At
UN,
Syria Tells
ICP "Mood Is
Good," Was
Made to Read
Out
Ladsous' Edict
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
June 19, updated
-- With
General Robert
Mood already
in New York,
still Tuesday
morning in
front of the
Security
Council there
were
widely
differing
summaries of
what Mood has
done and his
Mission is
doing.
French
Ambassador
Gerard Araud
kicked off the
morning by
declaring that
Mood "has
decided to
stop" the
"regular
function" of
the
mission. Araud
emphasized
that the
mission "lost
several
vehicles."
But
less than an
hour later
Inner City
Press asked
Chinese
Ambassador Li
Baodong, has
the UN Mission
in Syria
stopped? No,
he told Inner
City Press
exclusively.
They can still
work
with the two
parties.
In
fact even
after
on Friday the
UN Department
of
Peacekeeping
Operations led
by its
fourth
Frenchman in a
row Herve
Ladsous on
Friday
notified the
Security
Council UNSMIS
was limiting
mobile
activities --
Inner City
Press obtained
and at 10 pm
Friday
exclusive
reported and
published the
DPKO memo --
on Sunday
Mood said the
mission could
go and witness
the release of
civilians.
UK Ambassador
Mark Lyall
Grant told
Inner City
Press "they
can still
react," but
said there's
talk of
reducing the
number of
outlying
outpost. We'll
hear from
General Mood
this
afternoon, he
said.
The
Syrian side
Monday morning
told Inner
City Press
that "Mood is
good," that's
why their
response to
Mood "having
to read out"
on Saturday
Ladsous'
Friday edict
was that they
understood.
"It's
Ladsous," they
said.
Another
source in
the region, no
fan of Bashar
al Assad, told
Inner City
Press that
France WANTS
the Mission to
stop, but they
haven't been
able to bring
it out. It is
suggested that
Mood's
briefing later
today will
again
be nuanced and
balance, "not
enough" to
justify
stopping
the Mission.
"Ladsous will
be more
negative."
Ultimately,
absent
Security
Council
agreement, it
will be up to
Kofi Annan to
pull the plug,
the analysis
continued, and
he will not do
so that this
time. Watch
this
site.
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