By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, November 11 -- Sudan's and South Sudan's Ambassadors traded accusations Friday at the UN. South Sudan's representative David Choat spoke of the bombing of the Yide refugee camp in Unity State.
Sudan's Permanent Representative Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman denied the bombing. Inner City Press asked about reports by BBC and Reuters, of bomb craters in the camp and a white Antonov-like plane flying away.
Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman said these are "biased media." He counter-accused South Sudan of sending its "Battalion Number Four" to aid the SPLM-North in Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan.
He said the new UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous agrees that South Sudan is blocking access by the Miseriya herdsmen from the north. Video here.
Inner City Press asked Choat about this, and he said that Ladsous praised South Sudan president Salva Kiir for saying that such blocking will not be a problem.
When Inner City Press asked Choat about South Sudan's lock-up of journalist Ngor Garang for what he wrote about Salva Kiir's daughter marrying a foreigner, Choat said the case is being investigated. Video here. But investigated for what?
When US Ambassador Susan Rice came out, Inner City Press asked her about Khartoum's crackdown in Southern Kordofan, and the lack of humanitarian access. Rice expressed concern about access in both Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile State, and said she hoped those in the UN in charge of humanitarian affairs would take action. Video here, full transcript on US Mission website.
Speaking of UN officials were are supposed to take action, it was said that the new head of UN Peacekeeping Herve Ladsous would speak to the press on Thursday, but he did not.
By noon on Friday, after the two Sudans and US Ambassador Susan Rice had all spoken, Ladsous had still not taken questions. So Inner City Press asked UN spokesman Martin Nesirky a simple question: why hasn't the UN put in place a Status of Forces Agreement for its mission in Abyei, the absence of which played a role in the death of peacekeepers who bled out from a landmine during a medevac delay?
You can go ask Mr. Ladsous, Nesirky said, if you put your skates on. But when Ladsous arrived to speak after 1 pm on Friday, the stakeout lights and camera were off. A question was asked, "Who is that guy?" One wag, not having seen Ladsous since he was handed the job months ago, wondered if he was a tourist asking to have his picture taken in front of the Council members' flags.
Finally it began, with Ladsous speaking softly about the "mutual" accusations of the two Sudans who he said had "consummated their divorce."
Inner City Press asked why there is no SOFA in place in Abyei; Ladsous said there is no problem, it is nearly done. Inner City Press asked whether under Ladsous' Department's SOFA in Haiti, a standing claims committee had been established, for the claims of those injured by cholera alleged introduced to Haiti by UN DPKO.
(Ladsous previously urged the departure from Haiti of elected president Jean Bertrand Aristide, click here for that coverage.)
On November 11 Ladsous refused to answer on Haiti, saying "that is a different issue, I am talking about Sudan." He left the stakeout. For video click here, from Minute 3:09.
