Exclusive: UN's Ladsous Says South Sudan Must Take Peacekeepers from Any Country, But Morocco Is Not in African Union, Bangladesh History Recounted

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, December 30 -- Speaking about South Sudan, UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous on December 30 said "we will not look pleasantly" if there are, "as there seem to have been, some caveats" about which countries' troops South Sudan would accept as peacekeepers.

  "There should be no objection to anyone coming in," Ladsous intoned, before telling Inner City Press, "I do not answer you, Mister." Video here.

  Inner City Press set out to find which countries South Sudan was objecting to -- which is its sovereign right, as a number of other nations' diplomats pointed out, speaking exclusively to Inner City Press about this and which countries.

  Morocco is an ally of France, Ladsous' country which he represented on the UN Security Council as Deputy Permanent Representative in 1994 during the Rwanda genocide.

  But Morocco is NOT a member of the African Union, which South Sudan is, because of the issue of Western Sahara. South Sudan recognizes Western Sahara -- and therefore has a right not to want Moroccan troops in its country.

  Although the UN sent 73 Bangladeshi peacekeepers to South Sudan from a formed police unit in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudanese sources tell Inner City Press they had a problem with Bangladesh's battalions in the past, mentioning Western Equatoria around 2005, "under Jan Pronk" then envoy to Sudan and what is now South Sudan.

  The problems included allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation, statutory rape, and lack of accountability. If UN Peacekeeping under Ladsous continues to allow this -- witness the lack of updates on the alleged gang rapes by Chadian peacekeepers in MINUSMA in Mali -- why should South Sudan put up no resistance to such deployments? And so on.

  South Sudan is more than willing to take peacekeepers from, for example, "Nigeria or Zimbabwe," or Togo which like Morocco, Pakistan, Guatemala and Azerbaijan is leaving the Security Council after two years on December 31. (Inner City Press photo of Team Togo's December 30 goodbye at the stakeout, here.)

  So why, some wonder, would Ladsous be pushing back so publicly about Morocco? They call it FrancAfrique. Watch this site.

Footnote: Anyway, Morocco is slated to send 500 "UN guards" to Central African Republic, see Inner City Press' exclusive story here.

   

Blog of UN's Kovoso Envoy Ruecker Invites Questions, But Financial Disclosures Not Made

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1ruecker042108.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 21 -- Jan Pronk, it turns out, was not the only blogging Special Representative of the Secretary-General. Joachim Ruecker, who is said to be under review for promotion from the UN Mission in Kosovo to the Under Secretary General for Management post at UN Headquarters, if and when Alicia Barcena leaves, has a blog, or at least a private website. It's www.joachim-ruecker.de, and it has pages not only in German but also in English and French -- always an important pairing in seeking a high UN post. There are pictures of his family and a thumbnail bio, with stints as mayor of Germany city of Sindelfingen, home of the largest Mercedes plant, and perhaps relatedly as Germany's consul in Detroit.

In 1993 Ruecker was quoted as the new mayor of Sindelfingen by the Toronto Star that in light of cut-backs, "we'll never be as well off as we were... it's hard to conceive how a community can cope with such drastic setbacks."

Reucker's online presence, of the type that got Jan Pronk thrown out of Sudan, is particularly surprising in light of his refusal of Ban Ki-moon's urging to make at least basic public financial disclosure. On Ban Ki-moon's website, Rucker's form states that "I choose not to disclose." Joachim, we hardly knew ye...

Ruecker's web site says, in English, "if you want to ask me something, please do it here: ruecker@un.org." So on the morning of April 21 he was sent a question: why did you decline to follow Ban Ki-moon's urging to make at least basic public financial disclosure? By 9 p.m. on Monday, he had not answered the question. On his way past the press in front of the Security Council Monday afternoon he was asked, Are you resigning? He answered, "Should I?" Watch this site.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1ruecker042108.html

UN's Darfur Contract with Lockheed Troubles General Assembly, Of Access to Coded Cables, Air, Water and Copters

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/gadarfur123107.html

UNITED NATIONS, December 31 -- Today responsibility for peacekeeping in Sudan's Darfur region passes to the UN-African Union hybrid mission created by a resolution of the Security Council on July 31, UNAMID. Rather than the projected 26,000 troops, it begins with barely nine thousand. None of the called-for helicopters have been provided by member states. And in a little-noticed section of the UNAMID budget resolution, adopted in an all-night session of the General Assembly on December 21, the UN's $250 million no-bid contract with Lockheed Martin for Darfur infrastructure was criticized, and an investigation called for.

Paragraphs 27 and 30 of the December 21 UNAMID resolution state that the General Assembly

"27. Notes with concern the decision of the Secretary-General to utilize a single source contract without competitive bidding and requests the Secretary-General to take immediate action to supply good and services in compliance with the established procedures for procurement, based on international competitive bidding and the widest possible geographical base of procurement, so as to avoid a non-competitive extension of the present contract...

"30. Requests the Secretary-General to entrust the Office of Internal Oversight Services to undertake a comprehensive review of the use of the extraordinary measures for this mission..."

To recap, the "single source contract without competitive bidding" referred to was for $250 million, to Lockheed's subsidiary Pacific Architects & Engineers. After the deal was announced on October 15, Inner City Press twice asked Ban Ki-moon to explain the lack of competitive bidding. He responded by promising transparency; his spokesperson's office explained that following the Security Council's July 31 resolution on UNAMID, requiring the UN to take responsibility for Darfur by year's end, there had been no choice but Lockheed. But then whistle-blowing UN staffers showed Inner City Press an earlier letter, from April, from the head of the UN's new Department of Field Support, Jane Holl Lute, pushing Lockheed Martin's PAE for a sole source contract.

The incongruity was subsequently raised in the General Assembly's budget (Fifth) committee, by speakers ranging from the African Group to Russia and even Canada, but was never publicly explained. The budget committee and General Assembly cannot have been convinced by explanations provided behind closed doors, either: on December 21, the full Assembly, even in compromise language, criticized the contract and called for an investigation of the lack of competition.

Despite numerous requests, Jane Holl Lute never came to a briefing to answer questions -- although she did write a December 26 letter to the editor of the Washington Post arguing that reports of corruption in peacekeeping procurement were overblown.

Inner City Press has spoken on background with UN officials involved in the Sudan. Requesting anonymity in order not to be fired, these officials have complained for example that the UN has at least 21 helicopters elsewhere in Sudan that it is not moving to Darfur. Others have complained that the UN mission on south Sudan, UNMIS, stands alone in allowing national staff to view so-called coded cables, a practice they say began under then-envoy Jan Pronk. While 140 Chinese engineers are already in Darfur, because flying their water-drilling equipment in on Antonov cargo planes was deemed too expensive, it is en route literally on a slow boat from China. A diplomat involved in the budget negotiations recounts other procurement irregularities, up to sourcing needed water even by air through the UN base in Brindisi, Italy, rather than closer-by. "It's a comedy of errors," this diplomat told Inner City Press at year's end. Only nobody is laughing.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/gadarfur123107.html