In
UN
GA, Syria
Resolution
Passes Without
Amendments or
Non-Payers
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
February 16 --
As the UN
General
Assembly met
Thursday
afternoon on
the Syria
resolution
introduced by
Egypt,
predictions of
votes in favor
ranged from
130, the
minimum number
the sponsors
said
they had
commitments
for, up to
145.
Syrian
Permanent
Representative
Bashar
Ja'afari on
his way in
told Inner
City Press he
would seek
some
clarifications.
He did,
questioning
the agenda
item
the resolution
was brought up
under. But the
presiding Vice
President
of the GA,
Australia's
Permanent
Representative,
said this is
how it
goes, and gave
the floor to
Egypt.
Even
so, before
the vote,
Syria spokes
again, as did
Venezuela and
North Korea --
to
say they would
vote no - and
Grenada, to
say they would
vote yes with
the
understanding
of no military
or other
intervention.
When
the voting
came, three
countries
complained it
had not
worked:
Burundi,
Kygyzstan and
Comoros.
Therefore as
speeches
continued
after the
voting, the
"yes" vote
count rose
from an
initial 137 up
to
142 as of this
writing.
Even
so, proponents
of the
resolution
whispered
afterward to
Inner City
Press that
eight
more countries
hadn't been
able to vote
due to not
paying their
dues,
but would have
voted yes. So
should the
count be 150?
Inner
City Press
at the
stakeout asked
UK Permanent
Representative
Mark Lyall
Grant
what he
thought the
vote count
would have
been on
Russia's
amendments. He
said they had
been rejected
by the Arab
sponsors, and
that it
wouldn't have
made any
difference.
When
asked about
the French
"proposal" for
humanitarian
corridors
inside
Syria, Lyall
Grant said he
hasn't seen
the proposal.
As
French
Permanent
Representative
Gerard Araud
left the
General
Assembly, he
was asked to
come to the
stakeout as
Lyall Grant
had. He shook
his
head and
walked away --
headlong down,
one wag said,
his own
personal
humanitarian
corridor.
Araud
had come
back early
from the
Council's trip
to Haiti, as
had his
counterparts
from Portugal,
Colombia and
Morocco. US
Ambassador
Susan Rice
remained in
Haiti, but
issued a
statement
after the
vote. Li
Baodong
is back in
China, but a
Chinese
minister is
traveling for
a two day
visit to
Damascus.
When
Saudi
Arabia's
Permanent
Representative
and Egypt's
Deputy PR came
to the
stakeout,
Inner City
Press asked
about the
status of the
Arab League
nominating the
Jordanian
businessman Al
Khatib for
Syria envoy.
Egypt's DPR
said that the
Secretaries
General of the
UN and Arab
League and in
touch, and
that there
will be an
Arab League
envoy very
soon, very
probably a
joint envoy
with the UN.
Saudi's
Permanent
Representative
was asked
about Bahrain,
and said he
wished Assad
in
Syria had
followed
Bahrain's
example of
engaging with
opponents. Not
all would
agree with
that; Russia's
Vitaly
Churkin, for
example, has
more than once
contrasted the
US telling
Bahrain's
opposition not
to
dare use force
to the "mixed
messages or
worse" sent to
opponents in
Syria.
Japan's
Permanent
Representative
Nishida came
and spoke in
Japanese; in
English, Inner
City Press
asked him how
the double
veto in the
Security
Council
related to
Japan's desire
for Security
Council reform
-- that is,
for
a permanent
seat on the
Council.
Ambassador
Nishida called
the
vetoes
disappointing.
In
speeches after
the vote,
Pakistan's
Permanent
Representative
Haroon said
that some
of Russia's --
and China's --
amendments
should have
been accepted,
not only in
the GA but
also in the
Security
Council, where
Pakistan
also voted
yes.
Serbia
said it
voted yes, but
like the
Russian
amendments.
Armenia
abstained,
with
Azerbaijan
voting yes.
Some for some
reason thought
Myanmar would
vote yes, as
another step
in its
"evolution" --
but it
abstained, as
did Sri Lanka
on which we
have have
another story
-
watch this
site.
