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UN "Cannot Protect," Nor Call a Coup a
Coup, on Madagascar, News of Daewoo's Deal
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at
the UN: News Analysis
UNITED NATIONS,
April 7 -- The UN "does not
have the capacity actually to provide protection to anybody," the
Organization's Assistant Secretary General Haile Menkerios told the
Press on
April 7, the 15th anniversary of the beginning of the genocide in
Rwanda.
He
was referring to the protection provided earlier this year to the
then-opposition leader in Madagascar, which he said was the
responsibility of
"partners on the ground" -- most say, France's embassy. Inner City
Press asked about the UN's role in the coup d'etat, and why the UN
Secretariat
refused to call the military overthrow of an elected president a coup.
Video
here,
from Minute 1:57.
Menkerios
said it is not up to the Secretary-General to designate or condemn a
coup, only
to opine that the change was neither constitutional nor democratic.
Menkerios
was noticeably well informed about a major business deal in Madagascar,
South
Korean firm Daewoo
Logistics' lease of 1.2 million hectares of land to grow
palm oil and wheat. He said that Daiwoo had "already declared it
had withdrawn"
from the pact before those who overthrew the president claimed credit
for
canceling the deal. Video here,
from Minute 10:42.
UN's Ban and Menkerios, coup and Daewoo not shown
The
question remains, did
Daewoo demonstrate corporate social responsibility in cutting such a
deal with
a president widely viewed as monopolizing not only political but also
economic
power on the island?
Inner City Press asked Menkerios to speak
about another Africa issue discussed in the Security Council's closed
door
consultations on Tuesday, Eritrea
- Djibouti. With a look that other reporters
described as "uncomfortable" -- video here
from Minute 10:27 -- Menkerios said that since he did not do
the briefing on that issue, he could not discuss it. It does at least
geographically
fall within his portfolio. If he is disqualified, then what of Ban
Ki-moon's
stated "disappointment" in North Korea's rocket launch?
Click here
for a new YouTube video, mostly UN Headquarters footage, about civilian
deaths
in Sri Lanka.
Click here for Inner City
Press' March 27 UN debate
Click here for Inner City
Press March 12 UN (and AIG
bailout) debate
Click here for Inner City
Press' Feb 26 UN debate
Click
here
for Feb.
12 debate on Sri Lanka http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/17772?in=11:33&out=32:56
Click here for Inner City Press' Jan.
16, 2009 debate about Gaza
Click here for Inner City Press'
review-of-2008 UN Top Ten debate
Click here for Inner
City Press' December 24 debate on UN budget, Niger
Click here from Inner City Press'
December 12 debate on UN double standards
Click here for Inner
City Press' November 25 debate on Somalia, politics
and this October 17 debate, on
Security Council and Obama and the UN.
* * *
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
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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
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