At
UN,
Araud of France Says Russia Has Not Raised Kosovo Organ Trade
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
May 3 -- Russian foreign minister Sergey
Lavrov has said
publicly that Russia will support Serbia's request that the UN
Security Council take up the reports of organ trafficking in Kosovo,
including
by Kosovar prime minister Thaci.
But
the Security
Council's president for May, Gerard Araud of France, told the press
on Tuesday that when he asked member states during his consultations
with them on Monday about the issue, none of them said they would
pursue it.
After
Araud's
briefing, Inner City Press asked another diplomat from the French
mission about Lavrov's statement.
Yes,
he said that,
the diplomat acknowledged. But Ambassador Araud “said what he
said.” We'll see. A Council debate on Kosovo is slated for May 12.
Also
during his
beginning of the month briefing, Araud was asked about the first Council
action of May, the presidential statement saying that Osama
Bin Laden will not be able to commit or organize acts terrorism
anymore.
Araud
answered
about another proposed phrase, he said about “the death of
Gaddafi.” He laughed and called this a Freudian slip.
Araud faces press, naivete not shown
He
also called
Council consultations “boring,” saying that member states simply
read speeches. He speculated that journalists don't know this,
since they are “naive.” Following what he called France's
victory during its last presidency in February 2010, the use of
Council members' first names, he said he would push for more
interactivity.
Araud
was not
asked -- yet -- about Cote d'Ivoire and the mandate of the UN mission
there.
Footnote:
Inner
City Press asked Araud questions about Sudan
and Sri Lanka,
which it will separately report on. Watch this site.
* * *
UN
in
S.
Kordofan Confirms 19 Murders, Won't Say if Harun Did It:
Flights Continue?
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
May
1 -- Amid the killing in Sudan, the UN has two $1
billion peacekeeping operations but refuses to answer basic questions
about who is killing whom, much less stopping it.
While
numerous
questions
about Darfur that Inner City Press has asked the UN --
bombing of clinics by the government, alleged laying of land mies --
have gone unanswered, on April 29 the UN did send an answer to a
question asked nine day previous about South Kordofan (see below).
The
problem is,
after more than a week, the UN could or would not provide any
information about who was responsible for the killing of at least 19
civilians there. In fact, the person accused is Ahmed Harun, who
despite being indicted by the International Criminal Court for war
crimes in Darfur has been flown in UN helicopters to Abyei at least
twice.
In
the middle of April, Inner City Press began asking about allegations
that Harun
had
just
organized a militia to attack El-Faid Um Abdullah, the home
village of his deputy governor in South Kordofan, Abdelaziz al-Hilu.
The accusation
was
made
by the deputy governor himself:
“Abdelaziz
al-Hilu
accused
governor Ahmed Harun, who is from a rival party and
will contest local elections against him on May 2, of 'organizing an
attack by the Popular Defence Forces on my village, El-Faid Um
Abdullah. They killed more than 20 people and burned between 300 and
500 houses in the early morning. Two women and four children were
among those who burned inside the houses,' he said.”
Inner
City
Press
asked US State Department spokesman Mark Toner, and then UN deputy
spokesman Farhan Haq on April 20:
Inner
City
Press:
On Sudan, there is this report from the Deputy Governor
of South Kordofan, saying that the popular defence force attacked his
village, killed 20 people. And he blames it on Ahmed Haroun… in
fact the Governor, the Khartoum-backed Governor of the state. So,
it’s a pretty high-profile person accusing him of being behind this
attack, and I wonder, does UNMIS, what have they done in terms of
investigating Mr. Haroun’s role, given that they have been flying
Mr. Haroun as an ostensible peacemaker to Abyei?
Acting
Deputy
Spokesperson
Haq: I was told that UNMIS has gone to this area
in Southern Kordofan, and it is trying to obtain more information
about what’s been going on there.
For
more than a
week, there was no answer from the UN spokesperson's office. In the
interim, Inner City Press asked number
two UN Peacekeeping official
Atul Khare, and US Ambassador Susan Rice about it.
Khare
said
that
the killing including “inter alia women and
children,” in “the village of the deputy governor.” He said the
UN would be paying more attention to the area, mentioning
humanitarian issues.
But
what about investigating Abdelaziz al-Hilu's claim that Ahmed Harun
was involved? If the UN confirmed this, could or would they keep
flying Harun around on UN helicopters?
Ban & Khare, murders by and flights to Ahmed Harun not shown
As
US Ambassador
Susan Rice left a UN Security Council meeting on April 20, Inner
City Press asked her if the new charges against Harun should end the
UN's flights for Harun. "He was already indicted," Rice
said. "At this point the concern is constant."
But
has the US spoken against the UN flying Harun? Inner City Press has
repeatedly asked the US Mission for a comment, without receiving any.
Finally
on
April
28 leaving another session about UN Peacekeeping, Inner City Press
asked an official of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations
about the failure to answer questions, not only about South Kordofan
but also Darfur.
While
the
Darfur
questions still remain unresponded to, on April 29 the following was
sent:
From:
UN
Spokesperson
- Do Not Reply
<unspokesperson-donotreply@un.org>
Date: Fri, Apr 29, 2011
at 10:54 AM
To: Matthew Lee [at] innercitypress.com
Subject:
Your question on Southern Kordofan
The
upcoming
elections
in Southern Kordofan, which are to commence on 2
May, are of importance to both parties and the increase in violence
is of great concern to us. The National Congress Party/Southern Sudan
People's Liberation Moverment partnership was a stabilising factor
over the last two years but since this election will influence
Southern Kordofan’s political balance of power, the rhetoric of the
election campaign has been increasingly aggressive. As a result, on
13 April 2011, four predominantly Nuba villages within the Locality
of Al Rashad (200 kms NE of Kadugli) were targeted, resulting in the
death of 19 persons (3 children, 4 females, 12 males) and the injury
of 29 (3 females, 24 males).
Not
only is this
response 16 days after the fact, and nine days after the question was
asked -- it also make no effort to identify who is responsible. Since
the person accused is one whom the UN has flown around in a
helicopter to meet with the type of nomadic tribes accused of murder,
shouldn't the UN want to know, and be required to disclose? Watch
this site.
Footnote:
On
the
Doha process on Darfur, after Djibril Bassole announced it
would become foreign minister of post-mutiny Burkina Faso, Inner City
Press asked the UN if he would be allowed to stay on as mediator, as
he reportedly wanted. Finally the UN squawked an answer, that he
would end as mediator on April 30. This is how Khartoum wants it.
A
top UN
peacekeeping official told Inner City Press that Bassole will attend
the upcoming session in Doha, but only as foreign minister of Burkina
Faso for its involvement in the process. This too is how Khartoum
wants it. Watch this site.
, 
