
one on Syria.
On Mali, Inner
City Press
asked if the
goal is to
dislodge the
"terrorists
and criminals"
from Northern
Mali
or Azawad, or
to help train
the Mali's
army to do so?
Loulichki
cited
ECOWAS' goals,
including
negotiating
with all who
are willing to
renounce
terrorism.
Inner City
Press asked if
that meant
MNLA could
be spoken
with, but not
Ansar Dine?
Loulichki
specified that
only
those who
favor a
unified Mali
AND renounce
terrorism can
be spoken
with.
On
Syria,
Inner City
Press asked
Loulichki
about the
morning's
announcement
by General
Robert Mood
that UNSMIS
would pull
back
resources and
personnel from
Homs and
Idlib.
Loulichki said
Morocco
will support
whatever
option best
will protect
civilians and
support
a "political
process."
Inner City
Press waited
for the word
"transition"
but didn't
hear it. Lost
in
translation?
Footnotes
on
France: after
the Mali
session and
stakeouts, at
least two
Council
delegations
suggested to
Inner City
Press that
France would
pay for this
ECOWAS mission
to Mali. One
also expressed
surprise
that when
French
Ambassador
Araud spoke,
and gamely
took two
rounds
of questions
from Inner
City Press,
the French
media didn't
bother
coming to the
stakeout. As
was recently
highlighted,
one is
essentially
state media,
with over 40%
of its income
coming from
French
government
subscriptions.
Meanwhile,
from inside
the ECOWAS
delegation
came
complaints to
Inner City
Press about a
Gulf
television
network
expecting them
to cancel
meetings, like
with the
Security
Council's
president, in
order to
re-enact the
stakeout
they'd already
done on UN TV.
Watch this
site.
, 
