By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, November 8 -- With UN Humanitarian Coordinator Valerie Amos in Darfur's Al Salam camp for internally displaced person, it was reported that camp leaders canceled a meeting with her out of fear. A month after the UN Security Council visited the Abu Shouk camp and spoke with IDPs, two were arrested and others harassed.
On November 8, Inner City Press asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Martin Nesirky if Ban's Peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy, or Darfur Mission chief Ibrahim Gambari, had in the month since gotten any closer to confirming or denying that those arrested met or planed the meeting with the Council on October 8. Video here.
Nesirky said he had no information on any confirmation, but that he would seek to clarify Amos' remark, quoted by Inner City Press, that “I hope that there is no fear” -- that is, of renewed harassment or arrest by Sudanese authorities.
Four hours later, the UN provided Inner City Press with an answer that confirms that Amos' meeting with sheikhs was canceled, but blames the IDPs themselves and not any fear of government harassment for the cancellation:
Subject: Your question on Valerie Amos in Sudan
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com
Date: Mon, Nov 8, 2010 at 4:48 PM
Valerie Amos did speak to two women at the Al Salam camp. But two of her meetings with camp elders could not take place. This failure to meet reflects the divisions in political opinions among IDPs and their subsequent inability to come up with an agreed message for Amos.
Contrast that UN answer -- it is not clear who wrote it -- with this article , by Radio Netherlands citing AFP, and ask which is more credible...
“Leaders at a refugee camp in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region refused on Sunday to meet visiting United Nations aid chief Valerie Amos, an AFP correspondent reported.... On Sunday at Camp al-Salam on the outskirts of El-Fasher, the capital of the western region of Darfur, elders scrapped a planned meeting with Amos without giving reasons for their decision.
“'I hope that there is no fear,' Amos told reporters after the camp leaders failed to show up for their meeting. 'My understanding is that there are a number of issues that the sheikhs would like to raise with me, and they have said that they would raise them with me the way they wish,' she added.”
The statement provided later to Inner City Press by the UN does not explain Amos saying “I hope that there is no fear.” Watch this site.
