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In S. Kordofan, UN Says It Can't Move, No Comment on Sudan Currency War

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, July 18 -- Amid reports of worsening violence in Southern Kordofan, not only at the UN peacekeepers there preparing to leave: even while still there, they “cannot move” even if they see war crimes committed in front of them, the UN told Inner City Press on Monday.

  Last week outgoing UN Peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy told Inner City Press that while they cannot patrol or use force, if the peacekeepers saw something happen in front of them, they would respond “as humanitarians.”

  But Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Martin Nesirky on Monday disagreed when Inner City Press asked for confirmation of Le Roy's statement. “They cannot move,” Nesirky said, “whether you like it or not or whether we like it or not, the United Nations does not have a mandate to operate there.”

  If UN personnel present in a war zone are told by the Secretary General's spokesman that they “cannot move,” what does it mean to repeatedly say “never again”? We'll see.

  Beyond saying its peackeepers “cannot move” in Southern Kordofan, the UN didn't even have a comment on North Sudan declaring itself ready for a currency war with South Sudan, refusing to redeem billions in Sudanese pounds circulating in the South.

  Inner City Press asked for comment, from envoy Haile Menkerios or new envoy to South Sudan Hilde Johnson, but Nesirky said the UN has nothing to say.

So what is the UN's role in and on Sudan? From the UN's July 18 noon briefing transcript:

Inner City Press: In South Kordofan, I understand that a lot of it rides on the Security Council mandate, but there have been over the weekend more and more reporting of bombing, and of surrendering Nuba soldiers. And so,have any of the existing peacekeepers left the area? Are they there? What are they doing? What does the UN say about events in the last 48 hours in South Kordofan?

Spokesperson Nesirky: Well, I think the answer remains the same as last week. Whether you like it or not or whether we like it or not, the United Nations does not have a mandate to operate there. It is something that, clearly, we had wished to be otherwise. And the Secretary-General made very clear that there should not be any vacuum or gap in our ability to monitor what is happening. But that is the case. That is the case. And as for the presence of the troops, the peacekeeping troops there, they are in the process of moving out as they are required to do under this liquidation resolution. But they have not yet fully withdrawn. That’s where we are.

Inner City Press: [inaudible -- per the UN]

Spokesperson: I think it’s very important here to look at the reality. The reality is that the Security Council passed a resolution. The reality is that the Government of Sudan did not allow the mission to continue. Did we want it to be otherwise? Yes, we did. That’s why the Secretary-General went to Khartoum. It’s regrettable that we do not have the ability to do what needs to be done.

Inner City Press: Is it Alain Le Roy, when at the stakeout, he’d said they have no mandate to use force or to patrol, but if they witness things, they will respond as humanitarians. So, have they witnessed anything? Have they responded? He seemed to say that they wouldn’t just sit entirely idly by, that there was some sort of baseline--

Spokesperson: Well, they are not in a position to do that, they are not in a position to move. They are not in a position to move, and that’s the reality. That’s the reality at the moment, okay.

Inner City Press: this just less, less physical violence, but there is this idea of a currency war that South Sudan is creating its new currency and so North Sudan has said it is going to create a new currency and won’t redeem any of the Sudanese pounds that are in circulation in South Sudan. I am just… one, I am wondering if the UN has any comment, and two is, is this the kind of issue that Menkerios would work on or who is there? It seems to be…

Spokesperson: No, I don’t think we have any comment on that at the moment. If that changes, I’ll let you know.

Inner City Press later sent the question to the spokespeople of the International Monetary Fund, which is ostensibly a part of the UN system:

We've seen the IMF Survey stating on South Sudan that 'the parties have not yet agreed on what will happen with the Sudanese pounds that are currently circulating in the South.' But the deputy governor of the Central Bank of Sudan, Badr al-Deen Mahmood, has said the north is ready for a 'currency war.' Central Bank governor Mohamed Kheir al-Zubeir say said: 'We do not want to buy [the old currency]. We want them to surrender it to us because it is valueless.'

This is a request for the IMF's view of this 'currency war.'

The IMF has a briefing later this week. Watch this site.

* * *

As UN Council Can't Agree on Kordofan Statement, UNclear Who's Still There

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, July 15, updated at end -- After UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos gave a closed door briefing about Southern Kordofan to the Security Council, the New York representative of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic came to present the issue to the press.

  Inner City Press asked Simonovic who in the UN system, or which unit, was being able to report from Southern Kordofan, and what he and his Office made of allegation that UN peacekeepers, even before their mandate expired on July 9, didn't do enough to protect civilians in Kordofan.

  Simonovic said that reporting is difficult because on July 9 “we lost our mandate [and] our presence.”

  It was not clear who Simonovic meant when he said “we.” The Amos-headed UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs? Or are all representatives of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights attached to the UN Mission in Sudan, which ended on July 9?

Simonovic indicated that they were tied to the Mission. One wonders if they tried to negotiate with Omar al Bashir's government before then to be able to stay. If not, why not? Simonovic took two questions from Inner City Press -- he dodged the question of inaction by Egyptian peacekeepers, perhaps because his Office is entirely aligned with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations -- and then he left.

It is important that the UN be clear on what expired on July 9. On July 13 Inner City Press asked UN spokesman Martin Nesirky about the bombing in Kordofan:

Inner City Press: There are these reports of continued bombing in Kadugli and South Kordofan. It says the UN has reported, I guess to BBC, that these bombs are falling. One, can you confirm that? And two, this would seem to indicate that the UN is at least in a position to report what they hear or see. I am just trying to figure out what the UN presence in Kordofan is going to be between now and the end of August. Is there going to be some kind of at least visual observation and reporting?

Spokesperson Nesirky: Well, it depends on what you mean by the UN, Matthew, because there is a UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) which is now being liquidated, because that’s what has to happen. And there are other members of the UN family, so to speak, who would also presumably be in the area, too. That’s the first point. The second is that I would need to check with my colleagues to see whether they have any further information on the bombings that you have referred to. But we’ve made clear, I have made clear from here, that the UN Mission in Sudan is in now the phase of winding down. It no longer has a mandate to operate. It’s not what we wanted, but it is a fact. And so, therefore, it is not possible for the Mission — the previous Mission — to be active in patrolling and so on. I would need to find out if these reports are correct and where they emanate from.

Inner City Press: There are these reports of continued bombing in Kadugli and South Kordofan. It says the UN has reported, I guess to BBC, that these bombs are falling. One, can you confirm that? And two, this would seem to indicate that the UN is at least in a position to report what they hear or see. I am just trying to figure out what the UN presence in Kordofan is going to be between now and the end of August. Is there going to be some kind of at least visual observation and reporting?

Spokesperson Nesirky: Well, it depends on what you mean by the UN, Matthew, because there is a UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) which is now being liquidated, because that’s what has to happen. And there are other members of the UN family, so to speak, who would also presumably be in the area, too. That’s the first point. The second is that I would need to check with my colleagues to see whether they have any further information on the bombings that you have referred to. But we’ve made clear, I have made clear from here, that the UN Mission in Sudan is in now the phase of winding down. It no longer has a mandate to operate. It’s not what we wanted, but it is a fact. And so, therefore, it is not possible for the Mission — the previous Mission — to be active in patrolling and so on. I would need to find out if these reports are correct and where they emanate from.

  Two full days later, Nesirky had not provide any information in this regard. Now Simonovic has said that the human rights monitoring in Southern Kordofan was so aligned with UN peacekeeping that “we lost our mandate and presence.”

  Later on Friday Security Council president Peter Wittig came and read out some “elements to the press” summarizing the Council's discussion. A real Press Statement could not be agreed on.

  Inner City Press asked if the satellite photographs reportedly of mass graves had been discussed. Wittig replied that Amos had used different sources.

  Later, Amos released a statement with this sentence in which the word “grave” appears three times: “We do not know whether there is any truth to the grave allegations of extra-judicial killings, mass graves and other grave violations in South Kordofan.”

  Inner City Press asked Wittig why this wasn't even a Press Statement, and wouldn't go on the Council's web site. We thought speed was important, Wittig said. But what is being accomplished? Who is even trying?

Upate of 5:56 pm -- sources in the negotiations says that "some delegations" wanted to list the specific allegation (though not including the satellite photos), and others wanted to "welcome" OHCHR's intention to issue a report in the future -- both were blocked, or could not be agreed by 2pm. Hence the mere "elements to the press." Watch this site.

* * *

Click for July 7, 11 BloggingHeads.tv re Sudan, Libya, Syria, flotilla

Click for Mar 1, '11 BloggingHeads.tv re Libya, Sri Lanka, UN Corruption

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

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