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As Sri Lanka Issues Ultimatum, UN's Ban Raises
Other Issues, "No Fire" Zone in Peril
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at
the UN: News Analysis
UNITED NATIONS,
April 9 -- As the Sri Lankan Army
broadcasts a "final ultimatum" and reportedly fires shells into the
supposed No Fire Zone, UN Security General Ban Ki-moon spoke by phone
with
President Mahinda Rajapaksa. After Ban's spokesperson's bland read-out
of the
call -- they spoke of "their shared concerns about the civilians
still trapped in the area" -- Inner City Press asked if
Ban had asked
about the ultimatum. "Not on that specific issue that you mention,"
spokesperson Montas said. They discussed
civilians, but not the government's threat that puts them as risk?
Inner City
Press asked if President Rajapaksa had made any commitment not to send
his
troops into the No Fire Zone, as some say is slated to happen over this
weekend. Video here,
from Minute 16:37. "I am not at liberty to tell you details of what was
said,"
replied Ms. Montas. But are any
commitments being obtained on these calls? Or as some say are they only
window-dressing?
Click here
for audio of one phone call out
from the No Fire Zone, with voiceover on violations of
international humanitarian law by Tamil Tigers as well.
Protest in front of US Mission to UN on April
9, (c) M.Lee: Rwanda sign, Obama poster: Samantha Power, where
are you?
Thursday in New York there were fasters and protesters
in front of the U.S. Mission to the UN on 45th Street, asking to meet
with U.S.
Ambassador Susan Rice. They never saw her; an organizer told Inner City
Press
they would be reduced to faxing their petition to Rice. They delivered
a petition
to Mexico's Ambassador Claude Heller, this month's Council president,
but not
to Ban Ki-moon. Have they given up on him?
The level
is despair in the crowd was palpable. One protest organizer asked,
"Obama,
where is the change you promised?" Others held signs with the words
"genocide," "Not another Rwanda" and "Responsibility
to Protect." There were all topics of meetings inside the UN this week
--
unlike the carnage in Sri Lanka.
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
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
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