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Asks UN Spox
of Mali Tech Not Shared by EU,
OSCE Brindisi Deal,
UNanswered
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS,
February 23 – When the UN
Security Council met on
February 21 on “Conflicts in
Europe,” it got a briefing by
OSCE Secretary-General
Lamberto Zannier and a series
of speeches.
Inner City Press asked Zannier
questions at his press
conference afterward and he
said OSCE has had eight drones
shot down, at a cost of $1
million each, and is now using
drones with a medium range of
50 to 60 kilometers as well as
cameras. Inner City Press
asked, since he said OSCE will
do procurement through the UN
Peacekeeping base in Brindisi,
if OSCE can share some
technology with UN
Peacekeeping contingents like
Chad's, which suffers deaths
in Mali under Herve Ladsous
due to insufficient equipment.
On the
morning of February 22, Inner
City Press posed a simple
question in writing to UN
holdover spokesman Stephane
Dujarric, who had canceled the
day's noon briefing: "Please
describe any cooperation
between the UN / DFS /
Brindisi and the OSCE, as
spoken about yesterday by the
OSCE's Lamberto Zannier."
More than two
hours later, having no
response at all, Inner City
Press posed a question to new
Secretary General Antonio
Guterres, adding audibly that
his spokesman Dujarric is not
answering basic Press
questions. Video
here. By the next day,
still no answer. So Inner City
Press asked about both issues,
and more, at the noon
briefing. From the UN's
February 23 transcript:
Inner City Press:
these are two things about
kind of UN procurement and
peacekeeping. In this
room, I guess two days ago
now, Mr. [Lamberto] Zannier
said that OSCE [Organization
for Security and Cooperation
in Europe] is going to start…
or is already working with DFS
[Department of Field Support]
Brindisi to do
procurement. Is that… is
that true? And how does
it work? And also,
there's a story that the
Germans' contingent in Mali is
going to bring in these very
high-tech aerial surveillance
things that the US has used in
Afghanistan. And I
wanted know, does this
information get shared
throughout the mission when a
contingent brings it in by
itself?
Spokesman: I'm not… From
what I read and what I
understood of the press
report, I don't think this was
something that may or may not
happen. So I can check
if it has happened.
Inner City Press: Right,
but as a matter of principle,
if a contingent brings in its
own high-tech surveillance to
protect its peacekeepers, will
they share it with…
Spokesman: Well, as a… I
don't want to speculate, but,
obviously, anybody operates
within a peacekeeping
operation, they operate for
the greater good of the
peacekeeping mission.
Inner City Press: But
here's the… okay. Then
another specific. In
Mali, the Dutch contingent is
said to have the type of
equipment that they have in
UNIFIL [United Nations Interim
Force in Lebanon], which is
that it can find IEDs
[improvised explosive devices]
and blow them up. Is
this shared with the Chadians
or not shared with the
Chadians?
Spokesman: I don't
know.
Seems Dujarric
should go the way of Ladsous.
Watch this site.
In the
Council Chamber on February
21, US Ambassador Nikki Haley
spoke not only on Ukraine but
also Moldova, Nagorno-Karabakh
and Cyprus. (At noon Inner
City Press asking about Cyprus
giving citizenship to a member
of the UNFICYP mission there;
there was no answer). As Haley
began to speak, UN Secretary
General Antonio Guterres had
to leave, to sign the
condolence book for Churkin.
There are many changes and reforms
needed at the UN. Watch
this site.
***
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