By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, June 20 -- As NATO admits misfiring in Tripoli, in a military campaign supposedly coordinated by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Ban's spokesman on Monday declined to comment directly on the civilian deaths -- “that is really a matter for NATO to comment on” -- while refusing to provide any details about what he'd called “negotiation[s] under the auspices” of part-time UN envoy Al Khatib.
On the eve of a vote to get a second five year term as Secretary General, Ban appears to want to have it both ways on the conflict in Libya. While Resolution 1973 said that he was to receive notifications and coordinate much of the military action, he has not, and won't even issue a direct comment on admitted killings of civilians by NATO.
The draft Presidential Statement on Libya proposed last week by the Security Council's African members and exclusively reported and published by Inner City Press gave rise to an experts level meeting on June 17. The US has put forward many amendments.
Inner City Press is told these include a call to recognize the Transitional National Council in Benghazi, and other steps which the sponsors say go because Resolution 1973. These are called “poison pill” amendments, but the drafters are trying to incorporate those that they can.
Meanwhile, over the weekend Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky said that the “Secretary-General said the beginnings of a negotiation process are now underway under the auspices of his Special Envoy to Libya, Mr. Abdul-Elah Al-Khatib.” But on Monday when asked about this negotiation process and the UN role, Nesirky said
“I don’t really have anything further to add to the wording that is there in the readout at this point, namely that the Secretary-General has said that the beginnings of a negotiation process are under way under the auspices of Special Envoy al-Khatib. I think necessarily, and by definition because this is an extremely delicate process, the details at this point may not be available.”
If the process -- if there is one -- is so “delicate,” why did Ban make the claim about the existence of talks? Only to assert the centrality of his part time (and conflicted) envoy Khatib, and thus of himself?
And if he and the UN are central to what's happening in Libya, how when asked for comment on the killing of civilians can his spokesman say “that is really a matter for NATO to comment on”? Watch this site.