By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 9 --
The UN on
Friday refused
to tell Inner
City Press
what armed
guards it uses
in Somalia,
and if the UN
Somalia
Eritrea
Monitoring
Group would
look into the
day's burning
in Mogadishu
of an
Ethiopian
plane
reportedly
full of
weapons.
Inner
City Press had
first asked
the question
of which armed
guards the UN
Mine Action
Service's
David Bax used
in Mogadishu
back on
June 24,
after
publishing an
exclusive
June 22 story
about Bax's
role in
sharing
genetic
information
about bombings
with the
United States.
Compare video
below to
this from
August 7.
Inner
City Press asked
the Bax
questions
again to
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
associate
spokesperson
Farhan Haq on
July 5:
Inner
City
Press: DPKO
was asked
about just to
respond yes or
no whether to
their
knowledge the
head of UN
Mine Action
Service in
Mogadishu,
David Bax,
provides
information to
the United
States as
alleged by a
whistleblower,
but just yes
or no; and
it’s been two
weeks, what is
the time
frame? Are
they not going
to answer that
question?
Associate
Spokesperson
Haq: We answer
all of your
questions. It
takes time for
some answers
to come back,
and others…
and less time
for others.
But you have
seen over the
time, and you
know this; I
have sent you
e-mails like
this, and you
know,
sometimes a
week or so
later, we get
an answer and
we send it to
you.
But
after this Haq
statement,
DPKO's Herve
Ladsous'
spokesperson
Kieran Dwyer provided
half-answers
to the
questions
Inner City
Press had
publicly asked
-- to another
media, for
a story that,
as many have
commented,
attempted to
rehabilitate
Bax, including
on sexual
harassment
charges (in
the same way
UN
Peacekeeping
sought to
deny, to this
same media,
Inner City
Press' charges
that it
covered up the
murder of UN
Security
officer Louis
Maxwell by
Afghan
National
Forces.)
On
August 9,
Inner City
Press asked
Haq about his
July 5
statement, and
whether it
should still
expect the
promised
answers. Haq
said that
since "the
contracting
agency" UNOPS
is
investigating,
the UN will
have no
comment. Video
here.
But
UNOPS is not
investigating
which Private
Military
Contractor the
UN system says
public money
to in Somalia
- that
question
should have
been
immediately
answered. And
the referenced
UNOPS
investigation
is highly
dubious -
we'll have
more on that.
Watch this
site.
, 
