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On
Sri Lanka in UN Basement, Rice of US Speaks, Libya Offers Money, and
China Support
Byline:
Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
UNITED
NATIONS,
April 22, updated -- As the UN's envoy to Sri Lanka Vijay Nambiar gave
a
begrudging basement briefing to the UN Security Council, France
flexed up its humanitarian muscles while China offered unequivocal
support to the government's military crackdown in the north. Libya
offered financial support, while Sri Lanka's requested $1.9 billion
IMF loan pends.
New
U.S.
Permanent Representative Susan Rice, it was said, would speak on
camera to the Press after the briefing. The previous day, when Inner
City Press asked her about the UN's silence about its staff members
detained in government camps, Ambassador Rice said, “UN
personnel should have freedom of movement and be treated with
respect."
US Amb. Susan Rice on North Korea: Sri Lanka not yet
shown
Asked if the US is concerned about the ethnic aspect
of the violence and detentions, she said, "The priority needs to
be the physical protection of innocent civilians."
At Wednesday's noon briefing, Inner City Press
asked UN Deputy
Spokesperson Marie Okabe to elaborate on why Nambiar initially
resisted the Council's request for a briefing. Okabe emphasized that
now, he would be briefing. But why did he say it was too sensitive,
that his talks with Sri Lankan officials were confidential? One would
expect Nambiar to speak to the Press after the briefing, as his
colleague Ibrahim Gambari does. But perhaps OCHA Deputy Catherine
Bragg is being brought along so she can run interference.
We will live-blog the proceedings from the
basement in this
space.
Update
of 6:01
p.m. -- there is talk of pulling UN Television out from the basement,
as they go on overtime at 6. If so, some say, whatever is said
outside the meeting room, even on behalf of the Council, is not
“official.” A new low has been reached in this basement meeting.
Update
of 6:11
p.m. -- French Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert stepped out to brief
the press. He recited commitments he said the Sri Lankan government
has made. Inner City Press asked, what about freedom of movement in
the IDP camps? Amb. Ripert said that is an issue, but it is important
to distinguish between the government and the LTTE, who are
“terrorists... who have lost the war and should surrender and
release the hostages.” Then he went back into the meeting, where
Ambassador after Ambassador is setting forth his or her view.
Video here.
Update of 7:25 p.m. -- in rapid succession, Ambassadors
Sawers of the UK, Rice of the US, Heller of Mexico and Palihakkara of
Sri Lanka spoke at the stakeout, along with OCHA's Catherine Bragg.
Vijay Nambiar left without speaking to the press. Susan Rice, saying
she had to be somewhere, spoke but took no questions. (See the approved
on the record quotes, above). The rest will be covered in a round-up
about the meeting -- now available here.
Footnote:
We continue to wait for the UK's formal answer to the first of the two
questions which Inner
City
Press asked the UK Mission to
the UN two questions on Sri Lanka early on April 15:
Does the UK
believe that international law and the
rights of UN humanitarian staff are being violated by the
now-acknowledged
detention of UN staff in the Sri Lankan government's “IDP” camps?
It has been reported
this morning that Sri Lanka's “minister also told the
British
Foreign Secretary that there was concern that the LTTE would
continue to
consolidate its fortification of the No-Fire Zone.” Please confirm the
accuracy
of that, and of this
and if so, does the UK interpret it as saying that
an offensive on the No-Fire Zone and the civilians in it will begin?
What did
the UK Foreign Secretary say?
As
of
this press time a week later, the formal answer has been
referral to Minister
Miliband's April 12
statement, and this.
As more answers arrive or are released we will report them on this site.
Click here
for a new YouTube video, mostly UN Headquarters footage, about civilian
deaths
in Sri Lanka.
Click here for Inner City
Press' March 27 UN debate
Click here for Inner City
Press March 12 UN (and AIG
bailout) debate
Click here for Inner City
Press' Feb 26 UN debate
Click
here
for Feb.
12 debate on Sri Lanka http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/17772?in=11:33&out=32:56
Click here for Inner City Press' Jan.
16, 2009 debate about Gaza
Click here for Inner City Press'
review-of-2008 UN Top Ten debate
Click here for Inner
City Press' December 24 debate on UN budget, Niger
Click here from Inner City Press'
December 12 debate on UN double standards
Click here for Inner
City Press' November 25 debate on Somalia, politics
and this October 17 debate, on
Security Council and Obama and the UN.
* * *
These
reports are
usually also available through Google
News and on Lexis-Nexis.
Click here
for a Reuters
AlertNet piece by this correspondent
about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click
here
for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali
National
Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an
undefined trust fund. Video
Analysis here
Feedback: Editorial
[at] innercitypress.com
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