Vitaly
Churkin Jibed Power As
Mother Theresa, Israel
& Palestine Condole Back
to Back, Stakeout
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS,
February 20 – Vitaly Churkin,
long time Russian Ambassador
to the UN, died on Monday
while working, the day before
his 65th birthday.
UN
President of the General
Assembly Peter Thomson told
the press that there will be a
GA session to commemorate
Churkin, whom he said stood
out in his willingness to meet
with smaller countries.
Then while
a Russian TV crew waited for
quotes from this speaker about
Churkin, staff whisked him
upstairs to Al Jazeera, which
asked among other things about
Churkin blocking action on
Syria.
Online
condolences poured in, back
from the UK's Mark
Lyall Grant (and
Samantha Power), from Israel
and Palestine, back to
back. Periscope
here.
Churkin's
advocacy in the UN Security
Council ranged from deriding
US Ambassador Samantha Power
as a Mother Theresa wannabe,
back to asking if then US
Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad's
earpiece was working, during a
late night Council meeting
about Abhazia, South Ossetia
and Georgia.
Here's
video of Churkin on
December 30, 2016, Inner City
Press asking him about Syria
and Libya.
On Africa,
for example, Churkin told
Inner City Press that there
shouldn't be a vote on Eritrea
sanctions until that country's
president was allowed to
address the Security Council.
Churkin spoke at length with
Inner City Press, recounting
that "we had some people working on the
sanctions resolution, on and off... All of
the sudden last night we were told the
sponsors were moving the resolution in
blue, voting... today."
As Inner
City Press exclusively
reported [then] US
Ambassador Susan Rice said the vote
should take place Wednesday since Gabon,
Nigeria and the regional IGAD group want
the sanctions.
Churkin
disagreed, saying "there is a 48 hour
rule.. but at least 24 hours" between
putting a text into blue and voting on it.
He also noted that "more than a month ago,
the president of Eritrea asked to address
the Security Council. We believe it is his
right under the UN Charter."
Here is
Periscope video of Churkin
speaking, about Syria, on
the steps outside the UN Security
Council earlier this year.
That was Churkin, rest in peace. Watch
this site.
***
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