By Matthew Russell Lee
AL FASHER AIRPORT, October 8 -- The UN Security Council's Darfur trip was coordinated by UK Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant, who faced off on statistics with the Wali of North Darfur, chaired meetings with internally displaced people, then took seven questions from the media.
That the chief of the African Union - UN Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) Ibrahim Gambari is negotiating to turn over five rebels supporting Abdel Wahid Nur to the government of Omar al Bashir has been known, including by the UK Mission, since September 28 when Inner City Press published Gambari's draft letter to Sudanese foreign minister Ali Karti.
But when Inner City Press at the Al Fasher Airport at the Darfur leg's conclusion asked Lyall Grant about “this issue whether UNAMID and JSR Gambari should turn over to the gov't the five suspends in the kalma camp,” and Adbel Wahid Nur's threat if the turn over takes place to stop communicating with UNAMID, viewing it as complicit in genocide.-- Lyall Grant ducked the question.
“That issue was not part of our terms of reference” he answered, adding that “now obviously that issue has come up in our various conversations. But it is for the JSR Gambari to resolve that situation.”
While it may in one sense “be up to” a JSR or SRSG to turn over people to a government whose president has been indicted for genocide and war crimes, one expects the Security Council, which created the peacekeeping mission and would have to deal with or at least vote on the fall out from turning rebels over to the government some years ago.
Lyall Grant continued that Gambari “has briefed us on it and believes that he can find a way through and a satisfactory solution.”
Just as it would be strange for the UN to rely on promises of indicted war criminal Omar al Bashir not to execute the Kalma Camp Five as a basis to turn them over, so some find it strange for the UK to defer entirely to Gambari, whose performance as UN envoy to the dictatorship in Myanmar the UK so lambasted.
Lyall Grant concluded his answer, “We haven't been looking specifically at that issue on this visit.” If not now, when? With Lyall Grant, one hopes that more was done than talked about. We'll see.
Minutes later, the moderator said “one more question.” Since no one else seemed to have one, he called on Inner City Press. But Lyall Grant cut in, “Let's have someone else for the last question.” Let's -- the question was a long winded one in Arabic from a radio station pro (and seemingly funded and controlled by) the Sudanese regime.
The question was translated by a UN interpreter who earlier on Friday chided the press bus for eating the hamburger and hot dog provided by the UN in eye shot of hungry children from the Abu Shouk IDP camp.
Footnote: later on Friday, back in Khartoum, the traveling press was not invited to an UNMIS event on a leg co-sponsored by Lyall Grant and Susan Rice of the US. On Saturday, the last day of the trip, the only press offering are a photo op at 10:30 with foreign minister Ali Karti, then another, one hopes better, press conference. Watch this site.
