At
UN
on Abyei, Sudan Says Karti Was Sick, Western DPRs Quiet, Georgia
Arts
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
May 23 -- With the Security
Council in South Sudan, having
canceled its visit to Abyei, what could be learned Monday at the UN
in New York? While several Western Deputy Permanent Representatives
spoke only cautiously with Inner City Press, saying either that they
hadn't spoken with their “Perm Rep” or didn't want to undermine
their message, Sudan's delegation was under so such constraint.
“They asked too
late to meet with Taha,” Sudan's Deputy Permanent Representative
told Inner City Press in the North Lawn building Monday. “And
minister Ali Karti, he actually was sick.”
He
blamed the
clash in Abyei on Southern Sudan formes shooting at Khartoum's
soldiers. A Western diplomat agreed, telling Inner City Press that no
one's hands are clean.
But
later at
Georgia's independence day reception, two Western Permanent members
begged off any comment, saying that e-mail connections to South Sudan
aren't working, or they didn't want to undermine the mission's
message. What message?
At
Georgia's
celebration, Inner City Press spoke with Palestine and Turkey, about
Obama's AIPAC “re-election” speech and coup leader Rajoalina.
Susan Rice, Sangqu of SA, Haile Menkerios- why is
this man smiling?
The
talk quicky turned to Russia, that even the sword sculpture in front
of the North Lawn building is by a Georgian sculptor, not a Russian.
Georgian in New York, it was said, cluster in Brighton Beach and some
in Astoria.
Georgia
was still
licking its wounds from its Human Rights Council loss; Burkina Faso
was gloating about its high score, in on a clean slate.
Back
at the UN,
Cameroon threw its own celebration, with live music and its Permanent
Representative dancing in a circle's middle. Here the Security
Council and Ban Ki-moon seemed very far away. “This is the real
UN,” said one. The UN without power.
* * *
As
UN
Council Cancels Abyei Trip, Georgian Echoes Amid AU Diagnosis of
Narcissism
By
Matthew
Russell Lee, News Analysis
UNITED
NATIONS,
May 22 -- What does it say about the UN Security Council
that outright war broke out in Abyei between North and Southern Sudan
just as the Council prepared to visit the contested area?
Before
the Council
members left New York for Addis Ababa then Sudan, they negotiated the
“logistics” of visiting Abyei while attempting to downplay the
possibility of Ahmed Haroun, National Congress Party governor of
South Kordofan and International Criminal Court indictee, showing up
to greet and try to meet them on the way to Abyei.
UN
officials told
Inner City Press confidently “we can definitely protect the Council
in Abyei, it's only a question of landing first at the airport in
Kadugli or Wau.”
Things
change,
obviously. But why? An Council member left unnamed is quoted that the
North invaded Abyei in order to discourage the Council's visit. Beyond
what some see as the narcissism of the statement, even if
true, would this mean that the Council's visit inflamed rather than
de-escalated tensions?
When
President
Barack Obama's Press Secretary said on May 21 that the initial May 19
attack in Abyei was the responsibility of “Southern Forces” but
drew a disproportionate response, it brought to mind the Georgian -
Russian conflict in which Georgia is said to have tried to retake
South Ossetia, then Russia rumbled down into Georgia itself.
In
hindsight, some
say Georgia erred in giving Russia the pretext to take land. So
might the “attack by Southern forces” of May 19 be viewed in
somewhat the same way?
Susan Rice at Khartoum airport May 21 - in
October, confronted Sudan about $15 fee
Or
is Southern
Sudan smarter than Georgia, triggering a response from Khartoum,
under the nose of the Security Council, that will meaningfully
rebound against Omar al Bashir, Haroun and the National Congress
Party? Watch this site.
Footnote:
In
the Addis Ababa leg of the Council's trip, Ramtane Lamamra of the
African Union derided the Council for overriding the AU in
authorizing and not stopping the continued bombing of Libya by NATO.
While numerous Council members including two with veto power agree
that action has gone beyond Resolution 1973, others note that
Lamamra's from Algeria, more supportive of Gaddafi than most AU
members...
* * *
UN
Admits
2d
Flight
of
ICC
Darfur
Indictee
Haroun
to
Abyei
in Sudan, Impunity
By
Matthew
Russell
Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
March
4,
updated -- The UN
has for a second time offered a free UN
flight in Sudan to Ahmed Haroun, under indictment by the
International Criminal Court for war crimes in Darfur, the UN
admitted Friday in response to questions from Inner City Press.
On
March 3 the UN
Security Council met about renewed fighting in the disputed Abyei
region. Back in January, Inner City Press got the UN to acknowledge
they had flown ICC indictee Haroun from South Kordofan, where he
serves fellow ICC indictee Omar al Bashir as governor, to Abyei.
The
UN has defended
this controversial flight by saying that Haroun and Haroun alone
could stop violence in Abyei. The UN never explained why the
government of Sudan, which has an air force currently bombing civilians
in Jebel Marra in Darfur, couldn't itself fly Haroun.
The
UN said it was
a scheduled flight, then UN Mission in Sudan chief Haile Menkerios
admitted to
Inner City Press that it was a special flight. Inner City Press is
told such flights cost $40,000, and the UN has confirm no
reimbursement has been sought from the Bashir government.
But
now the
violence has continued, making the UN flight of ICC indictee Haroun
harder to justify even by the UN's own argument.
March
3
in
front
of
the
Security
Council,
Inner
City
Press
asked Council president for
March Li Baodong of China if the UN Peacekeeping official who briefed
the Council, Atul Khare, had mentioned if Haroun would again be flown
in a UN helicopter. Li Baodong did not directly answer.
At
the March 4 UN
noon briefing, Inner City Press asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's
spokesman Martin Nesirky to confirm or deny that that the UN would
once again fly ICC indictee Haroun to Abyei, even now that his work in
connection with the first flight has proved ineffective.
Nesirky
said
he
would
check.
Ten
minutes
later,
Nesirky's
deputy
Farhan
Haq announced
by speaker to all UN correspondents that yes, Haroun attended today's
meeting in Abyei, and yes, “he was transported” by the UN.
This
UN
promotes
impunity,
even
for
one
of
the
few
people
indicted for war crimes by
the ICC. Meanwhile Ban Ki-moon brags about the Security Council's partial
referral of the situation in Libya to the ICC -- a referral that Ban
Ki-moon did not even call for until after the Council voted to make
the referral.
This
UN
is
promoting
and
enshrining
lawlessness,
with
no
transparency
or
accountability.
Watch this site.
Update
of 3:48 pm -- Human Rights Watch, via Richard Dicker, submitted
this
comment:
“This
is the second time in recent weeks the UN has transported Ahmed
Haroun who is charged by the ICC with war crimes in Darfur. We have
real concerns because the U.N. should not be in the business of
transporting Haroun. There needs to be an extremely high threshold of
urgency for such action by UNMIS.”
Responses
have
been
sought
from
the
Missions
to
the
UN
of
France, the UK and the US,
with the latter two asked if they knew in advance of the UN's new
flight of ICC indictee Haroun. Given her
statements
this
year
about
social
media, & after hours of non-response by the US Mission
to the UN,@AmbassadorRice
has been asked directly as well. Watch
this site.
Update
of
4:30
pm
--
Then
this,
from
UK
Mission
to
the UN spokesman Daniel
Shepherd:
“As
spokesperson, I would only reiterate the message that my two
Ambassadors have both said on the record (and published by Inner City
Press) first time around: that we aren’t going to second guess how
UNMIS fulfills its mandate to provide good offices to the
Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) parties in efforts to resolve
differences through dialogue and negotiations. I’d only add that
this work is particularly important at this sensitive time, to
contain any potential escalation after the recent Abyei violence.”
We could
note
again that violence has persisted despite the UN flying ICC indictee
Ahmed Haroun in the first time, and that it is the role of UN member
states to oversee the UN Secretariat, not to defer in this case to
what some see as its promotion of impunity - but at least the UK
would put its position on the record.
Update
of
4:43
pm
--
this
too
has
come
in,
perhaps
in response:
Date:
Fri,
Mar
4,
201
Subject: Haroun and Abyei
To: Matthew.Lee [at]
innercitypress.com
You
guys
ask
great
questions!
Have
you
noticed
perhaps
that
the
United
Nations seems to be unaware of who is causing the violence in Abyei.
And yet "diplomatic sources" report seeing the burial of 33
bodies - all southerners.
The
Arab
nomads
say
the
violence
started
when
SPLM
police
shot
at them
(Hitler used a similar ploy to invade Poland) - and today thousands
of civilians fled Abyei fearing another crisis like in June 2008. The
Dinka Ngok villages north of Abyei, such as Maker, have been
burnt to the ground. The end explains the means. There is a
creeping ethnic cleansing going on in the Abyei region despite the
agreements of 2005 and the Court of Arbitration ruling in 2010.
Why
fly
Haroun
to
Abyei
-
what
is
his
cv?
It
is, as you correctly point
out, that of arming arab militias to burn villages. I hope to see
more of your questions pinning the UN to the responsibility to
protect.
, 
