Brahimi
Nears NY,
Grumbles from
German +1,
Nobel Follies,
P5 Working
Lunch?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 22 --
As the UN's
first envoy to
Syria Kofi
Annan
quietly starts
his final lame
duck week in
the post, his
replacement
Lakhdar
Brahimi is
slated to
arrive in New
York tomorrow.
A
Permanent Five
member of the
Security
Council told
Inner City
Press
to expect
Brahimi to
attend a
working lunch
with, who
else, the
Permanent Five
members.
The
other non P5
Council
members are
said not to be
happy. When
Russian
Ambassador
Vitaly Churkin
on August 16
announced a
meeting the
next
day of the P5
and some
non-Council
members,
Germany is
said have
requested that
if the meeting
took place --
Germany would
not be
included --
they quickly
report back to
the full
Security
Council.
Ultimately
that
meeting didn't
take place;
sources say
that the US
and United
Kingdom were
the most
adamant about
not attending,
Turkey less
so.
But
what will
Brahimi say?
He seems to
have made
peace with
Damascus,
after being
criticized for
calling the
situation a
civil war in
one
of his many
interviews.
Wednesday
morning in
front of the
Security
Council when
Syrian
Ambassador
Bashar
Ja'afari was
asked about
the
comment, he
said "it's the
media, he was
misinterpreted."
If
you say so.
Another
mis-statement,
or mis-report
("it is
the media")
has yet to
be corrected.
Brahimi
was deemed by
a wire service
to be a "Nobel
Peace
laureate."
The Nobel
Foundation has
written to
Inner City
Press that
Brahimi should
not thusly be
referred to.
There
has been no
retraction.
One of the other
media that
ran the
erroneous
report has
written back:
"Your
complaint has
been noted,
and will be
forwarded to
the relevant
department for
their
consideration.
We thank you
for making use
of
our services."
It's
not a
"complaint" --
it's that the
published
report that
Brahimi is a
"Nobel Peace
laureate" has
been disavowed
by
the Nobel
Foundation
itself.
The media,
which we'll
hold off on
naming, has
been asked to
say what is
ultimately
done. Watch
this site.
, 
