At
UN,
Moves to
Assess NATO
Casualties in
Libya, Now
Under Ban's
MOU
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 4 --
When the UN
Security
Council
convened on
Wednesday
morning to
consider
January's
program of
work, getting
a
briefing on
Syria and on
the violence
in South Sudan
were on the
schedule. But
in the closed
door session
another issue
arose: how to
"get closure,"
as one Deputy
Permanent
Representative
put
it to Inner
City Press,"
on civilians
casualties
caused by
NATO's bombing
in Libya.
After
the meeting,
Russian
Permanent
Representative
Vitaly Churkin
called the
response
of those
resisting the
assessment of
NATO
"overblown."
He
cited a
Memorandum of
Understanding
that UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon had
signed with
NATO -- which
had been
criticized
nearly
immediately by
Russia -- as
now providing
a way to
proceed with
an
assessment
"even before
January 25."
On
January 3,
Inner
City Press
learned and
reported that
those Council
members
interested
in assessing
NATO planned
to ask UN High
Commissioner
on Human
Rights
Navi Pillay to
address the
issue at a
January 25
meeting. But
now
Churkin of
Russia says it
will be
raised,
including
under the
rubric
of Ban's MOU
with NATO,
before then.
(c) UN Photo
Churkin &
Li Baodong,
Ban's MOU with
NATO not shown
As Chinese
Permanent
Representative
Li Baodong
told Inner
City Press,
"this concerns
the
credibility of
the [Security]
Council,"
since NATO was
operating
under UNSC
Resolution
1973. Watch
this site.
Update
of 12:20 pm --
Inner City
Press asked
Ban Ki-moon's
spokesman
Martin Nesirky
about Ban's
MOU with NATO,
including if
it provides
for
investigation
or assessment,
and if the
agreement with
NATO is a
public
document.
Nesirky said
he would check
and revert.
Watch this
site.
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