At
UN, Pakistan
Cites
"Differing
Views" on
Drones, Says
DRC
Ceasefire'd be
Good
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
January 3 --
When
Pakistan's
Ambassador
Masood Khan,
January's UN
Security
Council
president,
took questions
Thursday
about the
Council's
work, drones
came up again
and again.
Inner
City Press
asked Khan not
about US drone
strikes on his
country, but
about the proposal
by Department
of
Peacekeeping
Operations
chief
Herve Ladsous
to use drones
in the MONUSCO
mission in
Eastern Congo.
Khan
said there are
consultations
but there are
"differing
views."
He did not say
Thursday, but
other member
states on the
UN's C-34
have told
Inner City
Press,
differences
include who
would get the
information.
Wouldn't
all
193 member
states have a
right to it?
Or only the 15
Security
Council
members? Or
only the
Permanent
Five?
Inner
City Press
also asked
Khan about the
call by the
M23 rebels for
the
Congolese
government to
sign a
ceasefire, for
the Kampala
talks to
continue.
A ceasefire is
good,
Ambassador
Khan replied,
they should
cease fire. At
noon,
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesman
Martin
Nesirky said
much the same.
But
the Security
Council's last
resolution
calls,
unrealistically,
for
the M23 to
disband. And
the Council on
New Year's Eve
passed a
travel
ban which
undermines the
Kampala talks.
That part of
the question,
Ambassador
Khan did not
answer. But it
was a good
start.
Masood Khan
pointed out
that the
current
consultation
on drones is
under
Operative
Paragraph 9 of
the most
recent DRC
resolution.
But Ladsous,
in an
interview with
the blog of
the French
publication La
Croix,
said drones
would help in
Cote
d'Ivoire.
Inner City
Press asked
the UN, and
got back this:
"On
UAVs: DPKO
says it is
continuing
with its
feasibility
study on the
use of unarmed
aerial
vehicles by
peacekeeping
operations,
and with its
consultations
with Member
States."
So
under
which
paragraph or
resolution,
and for
whom, is
Ladsous
talking about
drones in Cote
d'Ivoire? This
is question to
which Pakistan
or another
large Troop
Contributing
Country might
want to get
and provide an
answer. We'll
see.
Footnote:
Inner
City Press on
behalf of the
Free
UN Coalition
for Access,
FUNCA asked
Khan in
advance if he
will take
stakeout
questions
after closed
door
consultation.
Video
here, from
Minute 18:18.
He replied
that
Pakistan's
presidency
will be
transparent
and inclusive.
So far, so
good.
, 
