By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 20,
updated --
With aid yet
to be
delivered to
Blue Nile
and Southern
Kordofan, the
UN Security
Council got a
closed door
briefing on
the two Sudans
from UN envoy
Haile
Menkerios on
Thursday
morning.
Normally after
such a session
a summary is
given to the
press. But not
this time.
Instead,
some
delegations
coming out
told Inner
City Press
that the
briefing
was upbeat, in
the run up to
a planned
meeting
between
Presidents
Bashir and
Kiir on
September 23.
US
Ambassador
Susan Rice
stopped to
speak with
Inner City
Press on
Thursday
afternoon. She
said the
briefing had
not been
upbeat with
regard to the
Two Areas --
that is,
Southern
Kordofan and
Blue Nile.
Sudan
continues to
blame the
delay on
the UN, as
well as
African Union
and
Arab League,
saying they
missed three
meetings
scheduled in
Khartoum.
Sudan's
Permanent
Representative
told Inner
City Press on
Wednesday,
after his
speech on Children
and Armed
Conflict,
that he had
written
a letter of
complaint to
top UN
humanitarian
Valerie Amos.
Even
lower down the
UN food chain
as this year's
General Debate
approaches
is Darfur.
At Thursday's
UN noon
briefing Inner
City Press
asked
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesman
Martin Nesirky
why the
UNAMID mission
does not
routinely
report of
military
clashes, for
example this
week between
the army and
SLM-MM in
Jebel Marra,
and if
Ban would be
addressing
Darfur in any
of his mini
summit
meetings
over the next
week.
Nesirky
said
he would check
with UNAMID --
which he said
is in capable
hands,
though Ibrahim
Gambari's
replacement
has yet to be
named -- and
mentioned the
mini summit on
Sudan and
South Sudan,
set for
September
27. But what
about Darfur?
From
the UN's
September 20,
2012
transcript:
Inner
City Press:
there’s been a
report of
renewed
fighting
between the
Sudan
Liberation
Movement-Minni
Minawi and the
Government in
Jebel
Marra in
Darfur, and I
wanted to know
whether the
UNAMID
[African
Union-United
Nations Hybrid
Operation in
Darfur]
mission is
aware of
it, whether
they can
confirm it;
and I guess,
relatedly, the
US
Special Envoy
on Darfur, Mr.
[Dane] Smith,
has said in an
interview
that the
security
situation in
Darfur has
deteriorated
in the last 12
months. Does
the UN system
agree with
that, and is
there a reason
that they are
not reporting
on clashes
that take
place within
their
zone of
protection?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
Well, first of
all, you hear
from me
periodically
when I
have the
information
available,
either sitting
right here, or
subsequently,
once we have
that
information on
clashes or
other
incidents and
developments
in Darfur. So
I am sure that
if there
have been
further
developments
that UNAMID —
the United
Nations-African
Union mission
in Darfur —
can let us
know about,
then I am sure
that we will
be able to do
that. So
that’s the
first point.
The second is
that nobody is
suggesting
that
everything
is going in
the right
direction it
needs to. And
there has been
progress, but
obviously not
enough. So
again, if
UNAMID have
anything
further, then
we’ll let you
know.
Inner
City Press: I
appreciate
that. The
other thing I
wanted to know
is
whether this
mini-summit or
summit on
Sudan, South
Sudan will in
any
way, or any of
the events
taking place
in the coming
week,
involving
the
Secretary-General,
is going to
address
Darfur; and
what’s the
progress of
replacing Mr.
[Ibrahim]
Gambari? I
know the
current head
of UNAMID is
in an acting
role. Is there
some deadline
for that? Is
there going to
be any
movement on
that in the
week that all
these AU
[African
Union] and
other Heads of
State are
here?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
I am not aware
at the moment
when an
announcement
will be
made on a
successor to
Mr. Gambari.
But the
mission is
obviously in
capable hands
at the moment,
as always. And
I am sure that
the
meetings that
you refer to —
both the
bilateral
meetings in
this
context and
the important
high-level
meetings that
will take
place on
this topic —
they will form
a key part of
what is
happening
during
the general
debate period.
It is obvious
that there is
strong
international
attention on
the need to
resolve the
differences
between Sudan
and South
Sudan, and
also to handle
the real
difficulties
that there are
with access in
the Southern
Kordofan and
Blue Nile
States, and
obviously also
to deal with
refugee flows
from
there into
South Sudan.
So these are
all topics
that the
international
community is
concerned
about, and it
is precisely
why
the General
Assembly at
this period
becomes an
extremely
important
venue to be
able to tackle
these matters
at the highest
possible
level and try
to move things
forward.
