UN
Silent on
Syria Except
For Some From
Seoul, Brahimi
Moves From
Moscow
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 29,
updated --
While the UN
heavy promoted
the idea of --
and its role
in -- a
possible Eid
ceasefire in
Syria last
week, when the
ceasefire
fired amid car
bombs and
bombardments
the UN's
silence was
deafening.
Envoy Lakhdar
Brahimi, who
previously
issued
statement even
about planes
he was on
landing and
taking off,
said nothing.
On
Sunday, along
with asking if
UN
Headquarters
would be
closed two day
this week for
Hurricane
Sandy,
Inner City
Press asked
the four top
UN
spokespeople
(one for
Lakhdar
Brahimi), "is
there no
statement by
envoy Brahimi
or the UN
about the
status of the
Eid ceasefire
in Syria?"
The
UN's answer to
Inner City
Press was
this: "Mr.
Brahimi has
not yet made
any comments
about the
observance of
the
cease-fire.
If or when we
have anything
we will share
it with
journalists."
Seventeen
hours
later, there
was still no
statement by
Brahimi at
all.
Apparently he
was waiting to
speak
alongside
Sergey Lavrov
in Moscow --
this from the
Russian
Ministry of
Foreign
Affairs'
twitter feed,
not the UN.
But
fifteen and a
half hours
after
responding to
the Press
request for
any "Brahimi
or UN"
statement
"about the
status of the
Eid ceasefire
in Syria," Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesman's
office sent
out Ban speech
in South Korea
accepting the
Seoul peace
prize.
As
sent out, the
speech was
entirely
illegible.
As
with Brahimi's
whereabouts
and speaking
plans,
information
was not
available from
the UN, but in
his case from
wire services
present for
Ban's now
somewhat
ironically-timed
award
ceremony.
On
Ban's
Secretary-General
website, even
after the
selective
Seoul speech,
the most
recent speech
was one from
October 23, at
the South
Korean Mission
to the UN in
New York. On
Ban's
spokesperson's
office
website, Ban's
most recent
statement, on
the morning of
October 29,
was from
October 25.
What
explains this?
In fairness,
the UN is
closed on
Monday due to
the approach
of Hurricane
Sandy. But
even
countries'
missions to
the UN have
been tweeting
their staff
will work from
home on
Monday.
As
Inner City
Press noted,
and then was
asked to
correct last
week by Ban's
spokesperson's
office, when
envoy Annan's
and then
Brahimi's
spokesman
Ahmad Fawzi
left on
October 23, he
was not
replaced.
(Inner
City Press has
asked when the
UN Secretariat
will put
forward a
budget for
Brahimi's
work, like the
now-spent $7
million one
for Kofi
Annan. This
simple
question,
publicly asked
well before
the approach
of any
hurricane, has
yet to be
answered.
This is
increasingly a
problem in the
UN, among top
Ban Ki-moon
officials.
Ban's
Peacekeeping
chief Herve
Ladsous has
taken to
refusing to
answer any
Press
questions, due
to what he
calls (without
defining)
"insulting
insinuations."
Tellingly,
Ladsous was
chosen by
France for the
post -- which
has apparently
been assigned
to that
country. This
was without so
much as an
interview to
vet him on his
statements as
France's
deputy UN
ambassador
during the
Rwanda
genocide, or
his arranging
of disgraced
ex-French
foreign
minister
Michele
Aliot-Marie's
flights with
cronies of
Tunisian
dictator Ben
Ali.
Now Ladsous
proposes the
UN use drones,
without being
willing to answer
Press
questions
on any
safeguards.
Drones in
Syria? Or
drones on
Syria?)
When
he left, Fawzi
and then the
UN said that
questions
should be sent
to one of two
people: the
New York base
spokesman for
the UN
Department of
Political
Affairs, or a
spokesperson
who is still
in Ban's
spokesperson's
office in New
York (as that
Office asked
Inner City
Press to
clarify, which
was
immediately
done, here).
But
which is being
spoken for?
Brahimi went
invisible
during the
near
immediately
shattering of
"his"
ceasefire. Ban
issued a
speech about
sports and
peace, and
then an
illegible one
while
accepting a
peace prize.
Only
large, either
state or
corporate
media which
covered Ban in
Seoul
got what he
said. Are
these
problems? We
think so. Watch
this site.
Update:
while
the UN has yet
to correct or
post Ban
Ki-moon's
Seoul speech,
Brahimi from
Moscow is (by
non-UN
sources)
reported this
"Special
Representative
of the UN and
the Arab
League on the
Syrian Crisis
Lakhdar
Brahimi has
assured that
the UN has no
plans to send
peacekeepers
to the
country."
Great. The UN
or Brahimi's
office,
whatever it
is, has yet to
send out any
transcript.
Forward to
Beijing! Watch
this site.
Second
update: when
the UN
belatedly sent
out the
transcript,
Brahimi's
statement was
"The United
Nations is not
considering
sending a
peacekeeping
force to
Syria.
The United
Nations and
the
Under-Secretary-General
for
Peacekeeping
has explained
this a few
days ago, he
is doing their
normal work,
doing some
contingency
planning."
So Brahimi
quoted
Ladsous, who
refuses to
answer any
Press
questions
about
safeguards of
his DPKO's
planning (for
example of
drones) or
actions. Watch
this site.
, 
