UN's
Mood Says
Lead-Up to
Houla Unclear,
UK Admits,
Germany Says
No
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
May 27 --
After the UN
Security
Council issued
its Press
Statement on
the killings
in Houla,
Syria, late
Sunday
afternoon,
Inner City
Press put
questions
about it to
the
Ambassadors of
the UK,
Syria,
Germany,
Russia and
France - for
the latter
two, the
Deputies.
First,
a BRICS
representative
told Inner
City Press
that General
Robert Mood
has
said that the
circumstances
leading to the
killings in
Houla were
unclear or
murky, and had
mentioned
killings by
close-range
shooting
and "extreme
physical
abuse" - a
shorthand for
beheading.
Even
before the
statement was
read out by
the
Azerbaijani
presidency of
the Council
for May,
Syrian
Ambassador
Bashar
Ja'afari told
Inner City
Press
exclusively
that his
government
viewed Houla
as analogous
to "Algeria
in the 1990s"
-- brutal
beheadings
meant spark a
civil war.
Ja'afari
also
said a goal of
those behind
the beheadings
included
increasing the
size of the
UNSMIS
mission,
militarizing
them and
internationalizing
investigations
and
accountability,
mentioning
"Ocampo" of
the
International
Criminal Court
(soon to be
replaced by
Ms.
Bensouda).
When
the formal
stakeouts
started, Inner
City Press
asked French
Deputy
Permanent
Representative
Martin Briens
to respond to
the analogy to
Algeria in
the 1990s.
He said no
further
comment is
necessary, it
is the
responsibility
of the
government to
protect
civilians. But
it's said
Houla was not
in government
control.
Inner
City Press
asked German
Permanent
Representative
Peter Wittig
to confirm
that
Mood said that
the
circumstances
leading to the
killings in
Houla
were unclear.
Wittig replied
that in its
view things
were not
murky.
But
UK Permanent
Representative
Mark Lyall
Grant, when
Inner City
Press asked
him the
same question
about Mood's
statement that
the lead-up
was unclear,
to
his credit
acknowledged
that was said.
He went on to
say that in a
sense it
didn't matter,
Syria should
not have used
tanks, these
should have
already been
back in the
barracks.
Russian
Deputy
Permanent
Representative
Pankin said
that Russia
called for the
briefing.
Inner City
Press asked
him about the
analogy to
Algeria in
the 1990s.
He replied
that there is
the presence
of a third
force,
or external
forces, who
want to bring
about military
intervention
or
victory. He
said that an
investigation
is much
needed. But
who will
do a credible
investigation?
As
the last
speaker,
Syrian
Permanent
Representative
Ja'afari
called the
statements of
Wittig and
Lyall Grant a
"tsunami of
lies,"
which
different from
what General
Mood had said.
"What about
Ban
Ki-moon,"
Inner City
Press asked:
was he and his
letter more
akin to Mood
or to the
German and UK
Ambassadors'
presentation?
He
replied,
closer to the
UK and
Germany, of
course. Of
course!
Finally,
Inner
City Press
asked Ja'afari
if this might
lead to an
increase in
the
size of
UNSMIS. Yes,
Ja'afari said.
So, in a
cynical view:
a jobs
program? The
investigation
is important.
Footnote:
During
the
afternoon's
closed
consultations,
representatives
of
several
countries not
(yet) on the
Security
Council came
to monitor
proceedings.
Inner City
Press tweeted
that Sudan and
Norway were
there, then
that
Liechtenstein
and Finland
had been
first.
At the
end, Australia
let it be
known that
they had been
present too,
and
give a written
statement by
Foreign
Minister Bob
Carr. Duly
noted.
But where was
Luxembourg,
which is
running
against
Finland and
Australia in
October for
two seats on
the Security
Council in
2013-14? Watch
this site.
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