Inner City Press: Investigative Reporting from the United Nations

At UN, As US Said to Want Fingerpointing at Assad of Syria, Lebanon Between Iran & Hard Place

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 26, updated -- Amid buzz about Syria at the UN Security Council Tuesday afternoon, Syria's Permanent Representative went into the Council, followed by a diplomat from Kim Jong-Il's Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The draft press statement circulated on Monday, sources tell Inner City Press, only referred to violence in Syria, without naming the government. The US, which is now on the record opposing Syria for the UN Human Rights Council, is said to want more direct finger pointing at the Assad government.

This would make Russian and Chinese opposition all the more certain. Lebanon, too, unlike on Yemen where it wanted a statement, is queasy about criticism of domineering immediate neighbor Syria, and more distant influencer Iran.

Within the UN Secretariat, there is a debate about trying to send an envoy as was done to Yemen. But a similar attempt to send Oscar Fernandez Tarranco of the Department of Political Affairs to Bahrain was shot down. Is Ban, even with this "Good Offices" power, running scared?

When the Security Council let out past 5 pm, Ambassador Cabral of Portugal told the Press that it will be discussed tomorrow. Asked if the statement he introduced can be adopted, he said "I hope so."

Update: Syria's Permanent Representative came and took a dozen questions. Inner City Press asked if Assad would accept an envoy from the UN, as Yemen did. No, he answered, it is too early.

Update of 6:26 pm - When Susan Rice finally took two questions, her spokesman had pre-selected the first, then pulled the plug after the second.

Update of 6:41 pm - the Arab Group met in the Security Council, heard from Lebanon expert. Exiting, a diplomat told Inner City Press that after Lynn Pascoe's briefing Wednesday afternoon on Syria, if there is no agreement on the draft press statement, an open meeting will be requested at which each member will have to make public its position, "so it doesn't die on the vine like the Yemen statement." We'll see.

Ban & Assad, no UN envoy (or UNSC press statement) shown

The reasoning of the US, and its accommodation of Lebanon's position, were not immediately clear: the US Mission to the UN sent a heads-up of Ambassador Susan Rice's press availability to only some in the UN press corps.

The US position was also unclear on the pending Western Sahara resolution. Susan Rice “holds the pen” on that, but her position on the jurisdiction of Moroccan rights bureaucracy over Western Sahara, a major issue for the African Union, is not known. Watch this site.

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At UN on Syria, “Watered Down” Proposal for Tuesday, Under Yemen Precedent

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 25 -- Amid the crackdown in Syria, among the members of the UN Security Council in New York a draft statement was circulated Monday morning.

In front of the Council Monday afternoon, the Press asked entering Ambassadors what they thought about the draft. “What do you think?” US Deputy Permanent Representative Rosymary Dicarlo said. (She later told Inner City Press that she'd been joking).

Lebanon's Permanent Representative Nawaf Salam said, “That's for tomorrow, not today.” Later another member's Permanent Representative predicted that the Arab League, and thus presumably Lebanon, would be urging to go slow on Syria -- unlike their request on Yemen.

Even the Permanent Representative of one of the countries which introduced the proposal told Inner City Press on Monday evening that the draft is “watered down,” and said their country would prefer a “Security Council debate on Syria, to send a message.”

But it is unclear what message will be sent. Also on Monday evening, Chinese Permanent Representative Li Baodong told Inner City Press that China is concerned about issues getting put so quickly onto the Security Council agenda.

He pointed at the rejection last week in the Council of a draft statement on Yemen, noting that after that, President Saleh reportedly reached an agreement with the regional Gulf Cooperation Council. Under this agreement, which Saleh's own statements have since called into question, Saleh would leave power in exchange for immunity for himself and his family.

One cannot imagine, at least at this point, Assad leaving in this way. Council members were told to get instructions and, on that basis, respond to the draft by 10 am on April 26. Watch this site.

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At UN on Yemen, Russia Blocks Lebanese & German Security Council Statement Supporting GCC

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, April 19 -- When the UN Security Council got a briefing on Yemen on April 19, a statement was proposed by Germany and Lebanon. But it was not agreed to.

Inner City Press has seen the proposed statement, and it is very simple:

“The members of the Security Council heard a briefing from... on the situation in Yemen.

“They expressed their concern at the political crisis in Yemen, and called on the parties to exercise restraint and to enter into a comprehensive dialogue to realize the legitimate aspirations of the Yemeni people.

“They also expressed their full support to the mediation role of the Gulf Cooperation Council.”

A Western spokesperson told the Press pointedly that “the usual suspects” had blocked this simple statement by saying that they needed instructions from their capitals. Other sources in the Council, however, reduce the suspects to a single one: Russia.

They describe a standoff between the second and third highest diplomats in Russia's Mission to the UN -- top ambassador Vitaly Churkin was not involved -- and Lebanon's Permanent Representative Nawaf Salam.

The Russians, they say, asked Salam why Lebanon wasn't taking the anti-statement position. Salam in turn raised his voice, saying that Russia should be following the Arab countries' lead, and that Russia's Ambassador in Beirut would to asked to explain why not.

Inner City Press will venture this explanation: Russia sees the GCC as a pro-American grouping and does not want to support it.

Ban & Saleh, previously, Russia and 2d term not shown

Another Western spokesman, on background, said that the real purpose of the briefing was to provide support to the Gulf Cooperation Council mediation in Yemen. A well placed UN source told Inner City Press this was wishful thinking, that the GCC process would need outside support or “content.”

The reason for the Western countries deferring to the GCC, he said, was that “probably only a GCC country would be willing to take Yemen's president” Ali Abdullah Saleh if he stepped down.

While the UN Secretariat seems to feel positive about the Security Council session and that it could do more in Yemen than the GCC can, others predict that Russia will not get instructions for the rest of the shortened week, and the statement will die. The questions is whether this is another thing Russia will admonish Ban Ki-moon about during his upcoming visit there. We'll see. Watch this site.

Footnote: As US Ambassador Susan Rice left the meeting, she was asked if Syria had also been discussed. “No,” he said. Why not? Because the topic was Yemen, she said as she left. But Syria did come up in the Security Council during Monday's “horizon” briefing by Lynn Pascoe. Watch this site.

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At UN, Yemen Taken Up by Security Council, Syria Discussed But No Bahrain, Under Ban Envoy Litmus Test

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 18 -- While Yemen wasn't listed as a topic for the Security Council's “horizon” briefing on Monday, once UN Department of Political Affairs chief Lynn Pascoe mentioned it, several members asked to have more information.

And so on April 19 at 3:30 pm there will be a separate Security Council briefing devoted to Yemen. German Ambassador Wittig told Inner City Press that the situation in Yemen raises regional issues, including piracy.

Inner City Press asked Wittig if Germany would like Syria, which also discussed in the horizon briefing, to ascend to the Security Council agenda. Wittig said that Germany is concerned, that an eye should be kept on Syria.

Another Council member's Deputy Permanent Representative said that the Yemen briefing was okay because “he” -- Pascoe or Ban Ki-moon -- sent an envoy there, “so let's hear what he has to say.”

So if Syria accepted an envoy, it too would be discussed in the Security Council? This puts Ban not pushing for an envoy -- Oscar Fernandez Tarranco -- to Bahrain in a different light.

We will have more on Yemen, where the capital city is said to be split in two with a renegade general in control of half. Watch this site.

Click for Mar 1, '11 BloggingHeads.tv re Libya, Sri Lanka, UN Corruption

These reports are usually also available through Google News and on Lexis-Nexis.

Click here for a Reuters AlertNet piece by this correspondent about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click here for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali National Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an undefined trust fund. Video Analysis here

Other, earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.

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