At
UN
on Syria, UK
Says Its Email
Trumps
Russia's Oral
Request, P5
Blues
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 30 --
Amid a
Security
Council split
between
dueling
Syria
resolutions
introduced by
Russia
supported by
China, versus
the
Council's four
European
members and
the US, a side
fight about
which
draft first
went "into
blue," and
thus could be
called for
a vote first,
has been
joined.
Inner
City Press
asked August's
Council
president,
Indian
Ambassador
Hardeep Singh
Puri on August
30, "Which
went into blue
first?" He
replied that
it remains to
be seen.
Puri's
India
mission, in
asking to hear
both sides'
arguments,
summarized
that on
August 26 the
Russian text
was
distributed to
the Council
members in
Consultations
and Russian
Permanent
Representative
Vitaly Churkin
asked for it
to be put in
blue at 12:50
pm.
An e-mail from
the UK
delegation,
on this issue,
was received
in the UN
Secretariat at
12:59 pm. It
stated
“Please
put
attached Syria
text in blue
now. Needless
to say if you
have not
received text
from another
delegation,
the UK text is
in blue
first.”
The
Indian summary
said that the
drafts will
only be
numbered
sequentially
after the
Security
Council takes
a final
decision on
the sequence
of the
submissions of
the requests
by Russia and
UK.
The
UK Mission to
the UN sent
out its
response after
10 pm on
August 26,
explicitly on
behalf of
itself France,
Germany,
Portugal and
US:
We
circulated
our draft
resolution via
the
Secretariat
during
consultations
in the
Security
Council
Consultations
Room on
Tuesday
23 August. It
was then the
subject of
negotiations
at expert and
PR
level. On 26
August at
1259, we sent
a written
request to the
Secretariat
asking for the
text to be put
into blue. At
this point,
Russia had,
neither in
writing nor
orally,
submitted a
request to put
the text into
blue.
You
state
that the
“Russian text
was
distributed to
the Council
members
in
Consultations
today, and the
Russian PR
asked for it
to be put in
blue at 12:50
hours.” In
fact, the
Russian
Permanent
Representative
did not ask
for the
Russian draft
resolution to
be put into
blue. He
told Council
colleagues
that he had
instructions
to put the
draft
resolution
into blue.
This did not
constitute a
request to put
the
resolution
into blue.
Rather, it
constituted a
statement of
intention
to put the
resolution
into blue. In
short, the
Russian
Permanent
Representative
during the
informal
consultations
did not ask
the
Secretariat
that the draft
resolution be
put into blue.
By
contrast,
and in
accordance
with usual
practice, the
UK did ask
that
the
UK/France/US/Portugal/Germany
resolution be
put into blue,
by
sending a
formal email
to the
Secretariat
asking that it
be put into
blue.
Rule
32
of the
Provisional
Rules of
Procedure
provides:
“Principal
motions and
draft
resolutions
shall have
precedence in
the order of
their
submission.”
Because our
draft
resolution was
formally
submitted
first, it
clearly has
precedence
over the
Russian draft
resolution.
The
key
point now,
however, is
that the vast
majority of
the Council
agrees that a
resolution on
Syria is
necessary. We
should work
rapidly on the
basis of our
text to come
up with
effective
collective
action to
tackle the
deteriorating
crisis in
Syria. We have
arranged
negotiations
at PR level on
Monday 29
August at 1545
for that
purpose.
After
that
meeting, on
Tuesday
morning UK
Permanent
Representative
Mark Lyall
Grant told the
Press on his
way into the
Security
Council that
the UK
was first into
blue.
Later on
Tuesday, when
asked whose
was first
into blue,
Russia's
Permanent
Representative
Vitaly Churkin
said,
"ours." And
President
Hardeep Singh
Puri said it
is still
not decided.
On
the substance,
a Chinese
diplomat told
Inner City
Press on
Tuesday that,
not
surprisingly,
China supports
the Russian
draft. With
two Permanent
Five members,
and IBSA too,
what could go
wrong? Watch
this site.
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