Fast
Change
in Syria of
Concern to
Iraq -- and UN
Envoy Kobler?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 6 --
When Iraq was
discussed in
UN Security
Council
meetings
Tuesday, both
public and
behind closed
doors, several
Ambassadors
told Inner
City Press it
was "pretty
routine"
or even "same
old, same
old."
But
tucked in
paragraph 23
of UN Envoy
Martin
Kobler's
statement to
the Council
was
a reference to
Syria:
"unfolding
events in
Syria are of
concern
to many of my
interlocutors
who fear their
possible
repercussion
in
Iraq."
One
major Iraq
interlocutor,
Prime Minister
Nuri al
Maliki, has
offered
himself as a
mediator
between
Syria's Bashar
al Assad and
his opponents,
while
Iraqi
President
Jalal Talabani
has said "we
are worried
that
radicals may
replace the
old (current)
regime."
When
Inner City
Press asked
Kobler about
this, he said
that we --
presumably the
UN
-- and the
Iraqi
government
"share the
same aim,
stability in
the country."
He spoke
against
"unquiet." Video
here, from
Minute 3:19.
That
Iraqi Shiite
leaders might
be concerned
about
particular
Sunni leaders
replaced
Assad in Syria
may be
understandable.
But does the
UN envoy in
Iraq
have to "share
this same
aim"?
Talabani and
Kobler of UN:
sharing same
aim about
Syria?
A
Council
representative
complained to
Inner City
Press that
Kobler
"focused
so much on
Camp Ashraf."
This occupies
page 13 to 16
of his
statement, and
most of his
opening
remarks at the
stakeout.
Earlier,
Inner City
Press asked
Iraq's
Permanent
Representative
why he hadn't
even
mentioned
Syria in the
Council.
"Can't mention
everything,"
he answerd,
noting that
since Kobler
devoted so
much of his
statement
to Camp
Ashraf, he had
too as well.
Inner
City Press
asked him
about his
statement that
900 Camp
Ashraf
residents have
dual
citizenship:
where did he
get that
figure? He
said, from the
UN.
When
Kobler come
out of Council
consultations,
Inner City
Press asked
him about the
900 dual
citizens
claim. He
said "that has
been certified
in only a few
cases." He is
asking Iraq to
extend the
December 31
deadline it
has sent for
closing Camp
Ashraf. We'll
see -- watch
this site.
, 
