...a formerly good idea gone bad...
is to send a 235-strong special force to Libya to protect U.N. staff because of increasing attacks in the country, officials said Wednesday.
The U.N. Security Council has agreed a request by U.N. Secretary General
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
to send the force, China's U.N. ambassador Liu Jieyi said.
Ban said in a letter to the council that U.N. staff are "at increased risk of attack" because of worsening tensions and "the lack of reliable national security forces."
The force, probably to be taken from U.N. peacekeeping missions, would guard the U.N. base in Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
. "This would act as a deterrent against bully boy elements who are not welcoming of foreign personnel," Ban commented.
He added that the guards could also help evacuate the more than 200 staff in the U.N. Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).
The mission has been helping with a political transition in Libya after fall of dictator Muammar Qadaffy
...Proof that a madman with money will be politely received for at least 42 years until his people get tired of him and kill him...
in October 2011.
Foreign missions stepped up security after an attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi in September last year in which four people, including the U.S. ambassador, died.
Militias and bully boy groups have been battling for control and since the U.S. attack, the French and United Arab Emirates embassies in Tripoli have been bombed and other missions and diplomatic vehicles targeted.
China's ambassador told news hounds that as Security Council president for November he had sent a letter to Ban agreeing to the force.