By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive
UNITED NATIONS, April 3 -- When UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon proposed sending his Middle East coordinator Oscar Fernandez-Taranco to Bahrain, he was told not -- not by Bahrain but by Saudi Arabia, Inner City Press has learned from well placed sources.
After Saudi Arabia sent troops into Bahrain as support against the largely Shi'a protests, the UN issued a cryptic statement in which Ban Ki-moon “noted” their entry. Ban's spokesmen refused repeated requests to elaborate on the statement.
Inner City Press has asked if the UN acknowledges that Bahrain's used of non-national Sunni forces as security -- from Pakistan, Yemen and elsewhere -- might constitute a use of mercenaries, Ban's spokesmen have refused to answer.
Now, when Ban's Secretariat told Bahrain they would be sending Tarranco, his Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs, it was not Bahrain which said no. Rather, Bahrain told Saudi Arabia, which put on the kibosh.
Saudi Arabia give money and even planes to the UN, and for Ban Ki-moon to fly on. And so unlike Libya and even now Yemen, this is one crackdown on which the UN is doing absolutely nothing. Watch this site.
