By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
May 1 -- When
Herve Ladsous,
the fourth
Frenchman in a
row
to head UN
Peacekeeping,
appeared
Tuesday for a
rare press
conference,
the UN's
deputy
spokesman said
that only
questions
about
Syria would be
accepted.
This
kept off
limits not
only questions
about South
Sudan, where
Ladsous'
Department is
bemoaning its
lack of
anti-aircraft
missiles while
refusing to
issues its
report on the
dead of Pibor
in Jonglei
State,
and Haiti
where
peacekeepers
presumptively
brought in
cholera, but
Ladsous'
own scandals,
including
arranging
flights with
cronies of
Tunisian
dictator Ben
Ali, and
improperly
intervening in
a death
investigation
in Djibouti,
see below.
On
Syria, Inner
City Press
asked Ladsous
about his
previously-exposed
proposal
that
the UN use
drones -- did
he intend to
try to use
these in
Syria?
Ladsous
replied
that on
drones, "we
are conducting
a study:
technical,
financial
and other, one
very strong
parameter
would be to
secure the
consent
of the
government
concerned."
Then he would
use them?
Inner
City Press
asked about
the call for
freedom of
movement of
UNSMIS, how
does it
compare to the
restrictions
that Ladsous'
DPKO accepts
in Western
Sahara, as
revealed even
by the recent
report that
was watered
down
under Ladsous,
at the request
of his
country,
France?
Ladsous
said, "I
won't think
the situation
compares. We
did have some
initial, some
few
restrictions
of movement
for our
people,
presented to
us as
motivated by
security
considerations,
I would say,
over last week
freedom has
been ensured,
they can go
places they
want."
So
Ladsous is
both
bragging about
freedom of
movement in
Syria, and
belated
acknowledging
but not
explaining a
less degree of
freedom of
movement
accepted by
his DPKO in
Western
Sahara,
restrictions
on MINURSO by
French ally
Morocco.
Beyond
the other
controversies
Ladsous
had refused to
substantively
answer Press
questions
about --
his actions as
French Deputy
Permanent
Representative
in the
Security
Council during
the genocide
by Rwanda
forces allied
with France,
his
support for
the ouster of
popularly
elected Jean
Bertrand
Aristide in
Haiti, and
"Air Ben Ali"
for his boss
the
subsequently
fired Michele
Alliot-Marie
-- more is out
there,
including
Ladsous'
action
concerning the
Horn of
Africa, where
Ladsous' UN
peacekeeping
in involved,
via Google
Translate:
"The
senior
judges of the
Tribunal de
Grande
Instance in
Paris ruled
admissible
Thursday,
March 2
complaint by
Elisabeth
Borrel, widow
of
a magistrate
died in
Djibouti in
1995, for
'pressure on
the
judiciary,'
complaint
against a
former
spokesman for
the Foreign
Ministry,
Hervé
Ladsous, said
on Friday,
March 3
judicial
source. In a
statement
dated 29
January 2005,
the Quai
d'Orsay had
regretted
the expulsion
of six French
aid workers of
Djibouti
before
announce
that a copy of
the court
record on the
death of
Bernard Borrel
would
'soon' sent to
the Djiboutian
justice.
"[The]
magistrate's
family filed a
complaint in
February,
whereas this
announcement
ten days
before the
French
investigating
judge was
formally
received the
request for
judicial
assistance
issued by
Djibouti,
could be
interpreted as
'pressure on
the
judiciary.'"
How
is this man
the
head of UN
Peacekeeping,
and how does
he get away
with answer no
questions, and
then appearing
in such a way
that questions
about only
one country -
on which his
duties are
eclipsed by
former (second
of
four
Frenchmen)
DPKO chief
Jean Marie
Guehenno? We
aim to have
more
on this.
