Bombing
of Khartoum
Arms Facility
Was Raised in
UNSC But Went
Nowhere
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
November 7 --
Two weeks
after
explosions at
the Al-Yarmouk
arms factory
in Khartoum,
which Sudan
and others
attribute to
an
Israeli
bombing raid,
the issue
remains
largely
unaddressed at
the
UN.
On
November 7
Inner City
Press asked
Security
Council
president
Hardeep
Singh Puri of
India for the
state of play,
after being
told by some
Sudanese
diplomats that
a second, more
detailed
letter would
be
filed.
Hardeep
Singh
Puri
graciously
checked into
the matter,
and then
exclusively
told Inner
City Press
"Yes there was
a letter. Then
the issue was
raised by
one member in
the Council.
We asked the
Secretariat if
any further
information
available.
They said no,
and that is
where it is."
Back
on October 24,
Inner City
Press asked
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesman
Martin
Nesirky:
Inner
City Press:
there has been
in Khartoum in
Sudan, a large
explosion in
an arms depot
or transit
point, and the
Government
there is
saying
that Israel
did it with
airplanes, and
I am
wondering,
since that
would be
cross-border,
deep into
Sudanese
territory, the
UN, are they
aware of the
explosion,
have there
been any
consequences
of it and
who do they
believe is
behind it?
What's their
response to
this?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
Well, we are
obviously
aware of the
media reports,
but we
don’t have
anything
further on
that, Matthew.
Okay, any
other
questions?
The
UN Secretariat
has said
nothing since
-- and told
the Security
Council it has
no further
information.
Does it WANT
to get any
further
information?
Within
Sudan
there are
divisions on
how close the
government
should be to
Iran; the
allegation is
that the
Yarmouk
facility was
involved in
Iranian
weapons
passage to
Hamas. Will
one of the
UN's
imaginative
sanctions
group of
experts, like
those on DRC,
Somalia or
Cote
d'Ivoire, dig
into this one?
Also
on Sudan,
Inner City
Press on
November 7
asked Nesirky
for the UN's
response to
Sudan
declaring over
the tripartite
agreement to
get
humanitarian
aid into
Southern
Kordofan and
Blue Nile.
Nesirky said a
request to
extend the
agreement has
been made.
We'll see --
watch this
site.
, 
