UN Says Probing Sudan Bombing of S. Sudan & Darfur, Nothing on Khartoum U. Crackdown

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, December 30 -- The UN seems barely able to keep up with events in Sudan, despite having two peacekeeping missions there, nor in South Sudan with one UN mission.

On December 29 and 30, Inner City Press asked the UN about reports on 17 killed in South Sudan by the Sudan Armed Forces, about fighting in Darfur and the alleged entry of the Darfur JEM rebels into South Sudan, and about the tear gassing of protests at University of Khartoum by Darfuri students, related to SAF's killing of JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim (as well as displacement for a dam near Dammir.)

On the afternoon of December 30, the Office of the Spokesperson for Secretary General Ban Ki-moon provided answers to some of these questions, but nothing about the protests in Khartoum:

From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Fri, Dec 30, 2011 at 4:11 PM
Subject: Questions
To: Matthew.Lee [at] InnerCityPress.com

On Sudan: UNAMID has received multiple reports of armed groups manoeuvring in the Adilla, El Daein and Geraida areas in South Darfur in recent days. The Mission is verifying the reports and has stepped up its patrolling in these areas. The intentions of the armed groups are not yet known.

Further, UNAMID and UNMISS are investigating the veracity of reports that JEM elements have crossed from South Darfur into Northern Bahr Al Ghazal and that Sudanese Armed Force aircraft have dropped bombs in Western Bahr Al Ghazal. The reports have not yet been confirmed.

Meanwhile, the head of UN Peacekeeping Herve Ladsous, the fourth and least competent Frenchman in a row to hold the post, appeared on the UN's web site on December 29 with a monologue bragging about DPKO's accomplishments.

For months Ladsous had dodged the press, canceling Q&A stakeouts and refusing to answer questions about Haiti, Rwanda and his role as chief of staff to disgraced former French foreign minister Michele Aliot-Marie in her flying on aircraft of cronies of Tunisian dictator Ben Ali.

Now, without any questions allowed, the UN on December 29 put online a nearly four minute monologue by Ladsous, recorded on December 5, bragging about the UN's deployment in Abyei (where UN peacekeepers stood by as civilians were killed), about the elections in Liberia and, of course, France's pet project, the toppling of Laurent Gbagbo in Ivory Coast. Video here.

Even in this propagandistic format, Ladsous could not come up with anything to say about the $1 billion mission in Darfur. Watch this site.

In Sudan, UN Sees No Reaction to Khalil Ibrahim's Death, No Answer on His Pleas

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, December 28 -- The UN confirmed the death of South Sudan rebel George Athor, and on Wednesday belatedly and indirectly did the same with the widely reportedly killing of Darfur rebel Khalil Ibrahim of the Justice & Equality Movement.

The UN declined, however, to answer a question about the UN's (non) response to Khalil Ibrahim's requests earlier this year to be extricated from Tripoli.

Inner City Press asked the Office of the Spokesperson for Secretary General Ban Ki-moon:

"On Sudan, while it seems well established, please state if the UN can and will confirm the death of JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim, if the UN has any comment on the death, and if the UN ever did provide any assistance in getting Khalil Ibrahim out of Tripoli. The UN has responded on the death of George Athor - can it now comment who killed Athor, where and how?"

Four hours later, Ban's spokesman's office replied to Inner City Press:

"JEM has confirmed that its leader, Dr. Khalil Ibrahim, was killed. UNAMID is monitoring the situation in Darfur closely and has not seen any reaction on the ground at this point. We do not have further information on General Athor, except to say that the South Sudanese Government said he was killed in a clash."

Why no answer on whether the UN ever responded to Khalil Ibrahim's requests?

And what of the observation that following the divorce of Khartoum and South Sudan, each has managed to kill its highest profile rebel? Are these killings the real "peace dividend," or the win-win solution of sub-dividing the state?

When Khalil Ibrahim was trapped in Tripoli and asked UN help to get out, no help was provided. Some say the UN, on behalf of Khartoum, wanted Khalil Ibrahim dead.

By contrast, the UN at least twice flew Ahmed Haroun, indicted for war crimes in Darfur by the International Criminal Court, by UN helicopter to and from Abyei.

So an alleged war criminal who is part of a state can be given free flights in a UN air craft; a rebel against the state can be left to die in Tripoli, or uncommented on in North Kordofan. Now the UN says that following this death, it "has not seen any reaction on the ground at this point." We'll see.

While Rebels Oppose Darfur Deal, US Supports It, Bassole to Send Letters, including to Khalil Ibrahim in Tripoli

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, June 23 -- The day after UN Security Council heard about what's called the Darfur Peace Agreement from the foreign ministers of Burkina Faso and Qatar, Inner City Press put questions about the agreement and rebel group's opposition to both of them, and US Permanent Representative Susan Rice.

When Ambassador Rice came out of the Security Council, Inner City Press asked her, “most of the rebel groups have spoken actually against the document. I wanted to know you know whether you think this will actually bring peace to Darfur.”

Rice replied that “we are of the view that that agreement represents a step, an important step, forward. Obviously, in and of itself it is not sufficient to end the conflict in Darfur, but we think it was an important step and we have supported it.”

But the Justice and Equality Movement, whose leader Khalil Ibrahim remains trapped in Tripoli which is being bombed by NATO, has spoken against the document, as have the rebel groups led by Abdel Wahid al-Nur and Minni Minnawi. Inner City Press put this question to the two foreign ministers.

Djibril Bassole, who stepped down as joint UN-AU mediator earlier this month, said “I think so far there is no rejection... they need to sit with the government in Khartoum.” He added, “the armed movements are still divided.”

Qatar's foreign minister Ahmad Bin Abdulah Al Mahmoud said that the document represents what people in Darfur want, and therefore puts pressure on the rebels. He said, “for first time, all stakeholders were in one room. JEM they participated as well as LJM.. The movements are psay]ing they are looking for right of people of Darfur. They were there, expressed their requirements... as Brother Bassole said... we going to send letters to movements.”

After other media questions in Arabic and French, Inner City Press followed up, asking how they would reach out to JEM's Khalil Ibrahim trapped in Tripoli.

Bassole said that “we have been trying to get him out of Tripoli, it is not that easy. We will keep working on it with our partners to keep him out of there” to sign.

Would they only get him out of harm's way in Tripoli IF he signs? The UN was asked long ago to get him out, as the UN got its own international staff out. But he remains there. Watch this site.

At UN, Doha Process on Darfur Ends in Whimper, No Rebels, No Rice

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, June 22 -- The issue of Darfur, once burning hot, degenerated Wednesday into a closed door UN Security Council meeting with no output. Even the scheduled press availability by Qatar's foreign minister, in New York to present the so-called Darfur Peace Agreement, got canceled.

“Where is George Clooney?” a representative of Qatari state media asked Inner City Press. More to the point, where was US Ambassador Susan Rice?

Qatar has hosted the Doha process, urging rebels to come in order to show the emirate's diplomatic prowess. But the final product has not been signed by the Justice and Equality Movement, whose leader Khalil Ibrahim the UN has refused to evacuate like its own staff from Tripoli, nor the factions led by Abdel Wahid al-Nur and Minni Minnawi.

From the “Astroturf” rebel movement led by former UN staff member Al-Tijani Al-Sissi, even Ali Karbino has broken away and joined the still-fighting rebels.

So what was or would be solved by the Darfur Peace Agreement?

The Security Council met for hours on Wednesday with former joint UN-AU mediator Djibril Bassole, now Burkina Faso's foreign minister, and his Qatari counterpart.

Afterward top UN peacekeeper Alain Le Roy told Inner City Press, no one has signed the agreement yet. The Council is going to issue a press statement to put pressure for them to sign.

No press statement was issued. The focus seemed to have shifted to South Sudan -- some surmised that Darfur had just been used as a bargaining chip, to indict Omar al Bashir as leverage to let South Sudan go. And after July 9? Watch this site.

Amid Abyei Fighting, Different Stories from Sudan Mission, Haroun to Fly?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, March 3 -- After dozens of death in Abyei, the matter was taken up Thursday in the UN Security Council. Outside the chamber, Inner City Press was confronted by two different versions of events, from two Ambassadors co-exising in Sudan's Mission to the UN under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

The Ambassador of Southern Sudan / SPLM said that Khartoum is trying to take Abyei step by step, using the nomadic tribes.

The Permanent Representative from Khartoum, on the other hand, said that the tribes were simply going about their traditional business when local police with the SPLM stopped them then shot at them.

The Chinese Council President for March, Li Baodong, read out a press statement and took a single Press question: who is to blame for the violence, and did UN Peacekeeping say if the UN Mission in Sudan will again, as it did in January, be providing a free flight to South Kordofan governor Ahmed Haroun, indicted for war crimes in Darfur by the International Criminal Court?

We are watching the situation closely, Li Baodong replied, presumably referring to the fighting in Abyei and not any UN assistance to indictee Haroun. A Western Deputy Permanent Representative and his spokesman said that they hadn't heard DPKO give any notice in consultations of a repeat flight for Haroun. But... we'll be watching the situation closely.

Footnotes: at Thursday's noon briefing, Inner City Press asked UN spokesman Martin Nesirky about reports of continued bombing from the air by the government in Jebel Marra in Darfur. Nesirky said he didn't know about this and would look into it. We'll see.

Meanwhile the South Sudan representative says very few Southerners went to Libya, while there are many Northerners there. The International Organization for Migration has told Sudan it can only repatriate those who get out, mostly to Tunisia.

Khalil Ibrahim of Darfur's Justice and Equality Movement is still in Tripoli. Inner City Press asked Nesirky if the UN would respond to calls, including from Suleiman Jamous, to get him out and to Doha.From the UN's March 1 transcript:

Inner City Press: on Libya, there is this Suleiman Jamous; there is this high profile JEM leader, the Justice and Equality Movement in Darfur, has said that the JEM has asked the UN to help get Khalil Ibrahim, the leader of JEM out of Libya, maybe to take him to the Doha talks or otherwise. Can you confirm that a request has been received and what is the UNs response to, not to say that one person, but this is somebody that Mr. [Djibril] Bassolé has been dealing with, it now says they want to go to Doha. Are they going to be taken out of Libya? Can the UN do anything about that?

Spokesperson: I have seen the reports, and we’ll follow up on it. I think I probably answered the second part of that question just now, given the security constraints that there are at the moment. What’s your question; the final question now?

[Later, the Spokesperson squawked the following: "The UN-AU joint mediation team has been working for some months with Dr. Khalil Ibrahim of the Justice and Equality Movement regarding his attendance at the peace talks in Doha. The Joint Mediation continues to work with him on his movement to Doha, including under the present circumstances in Libya."]

On Way to Sudan, UN Council Praises Chad, Talks Contingencies, Terms of Reference

By Matthew Russell Lee

JFK AIRPORT, NY, October 4 -- As UN Security Council Ambassadors take over on a marathon set of flights from New York to Nairobi then Uganda and Sudan, the final Terms of Reference for their trip speak of the need for “contingency planning... in view of the upcoming referenda” in Sudan. Click here for the Terms of Reference, as obtained by Inner City Press, and see below.

Earlier on Monday in Khartoum, Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha spoke darkly of the referendum being delayed in oil rich Abyei. At Monday noon briefing at the UN in New York, Inner City Press asked UN spokesman Martin Nesirky if there is any UN response to Taha's statements. Nesirky as usual had no comment.

Additions were made to the Terms of Reference, such as included human rights and children and armed conflict. It is not clear why the initial draft, largely the work of the US and the UK, needed such amendments.

To the 9th of the 13 Sudan paragraphs, “the recruitment of children by armed groups” was added. Not explicitly added is the issue of UN-African Union Darfur chief Ibrahim Gambari negotiating to hand over five supporters of rebel Abdel Wahid Nur to the government.

At least one Permanent Five member of the Council, having read Gambari's leaked documents on Inner City Press, has sent them to “the capital” and hopes the issue can be pursued in Darfur. Mais bien sur.

In the penultimate paragraph, the Council's Sudan Terms of Reference “welcome improved relations between the Governments of Sudan and Chad,” even though this led to the closure of the peacekeeping mission in Chad and Central Africa Republic, and drove Justice and Equality Movement rebel leader not only out of Chad but also out of the Doha peace process. Will the Council meet or at least speak with JEM's Khalil Ibrahim?

Here are the Terms of Reference, as obtained by Inner City Press:

Terms of Reference for Sudan

Led by Ambassadors Susan Rice (United States) and Mark Lyall Grant (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland)

1. To reaffirm the Security Council's commitment to and the international community's support for the Sudanese Parties' full and timely implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and to encourage a peaceful, comprehensive, and inclusive resolution for the situation in Darfur. To reaffirm the Security Council's support for the Sudanese Parties in working to make unity attractive and respecting the right to self-determination of the people of South Sudan through credible, peaceful, free and timely referenda on 9 January 2011 that reflect the will of the Sudanese People of these areas and to hold popular consultations, in accordance with the terms of the CPA, and for all parties and states to respect the outcome.

2. To emphasize the importance of the partnership between the UN and the African Union for the international support to the Sudanese peace processes. To express support for the work of the AU High-Level Implementation Panel and the engagement of other regional and international partners of Sudan.

3. To stress that full and successful implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement is essential to sustainable peace and stability throughout the Sudan, including Darfur, and in the region and to encourage increased cooperation between the National Congress Party and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement in carrying out their responsibilities to fully implement the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, including through successful and timely completion of negotiations on post-referendum arrangements.

4. To assess ongoing preparations for the referenda, and to reiterate that, regardless of the results, both parties to the CPA will need to work cooperatively to resolve critical issues and that the United Nations will continue to play an important role in supporting and promoting this dialogue, including through the recently designated UN High-Level Panel for the Referenda to be led by President Benjamin Mkapa.

5. To reiterate the Security Council's support for the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), to assess its performance and review the assistance provided by the mission, within its current mandate and capabilities, to the implementation of the CPA and the contingency planning being developed by the mission in view of the upcoming referenda, as well as the planning developed for its post-referenda presence in the Sudan, and to underline the importance of full and unhindered access for the mission, to all sites within its area of responsibility.

6. To emphasise the importance of addressing the challenges faced by South Sudan, including insecurity, humanitarian and development needs and capacity building, irrespective of the outcome of the referendum.

7. To emphasise the importance of continuing efforts to support the people of Sudan, democratic governance, rule of law, accountability, equality, respect for human rights, justice and establishment of the conditions for conflict-affected communities to build strong, sustainable livelihoods.

8. To stress the responsibility of all central and local authorities of Sudan for the safety of members of peacekeeping missions, humanitarian workers, and all working under local contracts.

9. To express the Security Council's deep concern about the upsurge in violence in Darfur; the number of civilian casualties and victims of sexual and gender-based violence; the recruitment of children by armed groups; the illegal arms flow into Darfur; and the continued restrictions on humanitarian access. To underline its concern for the security of civilians, humanitarian aid workers and peacekeepers in Darfur and to reiterate the vital importance of the protection of civilians and maintaining full, safe and unhindered access for humanitarian workers to the population in need of assistance.

10. To reiterate the Security Council's support for the AU-UN led peace process and the work of the Joint Chief Mediator, Mr Bassole, including the principles guiding the negotiations, and the urgent need for achieving substantive progress. To urge all rebel groups to join the Doha peace process without preconditions or further delay and to call on all parties to immediately cease hostilities and engage constructively in negotiations with a view to finding a lasting peace in Darfur.

11. To reiterate the Council's support for UNAMID and its personnel and to reiterate its call on the Government of the Sudan and all relevant parties to co-operate fully with the mission; to assess UNAMID's performance and review the challenges it faces in carrying out its mandate, giving priority to the protection of civilians and the facilitation of humanitarian delivery, as well as the priority given to UNAMID's continuing efforts to promote the engagement of all Darfurian stakeholders in support of and to complement the AU-UN political process in Darfur.

12. To welcome improved relations between the Governments of Sudan and Chad following the agreement of 15 January 2010 to normalise their bilateral relations and the establishment of a joint border monitoring mechanism, and to encourage continued co-operation and strengthening of relations.

13. To underline the need to ensure that Security Council resolutions are implemented.

Terms of Reference for Kampala

Led by Ambassador Ruhakana Rugunda (Uganda)

1. To reiterate the Security Council's support to the improvement of relations among the countries of the region and to encourage them to strengthen cooperation in all fields.

2. To emphasize the Security Council's support for action against armed groups in the region, particularly the Lord's Resistance Army.

3. To reiterate the Security Council's support for the Djibouti Peace Process and support for the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in the stabilization of Somalia

4. To stress the Security Council's firm commitment to the cause of peace in the Sudan, the full implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and successful negotiation of a comprehensive and inclusive peace agreement for Darfur.

5. To examine the important contribution by the Regional Service Center in Entebbe, to the work of UN Missions in the region.

Watch this site.