At UN, Iran Resolution Is Juggled with Zimbabwe, Uganda Is In, Brammertz Eats Alone

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis

UNITED NATIONS, March 21 -- Following a Security Council meeting Wednesday afternoon about Iran, U.S. Ambassador Alejandro Wolff emerged and told reporters that there is still a possibility of a vote this week on the draft sanctions resolution, and that the afternoon's meetings were "not a negotiation session."

            Minutes later, South African Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo, the president of the Council this month, was asked about Wolff's comments.  He asked rhetorically, if it was not a negotiation session, what was it? South Africa has issued a two-and-a-half page "non-paper" which proposes that a 90 day time out be built into the resolution, and would omit from the sanctions list several individuals and companies, including Bank Sepah, Qods Aeronautics Industries and Pars Aviation Services Company. Others are requesting that the resolution's proponents come forward with justification and proof about the names on the sanctions list.

            By Wednesday evening, the UN was full of competing theories on what will happened next. Some say that the resolution's proponents will put it "in blue" on Thursday night, and demand a vote within 24 hours. Others note that Ambassador Kumalo, as Council president, controls when meetings are scheduled, and at a minimum could hold off action until Iran's president, who has requested to address the Council before any vote of further sanctions. Further out, it is speculated that South Africa could run out the clock until the end of their month heading the Council, and that the UK, which chairs the Council in April, would preside over the sanctions' enactment. We'll see.

Zimbabwe as Political Football

            In the eddies of this jousting about the Iran nuclear sanctions resolution, the issue of Zimbabwe is being buffeted about like a homeless cause. A briefing of the Security Council about recent events in Zimbabwe -- the arrest and beating of opposition leaders, the crackdown on the press, the economic collapse -- had been scheduled for Thursday afternoon. It will no longer take place, at least at that time. Ambassador Kumalo Wednesday evening that "the UK had wanted a briefing on Zimbabwe, that's not going to happen now."  Amb. Kumalo has previously been heard by correspondents to say that Robert Mugabe is just a grumpy old man who should be allowed to serve out his time.

UK Amb. Emyr Jones Parry: before Guernica, Zimbabwe to follow

            Soon after Ambassador Kumalo's comments, Inner City Press asked UK Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry about the status of the briefing on Zimbabwe, and any linkage to the negotiations around the Iran sanctions resolution. Ambassador Jones Parry said that because the Iran text will now been discussed on Thursday afternoon, the Zimbabwe briefing was bumped. He said he has requested that it take place, if possible, on Thursday morning, or at the soonest possible time thereafter. At 7 p.m., Thursday's Council scheduled was released, with Zimbabwe not included in the morning or afternoon session. (Northern Uganda / the Great Lakes, a euphemism for the Lord's Resistance Army conflict, remains on the agency for a briefing at 4 p.m., click here for today's Inner City Press coverage of LRA, Joaquim Chissano and Deputy Secretary General Asha-Rose Migiro.) Given South Africa's position that Zimbabwe issues do not belong in the Security Council, it remains to be seen what happens with the Zimbabwe issues now.

            One update on a less prominent hotspot: earlier in the week, Inner City Press asked Russian Ambassador Churkin when Abkhazia will be considered by the Council, given the request by Georgia after the contested elections in the region, and the bombing incident which the UN says its is investigating. "It's on the agenda for next week," Ambassador Churkin said, then amended the answer to "next month." What will Kosovo, the issues are piling up. We'll see.

            Finally, a review and in-UN sighting. Serge Brammertz of the International Independent Investigation Commission on Wednesday spoke at the stakeout for 23 minutes without saying much of anything. To some degree it's understandable: a prosecutor can only say so much about an ongoing investigation. But why then stand at the stakeout for 23 minutes? One wag noted that those who should speak and have no excuse not to, such as Ibrahim Gambari, often rush right past reporters, while those who can't or won't speak seem to hunger for attention. Related or not, Mr. Brammertz was observed later on Wednesday eating alone in the UN cafeteria. As someone once said, the UN can be like high school...

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At UN Security Council, Kosovo Jousting, Double-Talk on Iran, Depression on Darfur

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN

UNITED NATIONS, March 19 -- At the UN Security Council and the microphone outside, Monday was a day of much talk and little action on three hotspots around the globe. The morning's agenda was Kosovo, on which envoy Joachim Rucker briefed the Council. Afterwards, Inner City Press asked Mr. Rucker about criticisms that have been aimed at the cancellation of municipal elections in November 2006 by the UN Mission in Kosovo, UNMIK. Video here, from Minute 6:14 through 8:45. Mr. Rucker acknowledged the criticism, that the municipal election were put off pending a status determination, which was first delayed for the Serbian election, and now for Council deliberations on the proposal made by the UN's negotiator Martti Ahtisaari.

            At the UN's noon briefing, Inner City Press had asked for the Secretariat's response to Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov's statement that "If Ahtisaari thinks he has done everything within his power, then almost certainly another person could be found to do it." Inner City Press and then a colleague asked Ban Ki-moon's spokeswoman if there is any thought of replacing Mr. Ahtisaari. From the transcript:

Inner City Press: Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov has been quoted as saying that if Mr. Ahtisaari feels he’s done everything he can, maybe someone else should be bound for the job.  Does the Secretary-General have any response? Would he consider appointing a different representative on the Kosovo status question?

Spokesperson:  At this point, Mr. Ahtisaari is the one responsible.  And he is the one in charge...

Question:  Michele, of course, a follow-up to Matthew's question.  I wonder why anybody, if anybody, is really thinking of replacing Mr. Ahtisaari.  Even you repeated that even the Secretary-General hinted somehow that talks have been exhausted.  I mean, they are finished now, so is there a valid question or request for replacing Mr. Ahtisaari?  How do you see that?

Spokesperson:  Well, at this point, no.  Mr. Ahtisaari... as you know, the project is being presented to the Security Council and...

Question:  The Secretary-General or to the Security Council?

Spokesperson:  It's going to be presented to the Security Council, and this process has to go on, and Mr. Ahtisaari is in charge.

UN wall in Congo: access to UN information sometimes not much different  

          The subtext in the Council Monday morning was Iran. Off-camera, Ambassadors addressed a series of amendments proposed by South African Ambassador Kumalo: a ninety-day pause, and for example the removal of Bank Sepah and some Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps entities from the sanctions list.

   French Ambassador de la Sabliere said that South Africa's proposals "are not consistent with the approach of the Council." To some these seemed a strange formulation, given that South Africa is the president of the Council this month. The UK's deputy ambassador spoke, but glared at the tape recorder of one journalist -- not this one -- and said this was not on the record. Amb. Kumalo countered, why treat the draft by the Permanent Five members and Germany "as if written by God." A Sunny correspondent slipped in the driest of humor, asking if the "informal informal" discussion now slated for Tuesday didn't represent double-talk. (He's deployed the same quip regarding the African Union's Darfur negotiator Salim Salim.)

            Later UN Peacekeeping chief Jean-Marie Guehenno emerged from briefing the Council on Darfur with a sad and depressed look.  This is the ninth such discussion, he said, and people are still dying. Inner City Press asked if there had been any movement on getting peacekeepers into neighboring Darfur. Guehenno noted the opposition of Chadian president Deby. "Why are both opposing the UN blue helmets?" A wise correspondent opined that Chad doesn't want to go first, and France hasn't yet pulled the string. We'll see.

In Iran Talks, China Offers Quotes and Hope to Shivering Reporters

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis

UNITED NATIONS, March 9 -- As a next round of sanctions on Iran for its nuclear programs are discussed by the five permanent member nations of the Security Council and Germany, Thomas Matussek, the German envoy, predicted that the penalties agreed to will be "swift and modest." To this process, the UN press corps adds another adjective through chattering teeth: cold.

            Talks have so far been held outside of the UN, in the United Kingdom's mission in 1 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza on 47th Street and Second Avenue in New York, where the temperature has been below freezing. Ambassadors emerge from the talks to inform or spin reporters about the negotiations. Thursday evening, U.S. Ambassador Alejandro Wolff came out spoke to a dozen journalists waiting on the sidewalk in the cold. His comments were a model of bland diplomacy:

Amb. Wolff: The devil is in the details on these things as you know... We're doing a lot of explaining in different terms of what peoples' concerns are, and what is the best way to get our ultimate objective, and the ultimate objective is a shared one, to signal to the Iranian government that there is a cost for not adhering to resolutions, for not complying with their obligations, and the cost increases each time they don't comply.

            These comments were, reporters noted, less than useful.  The talks resumed at 10 a.m. on Friday, an even colder day in New York. Reporters were shivering when the meeting broke up at 1 p.m.. But this time, Chinese Ambassador Guangya Wang provided more specifics:

Q. Do you see this going on for a few more weeks?

Amb. Wang: I hope if it goes well, then at least I don't think we will be ready by next week.

Q. Not by next week?

Amb. Wang: No. My feeling is, not.

Q. Ambassador, one more thing. Yesterday, the State Dept. spokesman indicated that this time Chinese are more resisting than Russians. How do you respond?

Amb. Wang:  I think... the difficulty for China is different from the difficulty that Russians have.

Q. Can you elaborate on that?

Amb. Wang: I think the Chinese main difficulty is with the financial and trade sanctions against Iran, because we feel that we are not punishing Iranian people. We should punish the Iranians for their activities in the nuclear field. And the difficulty for Russia is, Russia has difficulty with the name of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, because they feel it's an institution in Iran and you don't have to penalize an institution.

            Reporters were grateful for the quotes, which appeared in Reuters and in much of the Japanese press. But the stock of Ambassador Wang and perhaps of China rose even higher with the press corps when he expressed chagrin or at least some doubts about holding the meetings outside of the UN, where reporters have to wait outside in the cold. You have no place to sit, and now water, Amb. Wang remarked, mentioning that he will try to move the forthcoming meetings back into the UN building. 

   Other Ambassadors at the talks did not express this concern; one press spokesperson remarked that no one obliged reporters to come and wait for quotes in the cold. Provoking the most ire, after French Ambassador Jean Marc de la Sabliere did not come outside for even a moment to speak, since his office is inside the building, his spokesman sent reporters a short bilingual (and unusable) quote by e-mail: "The meeting was constructive. We are making progress / Nous avancons."

            Merci for nothing, muttered one reporter. The ink-stained sources cited in this piece are granted anonymity due to their need for continued access to thin-skinned diplomats.

Amb. Wang speaks to Amb. de la Sabliere (Froid? Moi? )

            There is a saying in courthouses, that the law is what the judge had for breakfast.  Likewise, some of journalism is impacted by how the journalists are treated. If the personal is political, one can expect more understanding coverage of China's positions, at least during these Iran sanctions negotiations.

            One reporter marveled that China was so humane in New York, while taking a different approach back home (for example, shooting some of those trying to flee Tibet, click here for that story.) Another wag -- this one -- quipped that if the North Koreans sent blankets, hot coffee and construction heaters to the press corps on 47th Street, their line that the United States and the UN are "gangster-like" might gain a bit more traction.

In full disclosure, while the account of Thursday evening's stakeout is first-hand, on Friday while the above-described took place, Inner City Press was posing questions to the UN's envoy to the Great Lakes region of Africa and to Ban Ki-moon's spokesperson about North Korea, in the too-warm UN briefing room. Click here for Inner City Press' most recent (and, one hopes, more substantive) story on the UN's dealings with North Korea. The spokesperson referred the question to the South Korean mission. But that's west of First Avenue, and as more than one reporter signed, it's coooold outside. To be continued.

Other, earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available in the ProQuest service.

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