By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, May 8 -- What is happening to UN Peacekeeping? In the past few days, an Ethiopian peacekeeper was killed in Abyei, along with the Ngok Dinga paramount chief, by Misseriya tribesmen.
Many questions remain outstanding; UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous has refused to answer, when asked by Inner City Press if notification of the ambushed convoy's travel had been given, and did not do a Q&A stakeout as his predecessor Alain Le Roy would almost certainly have done.
Four peacekeepers from the Philippines have been kidnapped in the Golan Heights, by the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade, who took then "returned" 21 of them in March. (No one was held to account.)
And now a Pakistani peacekeeper has been killed in South Kivu in Eastern Congo. The MONUSCO mission has been added to Wednesday's Security Council agenda, at the request of France and Pakistan, Rwanda's Ambassador Eugene Richard Gasana told Inner City Press.
(Pakistan's Ambassador Masood Khan confirmed this to Inner City Press, adding that the perpetrators did not appear to be M23.)
But where is Ladsous? He appeared to be mission in action: MIA.
All of this takes place as UN Peacekeeping under Ladsous has veered from its previous insistence on impartiality. In the Eastern Congo, it is deploying a so-called Intervention Brigade, which Congolese authorities brag will "eradicate" the M23 as a military AND political movement.
In Mali, UN Peacekeepers will supposedly get involved in disarmament. Inner City Press asked Ladsous, "Who will the disarm the MNLA in Kidal?" Ladsous refused to answer. Video here.
Ladsous wants to deploy drones, in the Congo and Cote d'Ivoire -- but when he is linked to drones he calls it an insult; his spokesman Kieran Dwyer gave this as one of two examples of why Ladsous will not answer Inner City Press' questions, video here.
But where IS Ladsous, during all this? Why won't he answer the outstanding questions, particularly about Abyei? Watch this site.
