Thursday, June 21, 2012

Twittersphere Lighting Up over Alleged US Suppression of Controversial UN Report

A dramatic clash of accusation and denial has played out in the Twitter-sphere over the past 48 hours, with Reuters, The Guardian, and Foreign Policy all reporting that the US is suppressing or at least delaying publication of the latest interim UN Group of Experts' report, said to contain dramatic evidence of top-level Rwandan support for the M23 rebels/mutineers of North Kivu. Human Rights Watch chief Kenneth Roth is leading the charge, and in this exchange he and Susan Rice spokesman Mark Kornblau have at it: 

US blocks UN report that confirms  finding that military is backing  warlord wanted by .
1) No, false, US is NOT blocking RT  US blocks UN report that confirms  military is backing  warlord wanted by.
US Amb Rice, over opposition of State Dept colleagues, seems to put loyalty to Kagame over concern for  victims.
Mark Kornblau ‏@MarkKornblauNot true. You have it wrong MT : Rice, over oppo of State colleagues, seems to put loyalty to Kagame over concern for victims
 US position evolves as Amb Rice tried to block or delay report annex showing Rwanda military support for Congo warlord.
US  offers summary denials, but will US allow prompt publishing of report annex showing Rwanda complicity?
Now US is just delaying, not blocking, release of UN report annex showing  military support for  warlord.
No excuse for US delay of UN report annex showing  military support for  warlord. He's killing people now.
Note that Kornblau hasn't yet responded to Roth's latest accusation that the US is now stalling the report's publication. Good summaries of the point/counterpoint exchanges can be found on Laura Seay and Colum Lynch, who writes the Turtle Bay blog at Foreign Policy. (Old timers will recognize Lynch as the journalist whose 1997 interview with Kagame established that the "Kabila rebellion" was in fact engineered by Rwanda. UPDATE: My mistake: that was John Pomfret.) At the moment, the bottom line appears to be this: The report and annex will be published in full within a reasonable time frame, but Rwanda, in an exception to standard UN procedure, will be given an opportunity to reply to it.

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