By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, October 21 -- Two weeks after the UN Security Council's French-led trip through Africa, four Council ambassadors gave public briefings about the legs of the trip that they led.
The briefings weren't in order; US Permanent Representative Samantha Power did not deliver the Rwanda briefing, leaving that to deputy Jeffrey De Laurentis.
And France did not brief at all, despite having claimed the right to hand-pick which media could go on the UN plane and cast their spin on the trip. Inner City Press witnessed French Permanent Representative Gerard Araud entering the Council chamber more than an hour late, at 11:15 am.
The UN, too, has its spin. When Inner City Press asked for confirmation that the meeting with the African Union's Dlamani-Zuma concerned the International Criminal Court, the request was refused by the spokesperson for Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who had processed requests to cover the trip then admitted France made the decisions.
But at Monday's Council session, Rwanda Permanent Representative Gasana said the meeting concerned the ICC and the African continent.
Little was said about the Security Council delegation attending and giving whatever legitimacy they could to Joseph Kabila's "National Dialogue," which opposition like UPDS boycotted. Would the UN and Security Council take such a one-sided approach, for example, to Syria's "Geneva Two"? Is the UN demanding the disarming of armed rebels groups in, say, Syria, or condemning those who openly arm them? The answer is no.
After the Ambassadors the head of MONUSCO, the UN mission in the Congo, Martin Kobler spoke by video from Entebbe. He lavishly praised the DRC minister Raymond Tshibanda, who in July inside the Council said all rebels in Eastern Congo bear the same "genetic signature."
On the 135 Minova rapes by the DRC Army, Kobler said he is getting updates. But UN Peacekeeping under Herve Ladsous, the fourth Frenchman in a row to hold the post, continues to provide material support to the rapist units, the 41st Battalion and the (US-trained) 391st Battalion. Ladsous has repeatedly refused to answer Press questions on this.Video here, UK coverage here.
While Kobler spoke on-screen, his Twitter account was churning out such statements. While his profile says "Personal tweets are signed MK," recent tweets threatening the use of military force were NOT signed MK. So who sent those? Watch this site.
