Exclusive:
On
Saudi Seat,
Arab Group
Statement Was
Never Agreed
To, ICP Is
Told
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 19 --
The Arab Group
"press
statement"
urging Saudi
Arabia to
"maintain
their
Membership in
the
Security
Council,"
e-mailed out
Saturday
afternoon, was
never
formally
agreed to by
the Group,
Inner City
Press is
exclusively
told
from the Gulf.
The
statement was
reported
without
qualification
by Reuters
and Agence
France
Presse,
for example,
with a Gulf
satellite
television
channel
even saying
that since no
Arab Group
member broke
the silence
procedure, the
statement was
issued.
But
Inner City
Press has
learned, at
least one
member --
surprisingly,
from the Gulf
-- said it
need to
consult with
its capital.
Some other
members never
formally got
the draft
statement to
comment on or
break
silence, including
one member who
absolutely had
to see it in
advance before
it was sent
out, but did
not.
"It's
unbelievable,"
an involved
source told
Inner City
Press, needing
anonymity on
pain of, well,
decapitation.
"They all got
fooled,
Reuters and
then. They
didn't even
check with us.
To call it a
'silence
procedure'
when something
is faxed at 11
pm on a
holiday, and
then sent to
the media the
middle of the
next day is a
joke."
But
the hunger not
only of
Western powers
but also of
their
affiliated
media to get
Saudi Arabia
on the
Security
Council to
take a hard
line
on Syria and
Iran is so
great, the
source
continued,
that they cut
corners.
Instead
of
the most basic
fact checking,
they launched
into
paragraphs
about
the Saudis'
supposed
motives, to
get the
attention of
the United
States, drive
the US away
from Iran's
Hassan Rouhani
or toward
renewed
military
threats on
Syria.
This
way, even in
reversing
course
Saudi Arabia
could save
face, saying
they only took
the seat
because
their fellow
Arab countries
-- minus at
least one of
course --
begged
them to.
"We're doing
this for you,"
the Saudis
could say.
But
what would the
"this" be?
Urging the
same rebels it
arms
and tells not
to negotiate
with Assad to
go to Geneva
Two? Removing
or loosening
sanctions on
Iran? (For
more on this,
click
here for this
reporter's
longer piece
on Beacon
Reader, a new
feature.)
Now could
the
Saudis rely on
an Arab Group
statement not
formally even
agreed
to, as a basis
for playing
Hamlet and
reversing
themselves?
Watch
this site.
Here
is the "Arab
Group press
release"
e-mailed out
on October
19, 2013:
"The
Arab Group, at
level of
Ambassadors,
Permanent
Representatives
to the
United Nations
in New York,
discussed in
an
extraordinary
fashion,
the situation
regarding the
position of
the Brothers
in the Kingdom
of Saudi
Arabia
regarding
their
Membership in
the Security
Council.
With our
understanding
and respect
for the
position of
the Brothers
in the Kingdom
of Saudi
Arabia, we
hope that
they, which
are amongst
the blessed
who represent
the Arab and
Islamic world
at this
important and
historical
stage,
specifically
for the Middle
East
region, to
maintain their
Membership in
the Security
Council and
continue their
brave role in
defending our
issues
specifically
at the
rostrum of the
Security
Council."
, 
