UN spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric announced yesterday that Special
Envoy to Libya Bernardino Leon will continue in his post until a
transition to his successor German Diplomat Martin Kobler.
Dujarric did not set any date for the transition to take place. Dujarric went
on to say that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will remind all UN envoys
and senior staff "to follow the highest level of ethics to avoid any
conflict of interest".
Why should they pay any attention to such a
reminder when the UN praises and defends the work of someone such as
Leon who has been working for them for ages while in a clear conflict of
interest situation?
By accepting a
high-paying position back in June to head a diplomatic academy in the
UAE in Abu Dhabi Leon broke guidelines that demand that mediators should
"not accept conditions for support from external actors that would
affect the impartiality of the process."
UAE is a strong supporter
of the internationally-recognized House of Representatives (HoR)
government and the commander of their armed forces Khalifa Haftar.
UAE is even accused of bombing Tripoli on behalf of Haftar to try to
defeat the forces of Libya Dawn now the most significant armed force
supporting the rival General National Congress government.
According to
Leon when he informed the UN in July about his decision to accept the
post in UAE no questions were brought up about this.
UN
obviously cares nothing for their guidelines if it suits whatever
purposes they have in mind.
In his emails Leon says that he was
attempting to deligitimize GNC government and strengthen HoR.
Yet Leon claims that his actions and his statements did not affect his
impartiality.
On some other planet maybe.
Dujarric continued to defend Leon as impartial and outstanding and said
that "we fully stand by the work he has done". Of course Dujarric does
not let any facts get in the way of his conclusions. GNC has
requested an explanation of Leon's hiring and continued service while in
a conflict of interest. There will probably be none.
Instead UN
will continue with Leon pressing parties to sign his draft.
It
is unlikely there will be any sort of movement until Leon goes.
The UN Security Council continues
also to press for parties to sign on to draft noting that parties that
derail the process can be subject to sanctions. Perhaps UN could do
some explaining too.
How comes, Khalifa Haftar, who has been derailing
the peace process for a year, scorns the dialogue, and continues with a
military solution, has not been sanctioned?
How can UNMIL, an organization that allows a
mediator continue acting as a mediator even when in a clear conflict of
interest situation, be trusted to lead an impartial negotiation process?
Why do we not hear an outcry from international community demanding
that Leon go immediately and the process restarted with a new
impartial mediator?
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