|
Rwandans To Pullout of Darfur If Karenzi is
Replaced, Agwai's Praise of Sharon Draws Ire
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of
Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
UNITED NATIONS,
July 3 -- As the United States criticizes
the UN for the slow pace of deployment of its Darfur hybrid
peacekeeping force
with the African Union, UNAMID, the president of Rwanda, the
substantial troop
contributor to UNAMID, has threatened to pull out his troops if Rwandan
general
Karake Karenzi is not given another year on the job, diplomatic sources
confirm
to Inner City Press. Karenzi has been
indicted for war crimes in Spain, settin up the possibility that he
could be
arrested while serving the UN in Sudan, or while traveling during his
term of
office in Darfur.
Sudan's
support for Karenzi now appears in a different
light: certainly it would be harder to criticize Sudan for not turning
over its
two indicted war crimes suspects, Ahmad Harun and Ali Kushayb, if the
UN's own
peacekeeping mission's deputy commander is also indicted. Despite Sudan and the U.S. both supporting
Karenzi, perhaps this and not only the lobbying of human rights groups
is why
the UN still has not offered Karenzi a renewal.
Messrs. Adada, Agwai and Karenzi, Sharon,
indictment, letter and threats not shown
Inner City
Press on Thursday asked UN spokesperson Michele Montas to confirm or
deny that
the UN has written to Rwanda asking them to suggest an alternate
general, and
that Rwanda has threatened to pull its troops out of UNAMID if Karenzi
himself is
not renewed. Ms. Montas declined to comment on either question,
suggesting that
Inner City Press use its "diplomatic sources." Inner City Press
asked, but if the UN were to write such a letter, would it confer with
the
African Union first? Yes, Ms. Montas said. Then asked who would make
the
decision to remove Karenzi, she said, the Secretary-General.
Clarification has
been promised. Video here.
Sudan, it
emerges, is not a fan of Karenzi's boss Martin Luther Agwai, saying
that when
Agway was asked to name his military hero, he said "Ariel Sharon."
That is a faux pas in the region,
certainly in Sudan. Perhaps this too makes Karenzi look better by
comparison in
Sudanese eyes. In any event, the rare confluence of U.S. and Sudan
interest, in
supporting Karenzi, is sure to give rise to more stories. Watch this
site.
* * *
These reports are
usually also available through Google
News and on Lexis-Nexis.
Click
here for a Reuters
AlertNet piece by this correspondent
about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click
here
for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali National
Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an
undefined trust fund. Video
Analysis here
Feedback: Editorial
[at] innercitypress.com
UN Office: S-453A, UN, NY 10017 USA
Tel: 212-963-1439
Reporter's mobile (and weekends):
718-716-3540
Other,
earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available
in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright
2006-08 Inner City Press, Inc. To request
reprint or other permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com -
|
