Inner City Press

Inner City Press -- Investigative Reporting From the Inner City to Wall Street to the United Nations

These reports are usually available through Google News and on Lexis-Nexis

Google
  Search innercitypress.com Search WWW (censored?)

In Other Media -e.g. Somalia, Nepal, Ghana, Azerbaijan, The Gambia  For further info, click here to contact us         .



Home -

These reports are usually available through Google News and on Lexis-Nexis

CONTRIBUTE

Subscribe to RSS feed

BloggingHeads.tv


Video (new)

Reuters AlertNet 8/17/07

Reuters AlertNet 7/14/07

Support this work by buying this book

Click on cover for secure site orders

also includes "Toxic Credit in the Global Inner City"
 

 

 


Community
Reinvestment

Bank Beat

Freedom of Information
 

How to Contact Us


In Darfur, Australia Says UN Has Suspended Deployment, Suspension of Indictments Discussed

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis

UNITED NATIONS, July 11 -- Days after seven UN peacekeepers were killed in Darfur, and with UN Ambassadors arguing about the expected indictment of the president of Sudan for war crimes, less noticed but related news was made Friday morning by Australian Defense Minister Joel Fitzgibbon, when he said Australia will suspend the deployment of nine military officers to Darfur, "in keeping with UN policy." 

   Fitzgibbon was speaking on the sidewalk in front of the UN, to Inner City Press and an Australian television crew. Inner City Press asked if it is now UN policy to suspend deployment in Darfur, given Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's announcement on Thursday that he intends to increase by the end of 2008 to 80% of the approved 27,000 deployment. Fitzgibbon said yes; later his aides said perhaps deployment of  "formed units" would go forward, but smaller (or "individual") deployments like Australia's have been curtailed by the UN.

   At the UN's regular noon media briefing, Inner City Press asked Associate Spokesman Farhan Haq about Fitzgibbon's comments and if it is UN policy to suspend some or all deployments in Darfur. Rather than answer the question, Haq said that "as we're speaking" the Under Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guehenno was speaking at the Security Council "stakeout about UNAMID," and to ask him. Video here, from Minute 21.  Inner City Press ran out, but one of Haq's colleagues had, according to reporters, announced the cancellation of Guehenno's stakeout. Thus the question about the UN's policy of suspending deployment in Darfur was not answered.


Joel Fitzgibbon in flak jacket, UN policy not shown

   Sudan's Ambassador to the UN told Inner City Press that the UN has raised the threat level in Darfur to Four, the highest category, and that explained the suspension of the deployments of the Australians. "What were they going to do there anyway?" he asked. "Maybe they are good guitar players."  He added that his meeting with Ban Ki-moon had been rescheduled from 3:15 to 4 p.m.  The talk at the stakeout was of the Security Council voting to suspend International Criminal Court action on Sudan, and whether than would have to be done before prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo, or the judges, act to indict President Bashir.  Developing.

Footnote:  As Ban Ki-moon on Friday morning left a standing-room-only awards ceremony for UN staff members' creativity, Inner City Press asked him if he had spoken to President Bashir. Not yet, he said. While a spokesperson tried to say, "He won't answer," Inner City Press asked if he intends to brief the General Assembly about the High Commissioner for Human Rights selections process before announcing a winner. "That has to go to the GA," he said. "I'm in the final stage."

  This "having to go" to the GA appears to contradict what Ban's spokesperson said earlier in the week, that the winner would be named before Ban's GA briefing.  Video here, from Minute 15:05. Ban himself could have been asked this question at his Thursday press conference, and better explained himself, but the question was not allowed.  Nor were questions at Friday's noon briefing answered. Watch this site. And this --


   

* * *

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

Google
  Search innercitypress.com  Search WWW (censored?)

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 -