By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, December 29 -- While the UN in Cote d'Ivoire has confirmed the presence of mercenaries from Liberia, its response has been to work with the military of Laurent Gbagbo to patrol the borders for Liberian “refugees.”
Meanwhile, the new Ouattara-nominated Ambassador to the UN Yousoufou Bamba told Inner City Press on Wednesday that the mercenaries are “embedded in the Republican guard” of Laurent Gbagbo. Exclusive Inner City Press video here.
The UN Office of the Spokesperson for Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, after refusing for days to answer Ivorian questions from Inner City Press, on Wednesday evening provided some responses. It confirmed that the peacekeepers attacked on Tuesday were from Bangladesh and said that “the situation returned to normal thanks to the intervention of the Chief of Staff of the Defence and Security Forces, General Philippe Mangou” -- that is, thanks to Gbagbo's military.
The UN seemingly does not want to explicitly acknowledge that it is thanking Gbagbo's military for stopping an attack by Gbagbo affiliated Jeunes Patriotes. Then the UN recited Inner City Press' question on mercenaries:
Inner City Press: What has the UN done about mercenaries in Cote d'Ivoire since Alain Le Roy confirmed the UN's sighting of mercenaries in that country?
UN Spokesman: ONUCI has confirmed the presence of Liberian mercenaries on Ivorian soil. ONUCI is fulfilling its mandate to assist the Government of Côte d’Ivoire in monitoring the borders, with particular attention to the situation of Liberian refugees and to any cross-border movement of combatants.
But Bamba said that the Liberian are already embedded in Gbagbo's forces, by implication BEFORE the most recent election.
Bamba also said that the Ouattara "administration" is entirely confined to the Golf Hotel, so it cannot be with Outtara that the UN is "monitoring the borders" -- only with the very Gbagbo military which has "embedded" mercenaries.
In other answers, the UN denied having any knowledge of the blocking of any media in Cote d'Ivoire, including RTI which it has accused of hate broadcasts. Watch this site.
