On
Qatar vs GCC & Egypt, ICP
Asks UN If Feltman Visited
Saudi & If Not,
Why Not
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS,
July 7 – As the stand-off
between Qatar and Saudi
Arabia, the rest of the GCC
and Egypt continues, the UN
announced that its Jeffrey
Feltman was visiting countries
in the region, but did not
list Saudi Arabia. On July 7,
Inner City Press asked the
UN's holdover spokesman
Stephane Dujarric, UN
transcript here:
Inner City Press: on Jeffrey
Feltman's diplomacy, when you…
when you listed the countries
he's been to, there was… has
he been to more countries
since then than the ones you
said? I'm specifically
asking about Saudi Arabia.
Spokesman: I don't have
a full itinerary. Mr.
Feltman is back… he is in
Germany when he's currently
briefing the Secretary-General
on his… on his trip.
Inner City Press: I've heard
that he asked to go to Saudi
Arabia and was not for some
reason permitted. Is
there some…
Spokesman: I'm not
aware. I'm not aware.
And in the
hours since, nothing. Back on
June 15 Inner City Press asked
UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric
about Qatar pulling its troops
out from between Eritrea and
Djiibouti - and Dujarric
answered about Ethiopia, see
below. On June 17, an expert
on Qatar's Al Jazeera said the
Moroccan offer to mediate
"wasn't taken seriously,"
which when Inner City Press
quoted it, pro-Morocco trolls
went crazy. Here's that quote,
Vine Camera here,
and here's the UN's June 15 transcript
(video here):
Inner City Press: on Qatar,
they've announced that they're
pulling out of their role on
the border between Djibouti
and Eritrea, where they've
had… which is something the UN
has worked on in the
past. And I… they… it
seems pretty clearly tied to
this standoff with the other
Gulf countries. Do you
have any comment on
that? Do you anticipate
Qatar pulling back from the
role it's played in
Darfur? Is there any
interplay between the… the…
their… their… these diplomatic
initiatives and, in the case
of Djibouti and Eritrea, the
actual imposition of troops
between two belligerents?
Spokesman: No specific
comment on the issue between
Ethiopia and Eritrea. I
mean, I think, as we've said,
the Secretary-General has been
following this closely.
He's been in touch with
various parties, including the
Deputy Prime Minister of
Kuwait, and is very much
supportive of Kuwait's
diplomatic efforts. I
think it's important that the
subregion regains its
unity. The disunity
we're seeing, it serves the
purpose… serves no one.
Go ahead.
Inner City Press:
Djibouti. I just want… I
wanted to just be clear.
I'm asking about Eritrea.
Spokesman:
Eritrea. I'm
sorry. I misspoke.
Yeah.
The veneer
that Al Jazeera was not Qatar
state TV has been ripped off,
with self serving reports
from, for example, Georgetown
Doha We'll have more on this.
***
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