On
Syria,
Russian Draft
Called
Inadequate or
Enriched, SNC
Money Claims
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
July 17,
updated -- On
the eve of the
scheduled vote
on Syria
resolution(s),
Security
Council
deputies met
for nearly two
hours
about the
Russian draft.
Afterward
Russian Deputy
Alexander
Pankin
called his
draft
"enriched."
UK
Deputy
Philip Parham,
on the other
hand, called
the Russian
draft
"inadequate."
Another
Council source
told Inner
City Press
that in the
meeting on the
Russian draft,
Chapter Seven
was pushed as
an amendment,
as something
lacking from
the draft.
Pankin
was
asked if his
enrichments
included
Chapter Seven
or Article 41.
He
scoffed and
said, why
would we put
one of our red
lines in. My
minister has
been very
clear.
And
so
a showdown is
set up, for
July 18 at 3
pm. Parham
said actually
voting at that
time will
depend on what
happens in the
"next
twelve to
twenty four
hours."
There
was
pressure from
across First
Avenue as
well. On the
28th floor of
the Millennium
Plaza Hotel,
representatives
of the Syrian
National
Council held a
press
conference, featuring
Najib
Ghadbian,
Bassma Kodmani
and Khalid
Saleh of the
SNC Executive
Office
They said that
if the
Security
Council
doesn't
include
Chapter Seven,
they will go
in
another
direction, to
regional
organizations.
They
said
that the
Syrian
National
Council has
received $15
million, and
has spend 94%
of it on aid
inside Syria.
That
would
leave $900,000
for all the
SNC's
expenses. One
wondered, how
much is this
hotel meeting
room, and
rooms for five
representatives,
flights,
and other
meetings? But
this question
was not taken.
Yet.
One wag mused
maybe these
are the ones
enriched,
using Pankin's
word for his
draft.
Footnote:
The
Kosovo meeting
which preceded
the
consultation
on Russia's
Syria
draft led, it
seemed, to
nothing.
Afterward a
participant
told Inner
City Press
that briefer
Herve Ladsous
said he didn't
know who
killed
the two Serbs
in Kosovo, and
on fighters
from Syria
visiting
Kosovo
Ladsous had
only press
reports.
That's why
they call
Ladsous
"Mister
Press" -- or
not.
Ladsous on
Tuesday
refused, on
camera, to
answer Press
questions on
Lebanon and UN
Peacekeeping
killing in
Congo. Watch
this site.
Update
of 6:34 pm - as
Colombia's
Nestor Osorio,
president of
the Security
Council for
July, left for
the evening,
he stopped and
told the Press
that if
there's "no
movement" by
noon or 1 pm
on July 18,
there will be
a vote at 3.
If there is a
veto - he
called it a
"niet" --
there might be
a rollover to
allow UNSMIS
to pull out,
as the SNC
also said
earlier.
Showdown...
, 
