By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, August 22, 1 am EST -- As Libyan rebels swept into Tripoli backed by air strikes under United Nations Security Council resolution 1973, "the Gadhafi regime is clearly crumbling," said the Secretary General -- of NATO, not of the UN.
The UN's Ban Ki-moon, assigned a "coordinating" role by resolution 1973, was entirely silent on developments in Libya during the August 20-21 endgame. Even the International Criminal Court spoke up, calling for the turn-over of Gaddafi's son Said al-Islam.
But nothing was heard from Ban Ki-moon, nor from his envoy to Libya Al Khatib, who was tasked with negotiating between Gaddafi and the rebels. At the crucial moment, the mediator was nowhere to be seen. Some wondered if he was back in Jordan, where he was allowed to remain a sitting Senator even while purportedly serving only the UN, under the UN charter.
Alongside the moonlighting Khatib, Ban named Britain's Ian Martin to head up UN planning for a "post-Gaddafi" Libya. But during the key period, nothing was heard from Martin, who has resisted requests for months that he brief the press about the UN's plans.
If Ban's UN is irrelevant during a UN "coordinated" overthrow of regime in Libya, where is it relevant? Watch this site.
