UNITED
NATIONS, May
13 -- On
Sunday when
the release of
UN
Peacekeepers
by
the Yarmouk
Martys Brigade
was credited
to Qatar "and
others"
by UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon, the
obvious
question
raised was
and is what
are Qatar's
relations with
the kidnappers
and the
kidnapping?
On
Monday May 13,
Inner City
Press asked
Ban's
spokesman
Martin Nesirky
just that: why
was Qatar in
particular
thanked, and
is it Ban's
understanding
that Qatar has
some special
connection
with the
Yarmouk
Martyrs
Brigade? Video
here, from
Minute 13:43.
Nesirky
replied
by twice
re-reading the
statement,
emphasizing
that not only
Qatar but
unnamed
"others" were
thanked. Some
wondered:
Saudi Arabia?
And why the
others were
left unnamed,
but Qatar
wanted
or got credit?
More
generally,
Inner City
Press asked,
isn't it a
contradiction
to say
that Ban
doesn't want
countries
arming the
rebels in
Syria, then
thanking one
of the arms
and funding
providers,
Qatar, for its
connection
with the
rebels who
kidnapped UN
peacekeepers?
Nesirky
said
what was
important was
the release.
Yes. But since
this same
group
previously
kidnapped 21
UN
peacekeepers,
have they this
time
made a
commitment, if
only to Qatar,
not to do it
again?
Other
wonder if the
situation
can't be
described as
one involving
ransom:
if a group
that Qatar
funds can
thereby be
convinced to
release
hostages,
isn't that a
ransom?
Tellingly,
when
ostensibly
independent Agence
France Presse
got around to
typing
up Ban's
thanks to
Qatar, it
did not ask
the obvious
question
either.
Instead, with
a UN dateline,
and as is
typical using
anonymous
diplomatic --
read, French
-- sources,
AFP reported
"'This
time the
rebels felt
under pressure
and took more
convincing to
free
the soldiers,'
said a UN
diplomat,
speaking on
condition of
anonymity.
'Qatar's role
was
important.'"
What
was
Qatar's role
IN the
kidnapping?
AFP didn't
ask. Instead
it runs a
quote from a
spokesperson
for Herve
Ladsous, the
fourth
Frenchman in
a row to head
UN
Peacekeeping,
on whose
behalf AFP's
Tim Witcher
has
filed
complaints
against Inner
City Press,
first within
the UN
Correspondents
Association
(which Inner
City Press
left, to
co-found the Free UN Coalition for Access),
then on March
8, 2013 with
the UN.
Witcher
claimed
that by asking
a question,
Inner City
Press "abused"
Ladsous, who
is the fourth
Frenchman in a
row to head UN
Peacekeeping.
Once this and
Ladsous' role
in the Rwanda
genocide as
France Deputy
Permanent
Representative
at the UN
arguing for
the
escape of the
genocidaires
into Eastern
Congo were
noted, Ladsous
began refusing
to answer any
Inner City
Press
questions, video here.
Now
when
peacekeepers
are killed, as
in the past
week in Abyei
and Congo,
Ladsous does
not even like
his
predecessor
Alain Le Roy
hold any
question and
answer
stakeout. His
spokespeople
issue
selective
information,
here, to AFP.
And
Ladsous
goes
gallivanting,
spreading
France's
policies, now
in
Lebanon.
Watch this
site.
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