On
Syria,
Ladsous' DPKO
Plans Further
Cut to 100,
Carla Del
Ponte's Name
Floats
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 9 --
With a feeling
of finality,
the UN
Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations
held a Syria
Troop (or
observer)
Contributing
Countries
meeting on
Thursday
afternoon in
the North Lawn
buildings
large
Conference
Room 4.
Inner
City Press
asked DPKO
deputy chief
Edmond Mulet
on this way
in, so
this is it,
everything
must go? He
took the
question
seriously,
replying that
while it is up
the Security
Council, that
looks to be
the case.
France
sent its
Deputy
Permanent
Representative
Martin Briens;
other
countries were
represented at
a lower level,
which does not
necessarily
mean less
knowledgeable.
There
were more and
higher level
Security
Council
Affairs staff
than usual;
it was deemed
an official
meeting of the
Security
Council, the
6821st, with
"troop- and
police-contributing
countries."
What about
observers?
When
the meeting
ended, word
was that DPKO
under its
fourth French
chief
in a row Herve
Ladsous will
further reduce
the number of
observers,
now from 150
down to 100,
by August 13.
All this
before any
Security
Council vote,
or even
meeting, on
the UNSMIS
mission's
mandate.
Meanwhile
after
Inner City
Press this
morning
published
names buzzed
about to
replace Kofi
Annan as envoy
-- Lakhdar
Brahimi,
Mohamad El
Baradei
(unrealistic)
Gro Harlem
Brundtland,
now 72, and
Sadako Ogata,
sources came
forward with
another
"wacky" name:
Carla Del
Ponte.
While she did
allege the
theft of
organs, she
has "other
issues," as do
the Spaniards,
one of whom
has long NATO
roots.
There
was some
laughter about
more people,
like Annan's
team, coming
out of
retirement for
one last caper
in Syria. But
who else would
want this
job? Watch
this site.
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