UNITED NATIONS, April 9, updated -- UN Peacekeeping is in crisis, with Chad and now the Congo seeking to throw UN Missions out, with its Darfur blue helmets having handed their weapons to rebels without a fight, and with its role in electoral fraud being raised in Afghanistan, Iraq and now Sudan.
The chief of UN Peacekeeping Alain Leroy addressed a closed meeting of the Security Council on two of these topics on April 8, after which it was announced he would take questions from the Press.
But this Q&A session was unceremoniously canceled, and Inner City Press was informed that Leroy would immediately be going on ten days leave from the UN, in the midst of these crises.
On April 9, Inner City Press asked UN Associate Spokesperson Farhan Haq to confirm and explain Leroy's leave, and requested the name of who would be in charge of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations during the Sudan elections starting April 11, and the Security Council trip to the Congo to try to extend the Mission.
The UN's Haq bristled, "We wouldn't have any comment on the leave of any of our staff." Video here, from Minute 12.
But that is not true. In fact the UN Economic Commission for Africa, to which Haq referred Inner City Press on a question of a UN staff member's illegal involvement as a pro-government Darfur rebel leader while paid by UN ECA, had issued an on the record response to Inner City Press and Haq that the staff member at issue, Al-Tijani Al-Sissi Ateem, went on leave on March 8, 2010.
So the UN will disclose "leave" when it suits it, but not when its time is embarrassing.
Inner City Press followed up, saying the request was not for where Leroy is going, but who will be in charge. Leroy's titular deputy Edmond Mulet has been named UN representative to Haiti, so the deputy slot is empty. Who, Inner City Press asked, will be the DPKO Officer in Charge in this crucial period? Is is some sort of secret?
Haq replied, "there is, and I think there will be an announcement, an additional Assistant Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations." He said he would check "when we can announce that formally."
On April 8, after Leroy canceled his scheduled Q&A session, Inner City Press observed him on the corner of 45th Street and Second Avenue speaking at length with Tony Banbury, who was deputy of Field Support before being send to post-earthquake Haiti. (In that job, Banbury famously said that three rapes in the IDP camps left him "elated," a comment Inner City Press reported and Banbury sought to clarify.)
We'll wait to see if Banbury is being formally returned to UN Headquarters from Haiti. This appears to be the case, as he is scheduled to address member states about military helicopters on April 14. Watch this site.
Footnote: Also unceremoniously pulled from Haiti was Kim Bolduc, a mere four months after she arrived and weeks after the UN praised her from the highest levels. She left on March 30, Inner City Press discovered and exclusively reported. Haq confirmed this, but said as to why, the question should be put to the UN Development Program. Video here from Minute 11:20. UNDP has now been asked by Inner City Press:
"In Nov 2009, the SG announced that Kim Bolduc was the new DSRSG for Haiti, a position she vacated just four months later. The UN Spokesperson's office has referred my questions to you. First, in her capacity as DSRSG, was Ms. Bolduc under an employment contract maintained by UNDP or by the Secretariat's OHRM? Secondly, what was the duration of her original assignment as DSRSG? Thirdly, Farhan Haq says that she is now employed with UNDP. What is her new assignment?"
There is a lot of buck passing to escape from answering. But we will follow up.
Update: While Farhan Haq refused to answer who would be in charge during Leroy's absence, Inner City Press later informally learned: Dmitry Titov, now Mister Rule of Law.
And see, www.innercitypress.com/dpko1oic040910.html
