On
Syria, Houla
Probe Not
Done, Third
Force Barely
Seen, Ladsous
on Run
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
June 19 -- The
UN Security
Council was
briefed on
Syria
Tuesday by
mission chief
General Robert
Mood and then
UN Department
of
Peacekeeping
Operations
boss Herve
Ladsous. Then
the two came
out
and took media
questions,
chosen by DPKO
spokesman
Kieran Dwyer.
One
would have
thought they'd
address, or
take a
question,
about the
belated
investigation
of who killed
who in Houla,
a task
assigned to
the
UNSMIS
mission. But
the question
was not taken,
Dwyer saying
"we
have meetings
to go to."
Then he stood
to the side of
the
stakeout,
spinning.
When
Chinese
Ambassador Li
Baodong,
June's
President of
the Security
Council, came
out he called
on Inner City
Press which
asked the
question
Ladsous
and Mood
should have
taken: what
ever happened
to the
investigation
in Houla?
And why do
both men
repeatedly
refer to "the
two
sides" when
even Ban
Ki-moon (mis?)
spoke about a
Third Force?
Li
Baodong
replied that
more
information is
still needed
on Houla. He
said the
Third Force is
a serious
threat;
previously he
has said it
must be
investigated.
Syria's
Bashar
Ja'afari said
the Third
Force is, in
essence, Al
Qaeda and is
supported by
Qatar and
Saudi Arabia.
This is
ironic, given
that Saudi
Arabia
recently paid
to sponsora
counter-terrorism
conference and
center,
despite its
nationals'
role for
example in the
9/11/01
attacks.
Ja'afari
praised
Mood and Li
Baodong. Inner
City Press
asked him why
he didn't
mention
Ladsous, does
he agree with
those who say
in essence
that Ladsous
works for his
native France?
Ja'afari began
hyper
diplomatic,
praising Mood
as fair, Mood
as balanced.
But then he
chided a "UN
heavyweight"
-- literally
-- who said
there is a
civil war in
Syria "as if
it is a joke."
That
would be
Ladsous, in
his side walk
with hand
picked
journalists.
As we've
reported,
Ladsous thinks
it's
legitimate to
openly say he
won't
answer any
questions from
the Press
until it
provides
positive
coverage.
Ladsous'
unique
approach has
become
something of a
matter
of mockery for
many even
Westerners in
the Security
Council and
beyond. Now it
is
resulting in
the lack of
basic
information.
Mood, for
example, is
badly served
by it.
The
Western
Ambassadors,
for example
Gerard Araud
who on the way
in spoke of
moving to a
Chapter 7
mandate, never
came to the
stakeout.
Inner City
Press was able
to ask UK
Permanent
Representative
Mark Lyall
Grant,
"what's the
general mood
in the
consultations?"
"Gloomy,"
Lyall
Grant
answered.
Watch this
site.
Footnote:
at
7:15 pm, just
before
publication of
the above, the
UK mission put
out the
following,
which we
include in
full:
Responding
to
the remarks
made at the
Security
Council
Stakeout today
by the
Syrian
Ambassador
comparing the
situation in
Syria to riots
in
England last
year, British
Ambassador and
Permanent
Representative
Sir Mark Lyall
Grant said:
"Coming
from
a
representative
of a regime
that is now
responsible
for the
deaths of well
over 15,000
citizens, the
Syrian
Ambassador’s
comparison of
his regime’s
response with
what happened
in England
last summer
was utterly
grotesque. It
just goes to
show how
untenable the
position of
the Syrian
regime has now
become, and
how
desperate are
the few
remaining
people willing
to defend it.
I once
again call
upon the
Syrian regime
to implement
Kofi Annan’s
six-point plan
in full and
end the
killing of its
own civilians,
starting with
an immediate
withdrawal of
forces and an
end to
targeting
Syrian
population
centers."
, 
