By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 30 --
On Syria, UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon's
office put
back Friday's
"noon"
briefing to
12:30, to
report on Ban's
meeting with
the Permanent
Five members
of the
Security
Council.
But
Ban's
spokesperson
Martin Nesirky
read-out only
only Ban's
words, not for
example those
of US
Ambassador
Samantha
Power, who
declined
questions on
the way in and
out.
Inner
City Press
asked Nesirky
what Ban
thinks of
countries like
Turkey and the
US which make
public
summaries of
what they call
evidence of
Assad's guilt
for what
happened in
Ghouta.
Nesirky said
Ban has
encouraged
countries to
share their
evidence with
the UN. Video
here from
Minute 11:40,
here
and embedded
below.
So
Inner City
Press asked if
Turkey (or,
say, the US)
have in fact
shared
information
with the UN.
The fact
Nesirky
repeated that
Ban encourages
them to seems
to imply they
have not.
Amid reports
of some of the
UN chemical
weapons team
already
leaving Syria,
Inner City
Press asked if
it is true
some left for
Lebanon..
Nesirky said
yes, but only
translators
and
interpreters.
Apparently on
the
inspectors'
final day,
these are not
necessary?
Later
Inner City
Press asked
about the
phrase Ban's
associate
spokesperson Farhan
Haq used in an
answer to the
Press this
week: that the
UN team will
construct an
"evidence
based
narrative."
Does that
mean, where
the missiles
came from?
Nesirky
said
it means
statements by
witnesses and
survivors.
Okay - would
this include
those in the
military
hospital the
team just
visited?
Nesirky would
not say if
those inside
were soldiers,
citing medical
privacy.
(We've reported
that in the
Eastern Congo
the UN
obtained
medical
records of
victims of
rapes
committed by
the UN's
partners in
the Congolese
Army's 391 and
41 Battalions.)
But did these
interviews
respond to
Syria's
requests to
inspect three
new sites,
Bahariya on
August 22,
Jobar on
August 24 and
Ashrafiyat
Sahnaya on
August 25?
After
John Kerry
delivered a
slightly
delayed
statement
including
calling France
the US' oldest
ally, two
Senior
Administration
Officials told
the press that
the US has the
evidence,
including from
NGOs.
One official
spoke of "geo
spacial"
evidence, then
mentioned gas
masks. The
second
official mused
that Assad had
wanted to
knock out
opposition
around
Damascus, to
"invest" in a
campaign on
Aleppo.
In the
Q&A
session,
Reuters wanted
to know why
Obama hasn't
made a
decision to
bomb Damascus
yet.
Reference
was
made to Obama
speaking about
Syria with
three allies,
who turned out
to be the
Baltics of
Estonia,
Lithuania
& Latvia.
At the UN one
wondered that
Obama, if only
as a fluke of
scheduling,
could speak to
countries like
these while
Ban spoke only
to the
Permanent
Five.
Back
at the UN,
Inner City
Press asked
why Ban had
convened only
the Permanent
Five? Some
elected
non-permanent
members of the
Council have
complained to
Inner City
Press they
were left out,
not even shown
the UK draft
resolution.
Nesirky
said
Ban told the
Presidency --
for now,
Argentina -
that he is
willing to
brief the full
Council. Video
here, from
Minute 28:22.
Still
to some,
proceeding
this way
unnecessarily
magnifies the
power of the
Five.
Ban
will leave New
York again on
Tuesday. Will
he meet the
elected Ten
before then?
Will the US
bomb Syria
before that?
Watch this
site.
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