By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 11
-- The UN has
confirmed to
Inner City
Press,
vaguely, that
on Syria its
Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations has
been engaged
in
"contingency
planning." But
on how this
relates to
possible
collection and
even
destruction of
chemical
weapons, the
UN won't yet
answer.
On
September 7
Inner City
Press exclusively
reported that
"within
DPKO
planning
continued, in
the absence of
any mandate
from the
Security
Council. DPKO
source have
exclusively
complained to
Inner City
Press that
they were
planned for
two scenarios:
either a
negotiated
transition, or
a violent
overthrown or
assassination.
But US
President
Barack Obama's
announced
desire to fire
missiles at
Syria and
'degrade' the
Assad
government's
capability is
NOT something
the UN was
preparing for,
the sources
complained."
It was
not
possible to
ask the UN
about this on
Monday,
September 9,
as the day's
noon briefing
was canceled
for a mere
five question
press
conference by
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon.
So on Tuesday,
September 10
Inner City
Press asked
about it:
Inner
City
Press: I have
heard from
people in the
Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations
(DPKO) that
even before
this recent
announcement,
they had been
doing some
planning for
different
scenarios, and
so is it fair
to say that
DPKO would
engage in
planning for
some role in
the search for
and/or
destruction of
chemical
weapons? And I
also wanted to
ask you
something that
came up, Valerie
Amos and
Farhan Haq,
which was that
there had been
11 UN staff
members killed
in Syria.
I wanted to
know what the
timeframe was,
any
information
available
about that. It
seems
obviously
important, and
also whether
there are UN
staff members
who are
hostage of
armed groups
or, in the
alternative,
by the
Government,
there is any
sort of
number, any
information
you can
provide about
that?
Spokesperson:
Well, on the
very last
part, Matthew,
I don’t think
you would
expect us to
comment on
that. On the
middle part
about staff
members,
certainly, a
number of
staff members
working for
UNRWA [United
Nations Relief
and Works
Agency for
Palestine
Refugees in
the Near East]
have been
killed or
wounded, that
I do know. And
let us see if
we can find
out some more
details. On
the very first
part of your
question, I am
not familiar
with any
planning that
may or may not
have been
going on.
After
hearing from
more than one
UN source even
mid-afternoon
on Tuesday
that an answer
had been
prepared and
would be given
to Inner City
Press by the
Office of the
Spokesperson,
the answer
only arrived
at 11:20 am on
Wednesday. The
idea seemed to
be to provide
it only
shortly before
reading it out
at Wednesday's
noon briefing.
Here, at 11:40
am, we are
publishing it:
From:
UN
Spokesperson -
Do Not Reply
[at] un.org
Date: Wed, Sep
11, 2013 at
11:20 AM
Subject: Your
question on
contingency
planning in
Syria
To:
Matthew.Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
Regarding
your
question at
the Tuesday
noon briefing,
we would
recall that
Under-Secretary-General
Ladsous noted
at a press
conference at
UN
Headquarters
in February
this year that
the Department
of
Peacekeeping
Operations
(DPKO) has
engaged in
contingency
planning for a
range of
scenarios so
that
peacekeeping
is ready to
play a role in
Syria if the
Security
Council calls
on it. As USG
Ladsous
emphasised,
this is
exclusively up
to the
Security
Council. This
planning
exercise
pre-dated the
current
developments,
and we have
nothing
further to add
about
contingency
planning.
There
are many
questions
about how and
if the UN
could
meaningfully
play a role in
the new
proposal for
Syria. We will
keep asking.
, 
