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Latest update: 03/03/2011
- arms trade - Belarus - Ivory Coast - United Nations
UN admits error on helicopters to Gbagbo claim
UN officials have apologised to Belarus for wrongly accusing the country of violating an embargo on the sale of weapons to Ivory Coast, where violence has flared in the wake of a disputed presidential election.
By News Wires (text)
REUTERS - A senior U.N. official apologized to Belarus on Wednesday as the world body admitted it had wrongly alleged the country had illegally shipped attack helicopters to Ivory Coast incumbent Laurent Gbagbo.
Even though a report about a partial delivery of three helicopters was erroneous, diplomats said it may have helped avert further violence in Ivory Coast, where Gbagbo is trying to retain power after a November election U.N.-certified results showed was won by his opponent.
The office of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made the charge in a statement on Monday, saying the "first delivery arrived reportedly" in "a serious violation of the embargo against Cote d'Ivoire which has been in place since 2004."
But U.N. diplomats, including Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, questioned the allegation when U.N. peacekeepers and a U.N.-appointed panel of experts who monitor compliance with the sanctions conceded they had not verified the delivery.
On Wednesday, U.N. peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy told reporters, "I must admit the report from the (U.N.) mission ... was a mistake. There was no plane landed."
He said there would be an internal investigation of the erroneous report.
Le Roy said he had met a senior diplomat from Belarus' U.N. mission on Wednesday "and expressed our deep regrets and our apologies for the damage caused to Belarus." He said Belarus had vowed to comply with the arms embargo against Ivory Coast.
Le Roy did not, however, say the other information contained in Ban's statement on Monday about a planned transfer of attack helicopters to Gbagbo from the former Soviet republic was incorrect.
Original intel was "credible"
According to several U.N. diplomats, the original intelligence behind the allegation came from the United States and was deemed credible by the so-called U.N. Group of Experts, who then shared their assessment with the U.N. mission.
The diplomats said Belarus, whose President Alexander Lukashenko has been branded by Western leaders as Europe's last dictator, has long been suspected of violating the Ivory Coast arms embargo.
"It appears that by acting and publishing this information, which was based on credible intelligence, the U.N. secretariat was able to prevent the imminent delivery of the helicopters," a diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
The U.N. experts had tried to verify the tip-off they had received by going to search an airport in the capital Yamoussoukro, where they believed the helicopters to be, but were shot at by Ivorian forces and withdrew.
Given concerns about escalating violence in Ivory Coast, U.N. officials there and in New York decided on Sunday to go public with the allegation against Belarus, diplomats said.
A post-election power struggle between Gbagbo and his rival Alassane Ouattara risks pushing the top cocoa-growing country back into full-blown civil war.
"If Gbagbo had gotten hold of attack helicopters it would have been disastrous," one diplomat said. "The information was credible enough and the allegation so severe that the U.N. secretariat did the right thing by acting when it did."
Another diplomat concluded: "This is a story of the sanctions working."
But the incident has proven embarrassing for Ban, who is seeking re-election as U.N. chief when his first five-year term ends in December, envoys said.
The Security Council is due to debate the worsening violence in Ivory Coast on Thursday.
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Comments (1)
UN admits error on helicopter to Gbagbo...
The so-called UN peace-keeping chief Alain le Roy is "Big-joker".He is one of the worst experts at the UN,it's better for him step-down,before he says Gbagbo has W.M.D.
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