On Abyei, Rice Complains of Blocked Visas, Sudan Says "Ethiopians Only"

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, February 9 -- Abyei was the subject of a UN Security Council closed door meeting Thursday. Afterward Inner City Press spoke exclusively with Ambassadors Susan Rice of the US, Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman of Sudan and David Choat of South Sudan, hearing quite different stories.

Ambassador Rice began by saying there remain problems with "the government" of Sudan "preventing visa." Inner City Press asked if the UNIFSA mission has a human rights components.

Rice answered that the Council was briefed that the government was "open to one;" but Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman said this was not an authorized statement.

Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman went further, telling Inner City Press that he was told yesterday by a member of the UN panel on Darfur sanctions that when the member asked for access to South Sudan to check on Khartoum's allegation that the Justice and Equality Movement rebels had entered South Sudan, specifically Tunsaha, with weapons from the collapsed Gaddafi government of Libya, "the government of South Sudan blocked me and didn't give me access."

David Choat, when Inner City Press asked about this, challenged Daffa alla to name which South Sudan ministry or minister had denied access. Choat said that the Sudan Armed Forces is still present in Abyei, and that this prevents the return of internally displaced people currently on the South Sudan side.

He said that from South Sudan, only police remain, waiting to be part of the Abyei administration.

Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman emphasized that of UNISFA's authorization of 4200, already 3800 are there. Inner City Press asked if these are all Ethiopians, and Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman said yes, "all of them are Ethiopians.".

He said, "those who are talking about visas are giving wrong messages. We and the other parties agreed that the component should be exclusively Ethiopian."

So whatever happened to the talk of human rights monitoring and a civilian component? Choat said, "the troops are Ethiopians but there should also be" internationals in the civilian component.

UN Peacekeeping's Edmond Mulet came out, and Inner City Press asked if there was yet a Status of Forces Agreement for UNISFA.

Mulet said it is still being negotiated, with both North and South Sudan. Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman didn't disagree, calling the SOFA "a little thing" but saying that under the CPA, "Abyei until and unless final settlement is reached is in the North."

Inner City Press asked again about the incident in which four Ethiopian peacekeepers bled out after landmine injuries, unable to get medevac to Wau in South Sudan. Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman said that permission was given in two hours in that case, "and it was a holiday."

There is the still murky issue in South Sudan of how long the UN knew it had no military helicopters before the lack played a role in failing to protect civilians from "hundreds" of deaths in Pibor in Jonglei state -- but that's another story, as is the strike by national staff at UNMISS, on which Inner City Press has asked for the UN side. Watch this site.

Footnote: While the Abyei consultations and then these interviews went on, several Deputy Permanent Representatives met to thrash out a statement based on Humanitarian Valerie Amos' briefing of January 17. Sources tell Inner City Press the sticking points concern referring to government restrictions on aid, and SPLM-North complying with commitments. We'll see.

At UN, Sudan Says JEM's Gone South from Libya, Bashir's Tripoli Trip Not Raised

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, January 11 -- With Darfur the topic in the Security Council on Wednesday morning, some were surprised that Sudan's newly independent neighbor South Sudan spoke in the open meeting.

Later it made sense: Sudan's Permanent Representative Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman used part of his long speech to accuse South Sudan of sheltering the Justice and Equality Movement rebels and "seventy nine four by four" technicals.

Afterward Inner City Press asked South Sudan's representative David Choat about the charge and he denied it, saying that Security Council members too know it is not true. But the Council went behind closed doors after the three speeches.

Thus, after Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman said that JEM had been supported by Gaddafi and left Libya after the regime fell, there was no public response from any Council member about International Criminal Court indictee Omar al Bashir's recent trip to Libya.

Libya's new leaders' ambivalent relationship with the ICC seems to a topic on which loud ICC supporters like France do not want to speak.

Inner City Press asked David Choat about South Sudan's oil dispute with Khartoum. "This is not the forum for oil," he said.

While Choat kept his speech short, Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman went long, even stopping to criticize a "Secretariat official" for having a "side conversation" and not listening to him. Afterward a range of attendees said the jibe was directed at the director of Security Council Affairs, Movses Abelian.

A person close to the incident said that this month's Council president had, as frequently happens, asked the head of Security Council Affairs and his staff a question, and was getting an answer.

Two Council Permanent Representatives told Inner City Press that Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman's criticism was "ridiculous." With the number of diplomats using their BlackBerries -- if they work -- during Council meetings, to call anyone out is decidedly bad form. But as Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman made, make peace or be punished. Watch this site.

Amid Jau Dispute, Sudan Beats S. Sudan to Stakeout, UN's Ladsous No SOFA

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, December 8 -- After the representatives of Sudan and South Sudan traded divergent stories in prepared speeches inside the UN Security Council on Thursday, both emerged separately, eying the stakeout area and its UN Television camera.

At first, neither would speak on camera; one of them speaking to Inner City Press insisted that he not be recorded.

The questions in dispute ranged from whether the contested town of Jau is in Sudan or South Sudan, whether a separate human rights team should be let into the Abyei area, and whether Sudan's nominee to head the administration there is in fact a resident of Abyei.

Even among Security Council members, positions on where Jau is changed throughout the morning. US Ambassador Susan Rice on her way into the meeting told Inner City Press of Jau, "it look like it is in Sudan."

To her credit, she stopped on her way out of the meetings and told Inner City Press "I'd like to revise and extend my earlier remarks," saying "the bottom line is nobody knows" if Jau is in South Sudan or Sudan.

Another Council representative told Inner City Press, referring to UN Peacekeeping boss Herve Ladsous, "he's still going a survey, the guy doesn't even know where it is."

Despite a request to the Office of the Spokesman for Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that Ladsous do a stakeout and take questions, including about Jau and DPKO's failure to go to the site after days of deadly fighting, Ladsous once again did not do a stakeout.

Last time on Sudan -- when Ladsous refused to answer a question about the UN being challenged for DPKO allegedly bringing cholera to Haiti and then refusing to set up a standing claims commission as provided for in the Status of Forces Agreement -- Ladsous answered Inner City Press that a SOFA for Abyei would be in place very soon.

But the troop contribution country on Thursday told Inner City Press there is still in place no status of forces agreement, the lack that contributed to the deadly delay in medical evacuation of four peacekeepers. Ladsous should now answer: where is the SOFA he promised? Why has it not been finalized and signed?

There were other important issues that Ladsous should have addressed and had answers to but didn't. South Sudan's David Choat said that Sudan is refusing to let in human rights observers; Sudan's Permanent Representative Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman said such observers should only come in as part of the civilian component of the UNISFA mission.

While Choat for some reason never did a stakeout, Sudan's Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman emerged after all Council members had left and strode to the UN TV camera. The cameraman had left, but was summoned back.

Inner City Press asked Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman why not allow humanitarian access to Jau. He said, "for our part, we would be happy to allow access to all those area, once we assure the safety and security of the personnel there." Video here, from Minute 5:50. So when will the UN go there?

(c) UN Photo
Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman & Ladsous: 1st spoke at stakeout, Ladsous didn't

On the question of the human rights observers, Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman responded instead about how Sudan allows transit of South Sudan oil without charging a fee. He insisted that Sudan's candidate for the Abyei administration is a resident of the area.

He told Inner City Press that South Sudan has asked "Russian pilots" employed by the UN to move material to areas UNMISS should not go. He did not

Inner City Press asked, how that the Sudanese Defense Minister has been indicted by the International Criminal Court, how will he deal with the UN and its Peacekeeping missions, given the issues that arose when the UN Mission in Sudan twice used UN helicopters to fly ICC indictee Ahmed Haroun. Video here, from Minute 9:31.

Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman said that the "ICC is not part of the UN system... it has to prove itself." Which seems to be the UN's or at least Ladsous' DPKO's, position too: asked twice by Inner City Press, the response was that nothing will change with how the UN deal with Sudan's defense minister since his indictment.

Before he left the stakeout, Inner City Press asked Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman for Sudan's position on the sanctions adopted earlier in the week against Eritrea. Video here, from Minute 11:14.

"Sudan was part of IGAD sub-regional organization, thank you very much, he answered and then left. IGAD pushed for the sanctions...

Footnote: on December 7, Inner City Press asked the UN spokesman:

Inner City Press: There is this sharpening dispute between Sudan and South Sudan about oil, one of the unresolved issues left over from the CPA. And now China has sent an envoy that is now viewed as the sort of main broker, and I wondered, some have questioned, what is the UN’s role? Is this issue of the economic relations between the two States, is this still part of Mr. Menkerios’s mandate and is he involved in these discussions?

Spokesperson: I have to check on precisely what Mr. Menkerios is doing in this context.

On December 8 past 4 pm the following arrived:

Subject: Question on Sudan
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Thu, Dec 8, 2011 at 3:13 PM
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com

In response to your question yesterday, DPKO advises: The Office of the Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan is supporting any mediation effort that can improve relations and provide solutions to reduce tensions between Sudan and South Sudan. Special Envoy Menkerios is in contact with the Chinese Special Envoy Liu Giujin to that effect and continues working in close consultation with the African Union High Level Implementation Panel.

As UN Says No Casualties From Sudan Bombing, Won't Answer on Air Force Build Up

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 15, updated -- If Sudan's bombing in South Sudan didn't cause any casualties, as the UN's Herve Ladsous said in the Security Council on Tuesday, how much will it change the condemnatory Presidential Statement that the US was preparing?

US Ambassador Susan Rice told Inner City Press, "we need to condemn the bombings."

But again the split in the Council is on view. Both Russia and China expressed skepticism to Inner City Press after Ladsous' report, one calling the crater a mere "hand grenade," the other saying that Western powers want to turn its into a "Council of Condemnations."

On the other hand, UK Permanent Representative Mark Lyall Grant said that since Yide is well within South Sudan, and there's verification of the presence of an Antonov 12 -- only used in the region by the Sudanese Air Force -- then the PRST can and should proceed.

But Russia has circulated and asked for fast action on a Press Statement about South Sudan's detention of Russian aircraft. Hilde Johnson, the UN envoy to South Sudan whom Sudan called an "advocate," called this detention "disappointing." Westerners say the two issues should be dealt with together.

China's Li Baodong told Inner City Press, We think it should be dealt with separately. Moments later, India's Permanent Representative Hardeep Singh Puri expressed the same view as he left the Council. And Council President Cabral told Inner City Press he thought the two would be separate.

Meanwhile neither the spokesperson for Secretary General Ban Ki-moon nor DPKO, as of 5:30 on Tuesday, had answered these questions from noon:

Inner City Press: In Sudan, there are these satellite photographs of the Sudanese armed… air force building up bases right next to South Sudan. So I am wondering if that is something that the UN can verify, or when you said that Mr. Ladsous is going to be speaking about Sudan, is that only Darfur or does he have some jurisdictional ability to speak about the rest of Sudan?

Deputy Spokesperson Eduardo Del Buey: Well, we’ll have to see what he says this afternoon on that.

Inner City Press: Will you be sure that he will do a stakeout and take questions then?

Deputy Spokesperson: I am not sure about that, I don’t have any information.

Inner City Press: Well, then how can we wait and see what he says?

Deputy Spokesperson: Well, because you will be able to hear what he says on television.

Inner City Press: I know, but this is a question. Is he going to answer that question?

Deputy Spokesperson: Well, we’ll try and find out for you.

Five and a half hours later, nothing. And despite putting in the question, again, with Ladsous' staff, he did not speak with the press when he left the Security Council.

As noted, while exiting US Ambassador Susan Rice told Inner City Press, "we need to condemn the bombings." She also said that that the satellite images of Sudan Air Force build up, in El Obeid and Blue Nile, had not been raised - so, not by Ladsous.

Russia's Deputy Permanent Representative Pankin said it is four times their helicopters have been shot at or detained, and freed only after involving Hilde Johnson or even Salva Kiir.

One wonders what Ladsous recent trip to North and South Sudan accomplished -- and if the much overdue Status of Forces Agreement for Abyei will be signed November 15 in Addis Ababa. Watch this site.

Footnote: After Sudan's Permanent Representative said he had a confession on video from an SPLM official that South Sudan is bring arms into the North, Inner City Press asked South Sudan's representative David Choat what he thought of it. Choat scoffed, "They could put someone in one of our uniforms." And so it goes.