As UN's Ban Ki-moon Urges Libyans to Support Government After Bombing of French Embassy, Nigerians in Baga Told the Same?

By Matthew Russell Lee, News Muse

UNITED NATIONS, April 23 -- The UN Security Council was on a suburban retreat Tuesday in Greentree, New York, but managed to issue a Press Statement condemning the car bombing of the French embassy in Tripoli.

  Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who along with senior staffers was also on the retreat, also put out a statement. Ban's statement, strangely, called “on all Libyans to support their Government's efforts to establish strong and effective security institutions.”

  Should the UN Secretary General be telling the citizens of any country to “support their Government”? Or is it somehow different, to call for support for the Government for a particular purpose?

Then again, some of the countries that the UN and Ban Ki-moon condemn are if nothing else engaged in effort to “establish strong... security institutions.” Is that always a good thing?

  Ban's deputy spokesman Eduardo Del Buey was asked to provide a summary of what Ban was discussing with the Security Council. 

  Del Buey replied that it is all confidential -- this despite at least one Permanent Five member of the Council tweeting his country's topic, Climate Change, and despite the other topic, Peacekeeping, being widely known.

  Given the increasing opacity of the UN Secretariat under Ban (and even worse, of UN Peacekeeping under Herve Ladsous), it was not possible to ask not only about Bahrain banning the UN's special rapporteur on torture, but also for clarification of Ban's April 22 statement on Nigeria.

  Inner City Press at the April 22 noon briefing asked about the fighting in Baga in which 185 civilians were reportedly killed. Later on April 22, Ban issued a statement calling on “all extremist groups” to stop their attacks.

  Now it's reported that the militaries of Chad and Niger participated along with that of Nigeria in the assault on Baga. Did Ban know that? Is there any UN role in this trilateral fight, which scarred Baga and killed civilians?

  Will the residents of Baga be called on “to support their Government's efforts to establish strong and effective security institutions”? Watch this site.

On Nigeria Offensive in Baga, Ban Tells Extremists to Cease, Sri Lanka Echo, Al Nusra Contrast?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 22 -- After the Nigerian army attacked Boko Haram fighters in Baga, after a soldier was killed, dozens or up to 185 people were killed, many of them by the government forces.

  At the April 22 noon briefing, Inner City Press asked UN spokesman Martin Nesirky if the UN, which has a UN House and UN Country Team in Nigeria, had any information or response to the serious fighting. Nesirky said there might be something soon.

  Two hours later, Nesirky's office issued this statement:

“The Secretary-General is shocked and saddened at the reports of high numbers of civilians killed, and homes destroyed, as a result of violence between military forces and an extremist group in the northeastern town of Baga in Borno State, Nigeria, on 19 and 20 April. He expresses his condolences to the bereaved families and calls on all extremist groups to cease their attacks. The Secretary-General reiterates his firm conviction that no objective sought can justify this resort to violence. He underscores the need for all concerned to fully respect human rights and safeguard the lives of civilians.”

After what is reported as a government attack on Baga, to call for “extremist groups to cease their attacks” seems strange. Then again, when the Sri Lankan government was killing some 40,000 civilians in the blood bath on the beach in 2009, Ban's UN didn't even call for a ceasefire. And what accountability has there been?

Ban's approach to Nigerian and Sri Lankan government military offenses directed at “extremist” or terrorist groups can be contrasted his views on other countries, other governments. But that will be another story. For now we'll only note that it seems to turn on the position of Ban's (Western) power base toward the opposition group.

And so, an ongoing test case: the Al Nusro Front. Watch this site.