|
On
Egypt
at UNSC, 3
Members Ask
for Meeting,
UN Briefers
UNprepared?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 15,
updated -- In
the aftermath
of Egypt's
crackdown on
the Muslim
Brotherhood,
it was surreal
to watch from
the UN
Thursday the
US State
Department
briefing by
spokesperson
Jen Psaki.
Inner
City Press was
been told, by
more than one
UN Security
Council
member, that
there would be
Security
Council
consultations
on Egypt at 3
pm, requested
by the UK,
France and
Australia.
(Inner City
Press tweeted
this, noting
it was at the
same time as
new US
Ambassador
Samantha
Power's
Twitter town
hall on #WhatMatters.)
But at
the State
Department
briefing down
in Washington,
spokesperson
Jen Psaki said
she hadn't
heard that,
that she'd
check again
and get back
"by the end of
the day."
UN
Security
Council
consultations
usually begin
with a
briefing by a
UN official.
Suddenly it
was said that
the UN
briefers were
not ready.
This seemed
strange, as
the fact that
hundreds of
protesters
were killed is
clear.
More
likely, some
powerful
Security
Council
members that
either don't
want the
meeting -- now
it will be
hard to
cancel, though
postponement
is the UN way
-- or want a
delay to "get
instructions"
arranged for
the UN
briefers to be
unprepared.
Then again,
the UN is so
often
unprepared.
Watch this
site.
Update:
Inner
City Press
asked three UN
spokespeople,
in writing, to
"please state
if the UN
Secretariat
has been asked
by the UN
Security
Council /
members to
give a
briefing on
Egypt; and,
separately,
who would give
the briefing
and if they
are / were
prepared to
give the
briefing today
at 3 pm."
A UN
official, not
a
spokesperson,
told Inner
City Press it
would (have?)
be(en?) "the
DSG to brief"
-- Deputy
Secretary
General Jan
Eliasson.
But at
2:35 pm, Inner
City Press
took and
tweeted a cell
phone photo of
the Security
Council
stakeout: no
UN Television
camera up.
Who put the
kibosh on
consultations?
Update
of 2:57 pm:
Confirmed,
but
with delay:
#UNSC to meet
on #Egypt at
5:30 pm,
briefing by
DSG Eliasson
* * *
These
reports
are
usually also available through Google
News and on Lexis-Nexis.
Click here
for Sept 26, 2011 New Yorker on Inner City
Press at UN
Click
for
BloggingHeads.tv re Libya, Sri Lanka, UN
Corruption
Feedback:
Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
UN Office: S-303,
UN, NY 10017 USA
Reporter's mobile (and weekends):
718-716-3540
Other, earlier Inner City Press are
listed here,
and some are available in the ProQuest service,
and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright 2006-2013 Inner City Press,
Inc. To request reprint or other permission,
e-contact Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
|
, 
