As In Mali Two More Peacekeepers Killed, in "Friendly" Fire, Ladsous Decay

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, March 13 -- In another "friendly fire" incident among UN peacekeepers in Mali, two are dead and another injured. The UN Mission MINUSMA issued a statement, only in French; InnerCityPro.com has translated it, below.

"Bamako, le 13 mars 2016 - Hier vers 19h, un tragique incident s’est déroulé dans le camp de la MINUSMA à Tessalit, région de Kidal, lorsqu’un Casque bleu à tiré sur trois de ses collègues.
Deux morts sont à déplorer, un autre a été légèrement blessé.
Le suspect a été arrêté, la sécurité dans le camp a été renforcée, une enquête permettra de déterminer les causes et circonstances exactes de l’incident."

InnerCityPro.com's translation:

“Yesterday near 7 pm, a tragic incident unrolled in the MINUSMA camp in Tesalit, in the Kidal region, when a Peacekeeper fired on three of his colleagues. Two deaths are to be deplored, another was lightly injured. The suspect has been detained, the security of the camp has been reinforced, an investigation will let us determine the exact causes and circumstances of the incident.”

  This is the second friendly fire incident in Mali recently; Herve Ladsous' peacekeeping, beyond rapes, is in rapid decay, full of double standards.


Back on Februayr 26 when two UN peacekeepers from Chad were killed in Kidal in northern Mali, the UN in New York made no mention of it. This stands in contrast to announcements in other cases of peacekeepers' death. But this one was "friendly" fire. So, silent.

  Inner City Press, after being Banned from the UN for the first three days of the week (BI here, petition here) for having tried to cover in the same UN Press Briefing Room an event it believed relevant to the current UN corruption scandals -- the UN Correspondents Association took money from Ng Lap Seng and gave him a photo op with Ban Ki-moon -- was back in with reduced access on February 26 and asked, UN transcript here:

Inner City Press:  I wanted to ask about this incident in Mali where one Chadian peacekeeper killed two other peacekeepers.  It says that it's based on tensions in their contingent.  Is it based on the conditions there?  Why didn't you announce it from the podium if two peacekeepers are dead?

Spokesman Dujarric: On the incident, yes, there was a press release issued this morning by the Mission in Kidal.  There was a shooting incident in the camp yesterday within the Chadian contingent.  One soldier opened fire, killed one of his colleagues.  Another one was wounded and later succumbed from his injuries.  As for the… the perpetrator was detained and is in custody, and there's an investigation going on.

Inner City Press:  I guess I'm asking because there… there… there are even some Security Council or recent Security Council members have said that the conditions for particularly the African contingents in Northern Mali are quite negative.  But I also… I repeat the question.  Is… is it the norm to… to announce here… not by a press release from Bamako, but here, when peacekeepers are killed, and if so… why didn't that happen in this case?

Spokesman:  Well, I'm confirming it now, and as I said, the announcement was made very publicly from the Mission in Kidal… in the Mission in Mali.  The conditions for peacekeepers in Mali, especially in the north, are extremely challenging.

Question:  Are the conditions… [cross talk]

Spokesman:  I'll come back to you.  Sherwin?

  And after this dodge, a second round:

Inner City Press: what I wanted to know is whether the conditions of the Dutch contingent, which is a part of MINUSMA (United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali), are similar or different than those of the Chadian contingent, as I previously asked you about their equipment, their communications equipment, that seem to also be different.  So some people look at it and they say it should be one peacekeeping.  How do you explain the different… or do you acknowledge or disagree that…  [cross talk]

Spokesman:  I don't know where the Dutch are stationed.  I don't know if they're stationed in Kidal.  The issue of equipment, especially sometimes with contingents, they don't come with enough equipment, creates challenges for DPKO (Department of Peacekeeping Operations).  I know the Chadians have been on the front lines of the UN's work in Mali, have borne the brunt of some of the violence that we've seen.  And I know we and DPKO, everyone, is extremely grateful for what they do.  And I'm sure the Mission does whatever they can to ensure that their conditions are acceptable.

  Yeah, sure.
 
Back on January 11 when the UN Security Council heard about Mali it was not from the new UN Envoy to the country, but rather first from UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous, who has overseen two-tier peacekeeping in the country and bears responsibility for rapes in Central African Republic.
 
In Mali, where many UN peacekeepers nearly all of them from Africa have been killed, the Dutch battalion has communications equipment that only contingents from NATO member countries can use, Inner City Press has been exclusively informed.

  While the reasoning may be to prevent copying of the technology by others, the result leaves non-NATO troops at increased risk. Belatedly, there is an attempt to procure alternative, non-NATO limited technology.

 But this two-tier system, which some even call in context racist, has been allowed by UN Peacekeeping under its boss Herve Ladsous.
  Two week ago, Inner City Press asked Ladsous, who usually refuses to answer all Press questions, about the two-tier nature of UN peacekeeping.

On December 2 after a screening of a film about UN Peacekeeping, “Last Station Before Hell,” which portrayed missions in Lebanon, DR Congo and Central African Republic, Inner City Press asked Ladsous why French and other European troops like the Dutch serve alongside but not with UN peacekeepers, in Mali (including Germans and Slovakians now replacing French), Cote d'Ivoire and CAR. The second was for an update on the rape allegations against French and UN peacekeepers in CAR. Video here and embedded below.

  Ladsous, who has repeatedly outright refused to answer Inner City Press questions in the UN, did respond to the first question, denying there is a two-tier system and describing what some view as a vestige of colonialism: he listed the UK having a special interest in Sierra Leon, like France has in Mali, and a desire to serve under its own command.

Ladsous pointedly did NOT answer the request for any update on the sexual abuse allegations against Sangaris and MINUSCA, something pointed out afterward by a number of those in attendance at the International Peace Institute.

  One also noted this: while Ladsous trumpeted a number of female SRSGs in UN Peacekeeping, only that day one of them, Ellen Loj, was confined to speaking behind closed doors after Ladsous' public speech, and then followed his pattern of no comments to the media afterward, a come-down from her predecessor Hilde Johnson and even her own previous appearances. (Johnson, sources say, pursued the Somalia SRSG post that was given to Michael Keating.)

  One of Ladsous two fellow panelists at IPI, Lise Morjé Howard, an Associate Professor of Government, Georgetown University, answered Inner City Press that the French troops are not really peacekeepers but more akin to counter-insurgency forces.

Ladsous called France “the country I know best.” He is listed in UN Dispute Tribunal documents as having tried to fire, then to retaliate against, the whistleblower who revealed the allegations of child rape by French soldiers in CAR.

There's talk, even about the P5, of Ladsous being a liability who shouldn't remain even during Ban Ki-moon's remaining time. His non-answer on sexual abuse on December 2 is particularly noteworthy given his Septembr 11 on-camera linking of the CAR rapes to “R&R,” video here. We'll continue on this.

As In Mali Two Peacekeepers Killed, UN Silent in NY on "Friendly" Fire, Ladsous

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, February 27 -- When two UN peacekeepers from Chad were killed in Kidal in northern Mali on February 26, the UN in New York made no mention of it. This stands in contrast to announcements in other cases of peacekeepers' death. But this one was "friendly" fire. So, silent.

  Inner City Press, after being Banned from the UN for the first three days of the week (BI here, petition here) for having tried to cover in the same UN Press Briefing Room an event it believed relevant to the current UN corruption scandals -- the UN Correspondents Association took money from Ng Lap Seng and gave him a photo op with Ban Ki-moon -- was back in with reduced access on February 26 and asked, UN transcript here:

Inner City Press:  I wanted to ask about this incident in Mali where one Chadian peacekeeper killed two other peacekeepers.  It says that it's based on tensions in their contingent.  Is it based on the conditions there?  Why didn't you announce it from the podium if two peacekeepers are dead?

Spokesman Dujarric: On the incident, yes, there was a press release issued this morning by the Mission in Kidal.  There was a shooting incident in the camp yesterday within the Chadian contingent.  One soldier opened fire, killed one of his colleagues.  Another one was wounded and later succumbed from his injuries.  As for the… the perpetrator was detained and is in custody, and there's an investigation going on.

Inner City Press:  I guess I'm asking because there… there… there are even some Security Council or recent Security Council members have said that the conditions for particularly the African contingents in Northern Mali are quite negative.  But I also… I repeat the question.  Is… is it the norm to… to announce here… not by a press release from Bamako, but here, when peacekeepers are killed, and if so… why didn't that happen in this case?

Spokesman:  Well, I'm confirming it now, and as I said, the announcement was made very publicly from the Mission in Kidal… in the Mission in Mali.  The conditions for peacekeepers in Mali, especially in the north, are extremely challenging.

Question:  Are the conditions… [cross talk]

Spokesman:  I'll come back to you.  Sherwin?

  And after this dodge, a second round:

Inner City Press: what I wanted to know is whether the conditions of the Dutch contingent, which is a part of MINUSMA (United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali), are similar or different than those of the Chadian contingent, as I previously asked you about their equipment, their communications equipment, that seem to also be different.  So some people look at it and they say it should be one peacekeeping.  How do you explain the different… or do you acknowledge or disagree that…  [cross talk]

Spokesman:  I don't know where the Dutch are stationed.  I don't know if they're stationed in Kidal.  The issue of equipment, especially sometimes with contingents, they don't come with enough equipment, creates challenges for DPKO (Department of Peacekeeping Operations).  I know the Chadians have been on the front lines of the UN's work in Mali, have borne the brunt of some of the violence that we've seen.  And I know we and DPKO, everyone, is extremely grateful for what they do.  And I'm sure the Mission does whatever they can to ensure that their conditions are acceptable.

  Yeah, sure.
 
Back on January 11 when the UN Security Council heard about Mali it was not from the new UN Envoy to the country, but rather first from UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous, who has overseen two-tier peacekeeping in the country and bears responsibility for rapes in Central African Republic.

  Ladsous' depiction in the UN's own report on rapes in CAR stands in contrast with his invocation on January 11 of Mali's Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission. That came in this paragraph:

"The fact that the monitoring bodies are functional did not fully translate into tangible progress toward the implementation of the agreement over the reporting period, and the process has continued to encounter important delays over the past few months. While progress was made with the validation of 11 cantonment sites and the launch of the construction work for two of them, earlier this month, and with the adoption on the decrees establishing the Integration Commission and the Commission on DDR on December 29, it is regrettable that only one mixed patrol was conducted to date, on November 14. Meanwhile, although the installation of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission constituted a positive step, we remain concerned that other political and institutional reforms that underpin the peace agreement are yet to be implemented...

“These delays, if not addressed in earnest, bear the potential to unravel the hard-won confidence built so far between the signatory parties, as illustrated by the concerns expressed by the Coordination and the Platform in the last session of the CSA on December 17 and 18. We welcome in that context the consultative meeting of the members of the CSA convened at ministerial level in Algiers, on January 18, and hope that it will contribute to address the above concerns and set new timelines for implementing outstanding reforms."

 It's fine material, but the official delivering it is discredited, including in Mali.

In Mali, where many UN peacekeepers nearly all of them from Africa have been killed, the Dutch battalion has communications equipment that only contingents from NATO member countries can use, Inner City Press has been exclusively informed.

  While the reasoning may be to prevent copying of the technology by others, the result leaves non-NATO troops at increased risk. Belatedly, there is an attempt to procure alternative, non-NATO limited technology.

 But this two-tier system, which some even call in context racist, has been allowed by UN Peacekeeping under its boss Herve Ladsous.
  Two week ago, Inner City Press asked Ladsous, who usually refuses to answer all Press questions, about the two-tier nature of UN peacekeeping.

On December 2 after a screening of a film about UN Peacekeeping, “Last Station Before Hell,” which portrayed missions in Lebanon, DR Congo and Central African Republic, Inner City Press asked Ladsous why French and other European troops like the Dutch serve alongside but not with UN peacekeepers, in Mali (including Germans and Slovakians now replacing French), Cote d'Ivoire and CAR. The second was for an update on the rape allegations against French and UN peacekeepers in CAR. Video here and embedded below.

  Ladsous, who has repeatedly outright refused to answer Inner City Press questions in the UN, did respond to the first question, denying there is a two-tier system and describing what some view as a vestige of colonialism: he listed the UK having a special interest in Sierra Leon, like France has in Mali, and a desire to serve under its own command.

Ladsous pointedly did NOT answer the request for any update on the sexual abuse allegations against Sangaris and MINUSCA, something pointed out afterward by a number of those in attendance at the International Peace Institute.

  One also noted this: while Ladsous trumpeted a number of female SRSGs in UN Peacekeeping, only that day one of them, Ellen Loj, was confined to speaking behind closed doors after Ladsous' public speech, and then followed his pattern of no comments to the media afterward, a come-down from her predecessor Hilde Johnson and even her own previous appearances. (Johnson, sources say, pursued the Somalia SRSG post that was given to Michael Keating.)

  One of Ladsous two fellow panelists at IPI, Lise Morjé Howard, an Associate Professor of Government, Georgetown University, answered Inner City Press that the French troops are not really peacekeepers but more akin to counter-insurgency forces.

Ladsous called France “the country I know best.” He is listed in UN Dispute Tribunal documents as having tried to fire, then to retaliate against, the whistleblower who revealed the allegations of child rape by French soldiers in CAR.

There's talk, even about the P5, of Ladsous being a liability who shouldn't remain even during Ban Ki-moon's remaining time. His non-answer on sexual abuse on December 2 is particularly noteworthy given his Septembr 11 on-camera linking of the CAR rapes to “R&R,” video here. We'll continue on this.

In Mali UN Says 2 Hurt by Mine, Days After Ladsous Refused Press Questions on UN Killing 3 in Gao

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 7 -- When UN Peacekeepers are determined, by the UN itself, to have killed three civilians by using excessive force, what accountability is there?  None - and UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous on April 2 refused to answer questions about his own responsibility. Video here. Vine here.

 Now on April 7 the MINUSMA mission issued a statement, initially in French only, about two peacekeepers injured by a landmine on their way to Gao (translated below). Inner City Press also condemns this attack - while continuing to note that it is unacceptable to withhold the report on killings BY peacekeepers in Gao, and for Ladsous to refuse to answer questions about it - and about Haiti.

From the UN's April 6 noon briefing transcript, video here and embedded below:

Inner City Press: While you were away or last week, the summary was released of the incidents in Gao.  And I wanted to know, since Mr. Ladsous did not answer this question, does the report contain a review of the deal that was struck between the UN mission and the MNLA in Tabancourt that gave rise to the protest in which three civilians were killed?  And I also wanted to bring to your attention that during the stakeout by Mr. Ladsous on Thursday, the microphone was grabbed by Mr. Ladsous' spokesman to avoid just this question.  Since you previously said it wouldn't happen, I wanted to know what you think of it.

Spokesman Stephane Dujarric:  I think on the issue of the summary, what was released is released.  I have nothing to add to the summary.  My understanding is that Mr. Ladsous' spokesman pointed to another journalist to answer the question, and that's the way it happened.

Inner City Press:  He grabbed the microphone.

Spokesman Dujarric:  Go ahead.

Inner  City Press: I just wanted to make you aware of that.  But I'm saying is that the summary of the report was released, but it seems like the underlying incident that gave rise to the protest wasn't answered about in any way.  What does the UN understand…?

Spokesman:  The report looked at, at the incident, which is a very violent confrontation.  And I think we've made our recommendations clear, and I think the investigation was done rather swiftly.

Inner City Press:  And is the Haiti report about shooting at civilians going to be similarly summarized?  And if not, why not?

Spokesman:  The Haiti report is currently… has now been finalized.  [The Department of Peacekeeping Operations] and [the Department of Field Support] have been in contact with the relevant police-contributing country concerned, which has decided to repatriate the unit commander.  In addition, three officers have been placed on modified, nonoperational duty pending the final result of the inquiry.  So I will… I hope to have more on that for you.

  But Dujarric only referred to repatriation, not to any disclosure, as in Mali, of "excessive or unauthorized force" under Ladsous. Why not?

 Here is MINUSMA's April 7 announcement, which we've loosely translated:

In the late afternoon of April 6, a MINUSMA vehicle hit a mine 30 kilometers from Kidal as it was driving toward Gao.

   The explosion injured two peacekeepers, one seriously. Both were immediately evacuated to Gao by MINUSMA for medical treatment.

   MINUSMA strongly condemns this terrorist act which it says was intended to paralyze the UN mission's operations in northern Mali. MINUSMA says it is working, along with the UN Mine Action Service, to identify, mark and clear mines in Mali to protect civilians.

  Two days ago on April 5 the MINUSMA mission issued a statement, initially in French only, about one civilians killed by terrorists in Gao - with no mention of the UN's own three killings and the underlying UN-explained French moves in Tabankort, on which we will have more. From MINUSMA, translated:

"At approximately 6 am at least three rockets were fired on Gao. Preliminary reports indicate that one of the rockets hit a house, causing the death of a woman and wounding two other civilians, taken for treatment to the Gao hospital. A MINUSMA team immediately went to the site and will help the Malian authorities with their investigation."

 And then refuse to answer questions about it, a la Ladsous? 

On April 2 Ladsous appeared at the UN Security Council media stakeout but after reading a prepared statement refused to answer Press questions about the underlying Tabankort agreement with the MNLA which led to the Mali shooting. Video I here.

  Inner City Press also asked about shooting at civilians by Ladsous' peacekeepers in Haiti, caught on video, and asked if that withheld report would be released. Ladsous said, I do not respond to you. Video II here.

  Inner City Press asked if it isn't now a pattern, peacekeepers shooting at unarmed civilians not only in Mali but also Haiti, and if Ladsous will take responsibility.

  Ladsous' spokesman Nicholas Birnback then grabbed the UNTV microphone and moved it away from Inner City Press. This happened before with Ladsous and his previous spokesman. Video here, story here. At that time, after the Free UN Coalition for Access complained, the UN Spokesperson told FUNCA it would not happen again. Now it has. Accountability?

 Tellingly, the Ladsous scribe who angled for and got the first question asked pointedly if the peacekeepers in Mali weren't from Rwanda. Ladsous leered and said the Troop Contributing Country, then spoke again at the end to lay the blame on them. Video II, here, near end.

  In the public record is Ladsous' 1994 memo supporting the escape of the Hutu genocidaires who formed the FDLR into Eastern Congo, where now Ladsous' MONUSCO finds one excuse after another NOT to neutralize the FDLR as it did the largely Tutsi M23 armed group.

  Accountability? Video here.

  Inner City Press, which has been asking the UN Spokesperson - sinceUN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous refuses Press questions -- about the killings since they occurred in January, on April 2 asked UN spokesperson Farhan Haq if the report will be made public, and if any verdict or sentence against the peacekeepers would be made public. Haq did not say yes to either.

  A report on Ladsous' peacekeepers in Haiti firing at unarmed demonstrators hasn't even been summarized, much less released.

As to the killings by peacekeepers in Gao, Haq would not even publicly state the nationality of the peacekeepers. Talk about impunity. He said the Ladsous will briefing the Security Council -- behind closed doors, of course -- about the report, then will come to the UNTV stakeout. But Ladsous refuses Press questions, on his cover up of rapes in DR Congo and Darfur and every other question. Video here, Vine here. 

This is a new low in UNaccountability.

 Here is the UN's summary as read-out by Haq, video to follow:

The Inquiry launched by the Secretary-General to determine the facts surrounding the violent demonstration that took place on 27 January 2015 in Gao, Mali, in front of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) Regional Headquarters has submitted its report.

The Inquiry determined that members of a MINUSMA Formed Police Unit used unauthorized and excessive force on civilian protesters during the demonstration, resulting in the death by gunfire of three protesters and the wounding of four others.

The Inquiry also established that some protesters and organisers of the demonstration bear responsibility for the violence of the protest, which included Molotov cocktails, stone throwing and attempts to breach the perimeter of the Regional MINUSMA Headquarters in Gao. The Inquiry noted that MINUSMA security forces were left to face the protesters on their own in violation of the Status of Forces Agreement with the host country. Five MINUSMA police officers were wounded during the event.

The Secretary-General profoundly regrets the casualties among civilians resulting from the excessive use of force during this event by the MINUSMA personnel concerned.  He condemns it as a violation of the MINUSMA Directive on the Use of Force. The Secretary-General is committed to ensuring that the responsible individuals are held fully accountable for their actions.

Steps are being taken in this regard with the authorities of Mali and the relevant police-contributing country. The Secretary-General encourages the Government of Mali to take the appropriate steps to prevent future such incidents.  Communications, management and crisis procedures within MINUSMA will also be examined to prevent the recurrence of such acts.

The Secretary-General is committed to ensuring justice for the victims and their families according to local customs and appropriate United Nations procedures. MINUSMA is in contact with the local authorities and with the individuals and families concerned in this regard.

On behalf of the United Nations, the Secretary-General expresses his deepest apologies to the victims and their families.

The United Nations, and MINUSMA in particular, remain committed to supporting the stabilisation of Mali.

   

After Kidal Attack, UN in Mali Says It Returned Fire, "Shelling" Killed 2 Civilians: Fog of War II

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, March 8 -- After a shoot-out at the UN's base in Kidal in northern Mali, the UN mission there sent out to the press a statement in French. Four hours later, no statement in English was similarly sent out, and nothing from the UN Spokesperson's office or UNHQ in New York.

 An English translation placed on the UN Peacekeeping website said

"At around 5:40 this morning, the MINUSMA compound in Kidal was targeted by a complex attack involving more than 30 rockets and shells. Once they had established from where the rockets were being fired, MINUSMA troops immediately returned fire 2 kilometers from the compound, at around 6 am. According to preliminary reports, one MINUSMA soldier died and eight others were injured. The shelling also claimed victims among the citizens of Kidal outside the compound, killing two and injuring four."

  Media assumed that this last sentence has to mean that it was the attacker's shells which killed the civilians - probably correct, but why would the UN leave this unclear? Particularly given it stands accused of shooting demonstrators in Gao?

  Call it Mali fog.

  After the terrorist attack at Le Terrasse in Bamako, the UN Security Council under its French Presidency for March put out a Press Statement that

"The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the terrorist attack in Bamako, Mali, on 7 March 2015, resulting in the death of five civilians, including personnel of the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) and the European Union (EU), and many injured."

  This was saying that the five dead included personnel of UNMAS. It was re-reported by the UN News Center: "Among the dead were personnel of the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) and the European Union."

  But when Secretary General Ban Ki-moon later put out his statement, it said

"The Secretary-General strongly condemns the deadly attack that took place earlier today in Bamako in which five persons were killed and seven injured, including two international experts working for the United Nations."

 This lists the UN-affiliated people as among the injured, not the killed. Which is it? Inner City Press was asked, but how to answer, given these inconsistent UN statements?

  And if there is a "UN" Mission in Mali, why was it France arranging its own cooperation with Mali for the investigation, while Ban wanly praised his own MINUSMA police for helping? We'll have more on this.

  After UN Peacekeeping shot protesters in Goa in Northern Mali, the UN commissioned a report which it said will be finished by the end of March. But will it be made public, or even be submitted to the UN Security Council which formed the Mali mission?

  Inner City Press on March 4 tried to ask the Security Council president for March, Francois Delattre of France, about the Gao report. Video here. But Delattre replied, for the second time in two days, "I have to run." Vine here.

 On March 5 Inner City Press asked UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric if the report will go to the Security Council. Dujarric replied "in some form" and that the findings would be made public. Video here.

 So later on March 5, along with a question about a briefing about African Union cooperation which UN official Taye Brook Zerihoun told Inner City Press he had given in the Council, Inner City Press asked Delattre about the Gao report: will the Council get, or request to get, the report? 

  Delattre this time didn't run but rather answered. He answered only the Africa Union question, video here. It's appreciated but leave the question open: what is going to happen with the report, with the incident and accountability? 

  Tellingly, perhaps, the French Mission transcription of Delattre's press encounter included Inner City Press' African Union but not its Gao report question, compare video to transcript. We'll have more on this.

The UN Security Council speaks in at least four different ways: resolutions, Presidential Statements, Press Statements and the weakest form of action, "Elements to the Press."

  When French Ambassador Francois Delattre came to the UN Security Council stakeout on March 4 as Council president he read out "Elements to the Press about Mali. 

  Inner City Press twice asked, Question on Mali? But Delattre for the second time in two days said, "I have to run" and declined to answer.Video here and embedded below.

   Now the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, MINUSMA, has publicly mis-characterized the Elements to the Press that Delattre read out as a Press Statement or "Declaration a la Presse," including in a tweet at-naming the French Mission to the UN, which offered no correction. It was also e-mailed out (which should be similarly corrected) and put here on the MINUSMA Facebook page.

Update of March 6 - after this report, MINUSMA changed its Facebook page to say "Elements to the Press" - but left its tweet and email announcement uncorrected. Ban Ki-moon also issued a statement urging Coordination to sign.)

   Perhaps France, and ultimate MINUSMA boss Herve Ladsous, the fourth Frenchman in a row atop UN Peacekeeping, would have preferred the stronger form, Press Statement, to Elements to the Press. But the are different, and it is the job of a Security Council president to make sure the two are not mistaken or mis-represented, particularly not by a UN mission.

  Maybe if Delattre has deigned to take the question(s) about Mali, alongside the three hand-picked questions he did take about Libya, it would have been more difficult to mis-describe the Elements to the Press he read out as a formal Press Statement.

  So will this be fixed? Or will the running continue? Watch this site.

  Here is what Delattre read, and questions he refused to answer.

"We heard a briefing by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Mali, Mr Mongi Hamdi, who gave us an update on the Algiers peace talks and the Agreement on Peace and Security in Mali initialed on 1 March 2015... We encourage the armed groups of the coordination to initial the agreement."

  Inner City Press asked, what about the MNLA not signing? But Delattre said, for the second time in two days, "I have to run" -- then proceeded to stand to the side of the stakeout, decidedly NOT running. 

Update: French mission spokesperson Thierry Caboche has replied that the "Press Elements agreed by UNSC on Mali encourage Coordination groups, including MNLA, to initial Algiers agreement."

 It's appreciated, and added here in full - but since the Elements to the Press in the first paragraph cites that "Agreement on Peace and Security in Mali initialed on 1 March 2015 by representatives of the Malian Government, one of the coalition of armed groups Platform' and all members of the international mediation team" then never names the MNLA, the Mali question should have been taken and answered, alongside fully three questions on Libya.

    Inner City Press also asked about the UN's "independent" report into UN Peacekeepers shooting at protesters (who were angry about the UN using attack helicopters, but that's another story).

  Delattre did not answer about this report, which one would think like the report on the Tabit rapes in Darfur also covered by UN Peacekeeping through its UNAMID mission, would go to the Security Council.

  On February 26, two days before Delattre took over as Security Council President, the UN announced that "the high-level team mandated by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to conduct an inquiry into the violent protests that took place in Gao, Mali, on 27 January is concluding an eight-day visit to Mali.

    “During this visit, the team met with the Malian national authorities, the authorities of the region of Gao, the national police and the civil protection service in Gao, representatives of MINUSMA, local leaders from the Cadre de Concertation des Notables de Gao, the associations who organized the protests on 27 January, authorities from the hospitals that received the victims, opposition parties, and several other interlocutors who could help shed light on the events. The team also spoke to the protestors who were injured during these events, and visited the bereaved families, to whom they expressed condolences.

  The team was "composed of three independent experts with extensive international experience: Bacre Waly Ndiaye (Senegal), Mark Kroeker (US) and Ralph Zacklin (UK)."

     Back on January 29, the UN said that Secretary General Ban Ki-moon  “deplores the incidents that took place on 27 January during a demonstration in front of the MINUSMA base in Gao town in the north of Mali. He is saddened by the violence that surrounded the demonstration and the reported death of at least 3 protesters and the injury of several others.”

   “The inquiry team will now travel to New York to present its preliminary report to the Secretary-General of the United Nations. It will present its final report by the end of March 2015,” the UN on Thursday said.

  What is the Security Council's role? Shouldn't the Security Council president for March, M. Delattre of France, answer this question?

   Back on January 6 when the UN Security Council met about Mali, Inner City Press waited and then asked UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous what he has been doing to protect the peacekeepers he is responsible for.  As is his pattern -- actually, his stated policy -- he refused to answer.

    It was Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop, and not Ladsous, who on January 6 distributed his speech and came to take Press questions.

  Inner City Press asked Diop about the Mali talks in Algiers, and about the impact of Libya. On the latter, Diop said that “in 2012 the Mali crisis started when the war started in Libya and many Malian elements who were part of the Libyan army decided to come back home with the arms and ammunition. This started the destabilization of Mali.”

   Diop added, "In the southern part of Libya there is a group that has declared allegiance to the Islamic State.” (When asked to name the group he could not or would not.)

   The Libya talks have been indefinitely postponed. A Greek ship near Derna was bombed -- Inner City Press on January 5 asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric by whom; he said the UN does not know.  The Free UN Coalition for Access has asked UN Peacekeepingwhy the speeches of Ladsous, unlike other UN officials, are not made available.

  Jump-cut forward to March 4, when after Elements to the Press on Mali and a read out on Libya, all three of the French Mission or #FrPrez handpicked questions -- France 24, Agence France Presse then Voice of America -- were about Libya. Inner City Press said twice, "Question on Mali?"

  Delattre smiled and said, I have to run, I know it is the second time.

  On March 3 Delattre used the same "I have to run" line to not answer a question about Burundi, where France is set to lead a Council trip on March 13, the draft Terms of Reference for which (which Inner City Press published here) do no mention the Cibitoke massacre nor opine if a third Presidential term would violate the Arusha agreement, which is cited.

 Later, the French mission put up the Mali "Elements to the Press," with no mention that a question about them had been asked, on microphone, and that Delattre had again said, "I have to run."

  We are compelled to note that UN Peacekeeping, run by France four times in a row most recently by Ladsous who also does not answer Press questions, needs to answer when its personnel shoot at demonstrators, as recently happened in Haiti too. 

  But there are no answers. Nor on the sale of UN posts in the DR Congo and Haiti by Deputy Permanent Representative Ouattara of Cote d'Ivoire, here. We'll have more on this.

   

In Mali Another Chadian Peacekeeper Is Killed, UN's Herve Ladsous Silent on Protection

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, January 17, more here -- In Mali another UN peacekeeper has been killed, this time from Chad, in Kidal, by suicide attack.

  Back on January 6 when the UN Security Council met about Mali, Inner City Press waited and then aksed UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous what he has been doing to protect the peacekeepers he is responsible for.  As is his pattern -- actually, his stated policy -- he refused to answer.

    It was Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop, and not Ladsous, who on January 6 distributed his speech and came to take Press questions.

  Inner City Press asked Diop about the Mali talks in Algiers, and about the impact of Libya. On the latter, Diop said that “in 2012 the Mali crisis started when the war started in Libya and many Malian elements who were part of the Libyan army decided to come back home with the arms and ammunition. This started the destabilization of Mali.”

   Diop added, "In the southern part of Libya there is a group that has declared allegiance to the Islamic State.” (When asked to name the group he could not or would not.)

   The Libya talks have been indefinitely postponed. A Greek ship near Derna was bombed -- Inner City Press on January 5 asked UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric by whom; he said the UN does not know.  The Free UN Coalition for Access has asked UN Peacekeeping why the speeches of Ladsous, unlike other UN officials, are not made available.

With Libya descending into chaos, when the UN Security Council met about the country on November 11 it was to hear from the International Criminal Court prosecutorFatou Bensouda.

  Bensouda said “the continued failure of the Government of Libya to surrender Saif A1-Islam Gaddafi to the custody of the International Criminal Court is a matter of great concern to my Office and the Court... I will assess my options, including whether to apply for a review of the judges' decision upholding Libya's request that the case against Al-Senussi be tried in Libya.”

  After her briefing, Bensouda to not hold a question and answer stakeout; Inner City Press caught up with her in the hall and asked if she had been given the entire UN "cover up" report on Darfur, or only part of it.

  Bensouda said she had gotten only the summary, and only the day before. Moments later the President of the Security Council for November, Gary Quinlan of Australia, reiterated that efforts are afoot for the Security Council to "take up" the report on Darfur.  

  Still nothing from the Security Council on the car bomb attack near envoy Bernardino Leon. The UK mentioned the attack -- and tellingly their own Jonathan Powell -- during the ICC meeting. But where is a UNSC Press Statement on the attack?

For days after a bombing in Libya near UN envoy Bernardino Leon, which came after Libya Dawn in Tripoli called him not impartial and persona non grata, still the UN in New York had not put out any statement at all.

  Instead, UN Department of Political Affairs' new spokesman merely selectively emailed to some Western media. No statement; nothing on the UNSMIL mission's web site. To new Free UN Coalition for Access, this is a new low in UN (non) communications.

 Back on November 4 when the UN Security Council met about Libya behind closed doors, the Press outside at the stakeout was repeatedly told that Leon would come and take questions at the stakeout.

 This is what the replaced Tarek Mitri did, each time he briefed the Security Council. With Leon being criticized inside Libya it would seem he'd have all the more reason to speak.

  But he did not. When he came out he barely broke stride -- Inner City Press took a photograph, blurred -- while saying the new Security Council Gary Quinlan of Australia would speak later. When Quinlan did, it was a bland "Press Elements."

  Still the scribes churned it. At 8:15 pm Agence France Presse bragged that it had "obtained" a French-drafted request to put Ansar al-Sharia, Benghazi and Derna, on the Al Qaeda sanctions list. 

"A copy of the French-led request to the Al-Qaeda sanctions committee was obtained by AFP." Wonder how...

   Reuters issued a breathless report with unnamed diplomats at 8:19 pm. Both have tried to get smaller investigative Press thrown out of the UN - see documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, here andhere - and this request by Reuters to censor one of its complaints to the UN from Google's Search.

  Back on August 27 amid airstrikes in Libya, when outgoing UN envoy Tarek Mitri briefed the UN Security Council, the airstrikes weren't even mentioned in his more than six page prepared text distributed by the UN.

  Inside the Council chamber, improvising but only a little bit, Mitri mentioned the strikes, but not who did them. Back on August 19 and once again since, Inner City Press asked the UN if it knew anything about who was behind them:

Inner City Press: Who did the air strikes?  General Haftar?  What's the UN, either Mr. León or Mr. Mitri or whoever is currently in charge, what's their sense of who's doing air strikes in Tripoli?

Spokesman Dujarric:  I don't… I think we reported back with the Mission yesterday, if there's anything more I'll share it with you.

  But in the days since, the UN has said nothing. Now the Libyan Dawn group  has taken over the Tripoli airport despite the airstrikes and alleged that the strikes have the involvement of Haftar's (or Hiftar's) supporters, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. What does the UN -- or now Bernardino Leon -- know and say about that? Watch this site.

On Leon: To try to counter Libya's lawless power struggle, the UN engaged in one of its own. 

  And unlike most of the member states that make up the UN, and most other inter-governmental organizations, this UN does not answer questions, at least not directly.

  After Inner City Press repeated asked about it, including at the UN's noon briefings on August 11 and 13, on August 14 the UN said Bernardino Leon will take over as its Libya envoy on September 1.

  When Inner City Press asked if that is really Leon's starting day, given that he's said he'll go to Tripoli as early as next week representing the UN, Ban Ki-moon's deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said Leon is merely "familiarizing" himself with the work he will be, and Mitri remains in place until September 1. Really?

  Ignoring the previous questions and the power-play, wire services like Reuters merely retyped ("reported") the UN's August 14 announcement that Leon will start September 1. And now?

 Back on August 1, Inner City Press exclusively reportedthat UN envoy to Libya Tarek Mitri was being "pushed out" of the post, including by UK envoy to Libya Jonathan Powell, and cited his brother Lord Powell's extensive business in Libya through Magna Holdings.

  The UK mission, usually responsive, did not provide comment on written Press questions on this; at UN Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant's August 4 press conference Inner City Press asked about Powell's and Mitri's relationship, without direct answer, see here.

  Then the UK's Ambassador to Libya Michael Aron hasannounced, on Twitter no less,  that Mitri is out and Ban Ki-moon has installed a new UN envoy, former Zapatero diplomat Bernardino Leon Gross.

  The UN, at least at its August 8 noon briefing and in emails since, has not announce anything about replacing Mitri, much less by whom.

  Ban Ki-moon's office said that for August 9 and 10, "Spokesperson on call:  Mr. Farhan Haq." So Inner City Press wrote to Farhan Haq, as well as to lead spokesman Stephane Dujarric:

Hello. Now that the UK Ambassador to Libya, and others, have announced that Ban Ki-moon has appointed Bernardino Leon to replace Tarek Mitri as Ban's representative to Libya, head of UNSMIL, this is a request on deadline - today - that your Office confirm that this appointment or nomination has been made.

Has the letter been sent to the Security Council?

Is Leon already confirmed?

If not, how it is appropriate that P5 countries are saying he already has the job? On deadline, today.

Given many of the ongoing Afghanistan leaks are about UN DSS and UNAMA, not UNDP, there will be further questions. But the above is on deadline for today. Thank you in advance.

  But more than four hours later, by "close of business" in New York, the "spokesperson on duty" had not answered, had not even acknowledged receipt of the question.

  What does it mean to be the UN's "spokesperson on duty"?

   Isn't it for Ban Ki-moon to make this announcement? In fact, in 2011 when France had already gotten its Jerome Bonnafont in place to replace its Alain Le Roy atop UN Peacekeeping, Bonnafont's bragging about it in India, where he was French Ambassador, led to Ban rescinding the "offer."

  France countered with three time loser Herve Ladsous, Inner City Press reported each step -- including Bonnafont in July 2011 being tapped for the post, and evencongratulation cards to Bonnafont, here, and threats from AFP then the UN Correspondents Association -- and the rest is, well, a type of history (coverage in UK New Statesman, here).

  Ladsous refuses all Inner City Press questions, video compilation here; Ban Ki-moon's deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq on August 8, alluding to Ladsous and now UNDP, said it is because of "people skills." Or reporting?

  So Ban has accepted or done nothing to stop this P3 power grab to oust Mitri. But can "his" successor be pre-announced and Ban accept that too? 

Footnote: Inner City Press is exclusively informed that UNSMIL deputy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed also has business, literally: fisshing business. Ban and those in control of this play accept that too? Watch this site.

Background: Inner City Press on August 1 asked UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric what UN envoy Tarek Mitri is doing; Dujarric said he was not aware but would check.

  Inner City Press had reported that Mitri, unlike the other UN international staff who relocated to Tunis, went back to his native Lebanon. Sources in the region exclusively told Inner City Press that Mitri had been hoping for a government post in Lebanon, describing him as less than committed to remaining with the UN.

   Now we can report more. These knowledgeable sources say that Mitri is being "pushed out," mostly they say by the UK's envoy to Libya, former Tony Blair aide Jonathan Powell.

  "Mitri was expected to take on a mostly support function," one source told Inner City Press. "He stood up and said no, headquarters didn't back him up and now he's being pushed out." We'll have more on this.

  It was nine days after Libya's foreign minister Mohamed Abdel Aziz at the UN Security Council stakeout told the Press his country wanted international help to protect oil fields and ports, including airports, that the US announced it had relocated its Tripoli embassy staff out of the country to Tunisia.

  Inner City Press asked, where is UN envoy to Libya Tarek Mitri? He briefed the Security Council from Beirut -- sources tell Inner City Press he has been on vacation there, and this deputy, too, was out of the country.

  Back on July 17 when Libya's foreign minister Mohamed Abdel Aziz emerged from the UN Security Council to take questions from the media, Inner City Press asked him to be more specific about what type of “support” force he is asking for.

  Mohamed Abdel Aziz replied that the request is not for a “military” force -- but then went on to say say the force should protect oil fields and ports. If that's not military, what is it?

  Inner City Press also asked Mohamed Abdel Aziz for Libya's current position on the US arresting Abu Khatallah. Compared to the complaints of others, Mohamed Abdel Aziz said that even though under international law it is unacceptable, since Libya can't protect witnesses, maybe it is okay.

  Given the current state of affairs, what is “Libya's” position?

  Meanwhile on July 17 the UN's envoy to Libya Tarek Mitri told the Security Council -- by video from his native Lebanon, while other UN international staff are in Tunisia -- that the fighting has “cast a shadow over the election on 25 June of the 200 member Council of Representatives.” Ya don't say.

 Mitri said that barely forty percent of the 1.5 million registered Libyans went to the polls. He said 12 seats will remain vacant; 41 candidates were disqualified under the post-Gaddafi Law on Political and Administrative Isolation. Final results are supposed to be announced on July 20. Watch this site.