UNITED
NATIONS, May
13 -- Back in
March, Inner
City Press asked Nassir
Abdulaziz
Al-Nasser
if the UN
Alliance of
Civilizations,
which he now
heads, could
or would do
anything about
the
destruction of
religious
sites in
Syria.
He replied
that the
"situation in
Syria is very
complicated.
Our mission,
it will come
as soon as we
end this
conflict... we
have first to
bring the
situation
under
control."
But
how? As Inner
City Press
noted at the
time, Qatar
for which
Nassir
Abdulaziz
Al-Nasser
served as
Permanent
Representative
to the UN has
been funding
armed rebels
in Syria.
Jump-cut
to
May 13. At
noon, Inner
City Press
asked
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesman
Martin Nesirky
why
Ban
specifically
thanked Qatar
for its role
in the release
of four UN
peacekeepers
by the Yarmouk
Martyrs
Brigade.
Nesirky
replied that
unnamed
"others"
helped as
well.
At
3:30 pm,
Nassir
Abdulaziz
Al-Nasser was
set to chair a
meeting of the
Group of
Friends of the
Alliance of
Civilizations.
Milling around
on
the podium were
long
time UN
official Iqbal
Riza, and
the Permanent
Representatives
of Spain and
Turkey. But
where was Ban
Ki-moon?
When Ban
arrived, he
launched into
a speech.
The list of
speakers ran
through six
pm, ending
with "Q&A
Session with
Media and
Civil Society
Representatives,
time
permitting."
To
make a long
story short,
time did NOT
permit.
Despite
statements for
example from
the United
States that
civil society
should be
allowed
to be more
involved,
there was no
time.
(Corporations
like
BMW, on the
other hand,
are allowed
co-sponsorships).
The
speeches were
long winded,
with at least
two
delegations joking
about
being
invisible
behind the
load-bearing
pillars in
Conference
Room 1.
Then
right before
Iran began to
speak, Qatar's
Nassir
Abdulaziz
Al-Nasser
said, only
three minutes
per speaker.
Saudi
Arabia began
with praise of
Nassir
Abdulaziz
Al-Nasser --
in Arabic.
Some wondered
if the the
"others" Ban
was thanking
for
their
connections
with the
Yarmouk
Martyrs
Brigade
include
Saudis.
Saudi
Arabia's
Permanent
Representative,
meanwhile,
earlier on
Monday told
Inner City
Press the vote
on the Syria
resolution in
the General
Assembly will
be May 15.
Inner City
Press asked,
110 votes? He
replied, "plus
or minus,
probably
plus." We'll
be there.
Watch this
site.
, 
