On
Syria,
Questions of
UN Trust Fund
& Plans,
Ban Said to
"See
From One Eye"
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
October 8 --
The chemical
weapons
mission to
Syria will
have
its back-office
in Cyprus, UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon has
told
the Security
Council in
a letter
released
Monday night.
So
it is not
strange that
at a Cypriot
photo
exhibition in
the UN lobby
on Tuesday
evening, Inner
City Press
spoke with
Syria's
Permanent
Representative
to the UN
Bashar
Ja'afari. He
told Inner
City Press
that while
even US
Secretary of
State John
Kerry is
praising Syria
for its
compliance,
Ban Ki-moon is
not.
He
sees from one
eye, Ja'afari
said.
Recent
background
to this was
Ban Ki-moon,
after
receiving an
urgent
complaint from
Ja'afari,
doing nothing
as France held
an event inside
the
UN declaring
Saudi-sponsored
rebel Ahmad al
Jarba the sole
legitimate
representative
of the Syrian
people.
After
that, Ban
invited Jarba
to his
UN-provided
home on
Sutton Place,
met
with him and issued a
read-out which
was longer
than Ban's
read-outs
with several
Presidents,
notably from
Latin America
including even
Dilma Rousseff
of Brazil, who
criticized the
US for spying.
Another
attendee
at Tuesday's
Cyprus event
went further
than Ja'afari,
saying
Ban's response
when US
President
Barack Obama
was
threatening
cruise
missiles on
Damascus "said
it all."
Here's
from the
transcript of
the UN's
noon briefing
on October 8,
Inner
City Press
questioning
Ban's
associate
spokesperson
Farhan Haq
about
Ban's letter:
Inner
City Press: he
said that he
is considering
establishing a
trust fund,
so I wanted to
know if you
could say a
little bit how
that works, is
it anyone that
wants to
contribute to
it? And the
other one is,
it
says, he has
this idea that
in phase
three, Member
States are
gonna
be invited to
provide
additional
assistance,
not only
equipment but
he seems to
say security,
so I just
wanted to know
what does this
mean, is this
gonna be a
mission under
DPKO
[Department of
Peacekeeping
Operations],
is the
reference to
Member States
in phase
three an idea
that there
would military
security
provided by
countries not
under DPKO or
what, or just
if you can say
a little bit
more what’s
the intention
of this
paragraph.
Associate
Spokesperson
Haq: Well,
first of all,
these are
recommendations,
proposals,
that have gone
to the
Security
Council. So,
the important
thing is to
see how the
members of the
Security
Council will
react. And, of
course, we
await a
response from
the Security
Council to
this. This is
his
recommendations
in terms of
how we are to
abide by
the various
timelines that
the Security
Council have
given for us
to
do this work.
But, I would
just refer you
to the letter
itself,
which says,
“given the
complex nature
of phase
three,” which
is —
for those of
you who have
been following
this, the
phase
stretching
from 1
November of
this year
until the end
of June 2014 —
“given
the complex
nature of
phase three,
additional
analysis and
consultation
is required,
involving the
OPCW, the
United Nations
and
Member States
which may be
in a position
to contribute
to the
associated
activities in
order to
develop a
viable
operational
concept and
conduct the
necessary
planning”. So,
that would
need
to be the
first step, is
essentially
dialogue
amongst those
parties.
Inner
City Press:
just a
follow-up
because it has
this phrase
about it
being highly
probable that
Member States
would be asked
to provide
security, I
understand the
Security
Council has to
approve it,
but I
wanted to
know, is this
a proposal
that this
security would
be
through a
mission under
DPKO or that
they would
authorize
other
forces to go
into Syria,
that’s the
question.
Associate
Spokesperson
Haq: Well, I
don’t think we
can get ahead
of
ourselves
here. First,
of course,
like we said,
the Security
Council
needs to
consider this
letter, and
respond as
appropriate.
Beyond
that, as I
just said,
there would
need to be a
dialogue
involving the
United
Nations, the
Organization
for the
Prohibition of
Chemical
Weapons and
key Member
States. And we
will have to
see what the
results of
those… that
dialogue would
be.
Inner
City Press: I
am sorry to be
still on this
letter, but
where it says
that there
will be a
special
coordinator
that the
Secretary-General
would appoint
in
consultation
with the
Director-General
of OPCW, is
this a name
that would
then be put
through the
Security
Council kind
of like an
SRSG [Special
Representative
of the
Secretary-General]
is,
advise and
consent, or is
it entirely up
to the two,
heads of the
Organizations?
And because I
am trying to
understand
this idea that
everything is
up to the
Security
Council, on
the trust
fund, he says
“I also intend
to establish a
trust fund”.
So, does that
mean
also, with the
approval of
the Security
Council, or is
that something
he can do
himself?
Associate
Spokesperson
Haq: Well, the
first foremost
point is we
are awaiting
what the
Security
Council’s
response to
this letter
will be. It is
the Security
Council, mind
you, who
requested this
letter within
a
ten-day
deadline. We
have met that
deadline, we
have presented
these
proposals, and
we will have
to see what
the reaction
will be.
Inner
City Press:
it’s just to
understand
what part of
what he is
proposing is
something that
he is saying,
this is what I
want to do,
please approve
it. And which
part of it is
he just saying
this is
what I intend
to do and I am
going to do,
which is
different.
Associate
Spokesperson
Haq: The
letter as
whole is a
response to
their request
for a concept
of operations
for a series
of proposals.
He has now
presented them
the proposals
and it is for
them to
review. Yes,
Pam?
We'll
have more on
this Trust
Fund. Watch
this site.
* * *
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