On
Syria,
Mysteries of
Mood, UK on
Transition,
Morocco Asked
of
Free Movement
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
April 14,
updated with
transcripts --
After the
modified
resolution on
sending
advance
monitors
passed the UN
Security
Council 15-0,
Inner City
Press put
questions to
the Permanent
Representatives
of the UK,
United States,
Morocco,
Russia and
Syria.
Inner
City Press
asked US
Ambassador
Rice, this
month's
Council
president,
about need
the approval
of the Syrian
government for
the full
observer
mission.
She said that
"consultations"
with Syria are
required.
(Inner
City Press also asked
about South
Sudan not
pulling out of
Heglig; Rice
answered that
the Council
also called on
Sudan to stop
aerial bombing
and that
neither side
has complied.)
When
UK Ambassador
Lyall Grant
came to the
stakeout, he
used the
phrase
"political
transition."
Inner City
Press asked
him if this
meant Bashar
al-Assad
stepping down,
if the UK
could imagine
a political
transition in
which Assad
remains.
Lyall Grant
said that
would be
hard to
imagine, that
under the Kofi
Annan six
point plan
Assad is
supposed to
appoint
someone else
for political
transition
talks.
The
resolution
speaks of
freedom of
movement for
the advance
monitors. So
Inner City
Press asked
Morocco's
Permanent
Representative
Loulichki to
square
this with the
recent UN reports that
in Western
Sahara, the
MINURSO
peacekeepers
do not have
freedom of
movement, are
monitored and
their
communications
with people
impaired.
Loulichki
said
this was
entirely
different,
that he would
address it
after Syria
questions. But
he left the
stakeout
without answer
the question.
The
Council meets
about Western
Sahara and
MINURSO on
April 17.
Russian
Ambassador
Vitaly
Churkin, at
the stakeout,
hearkened back
to Inner
City Press'
question to
Ambassador
Rice about
Syrian
government
consent,
saying that of
course this is
required for a
mission under
UN Charter
Chapter Six.
He chided UK
Ambassador
Lyall Grant
for
saying he
couldn't
imagine Assad
staying in
power, saying
that this
is dictating
or trying to
dictate from
outside.
Inner
City Press
asked Churkin
about Kofi
Annan's
General Mood,
who reportedly
left
Damascus while
the Syrian
foreign
minister and
first deputy
were
briefly away.
Churkin said
this happened
and, stranger
still, when a
Russian
diplomat
inquired at
Kofi Annan's
office in
Geneva when
Mood
would return
to Syria, he
was told that
Mood's return
"should
not be
anticipated."
Churkin went
on to say that
professionalism
is
required and
that "there
are other
people."
Kofi
Annan's
spokesman has
been asked to
confirm this
and to
explain, as
well as
the
outstanding
questions
about the Kofi
Annan
Foundation. We
will
have more on
this, and
publish
responses on
receipt.
Finally,
Inner
City Press
asked Syrian
Ambassador
Bashar
Ja'afari about
Mood. He
insisted that
Syria wants
Mood back, and
slammed the
European Union
for imposing
unilateral
sanctions on
Syria's
electricity
minister. By
1:50 the
Security
Council
stakeout was
empty, the
advance
monitors
on their way.
Watch this
site.
Update:
From the US
Mission
transcript:
Inner
City
Press: In
terms of the
second
resolution and
sending the
full
team, this
idea that it
requires the
consent of the
Syrian
government-at
least that's
what both
Churkin said
and that's
what
Syria said and
under Chapter
6, it would
seem to
require
that-how do
you think that
that's going
to go? How do
you think
that-what will
that mean in
terms of the
ability of the
Syrian
government to
either
dictate terms
or block
deployment?
Ambassador
Rice:
Well, what the
resolution
says is that
the full
monitoring
mission will
come after
three things.
One, a report
by the
Secretary-General;
two, a
sustained
cessation of
violence; and
three,
after
consultation
with the
government of
Syria. That
would be the
normal
practice for a
mission under
Chapter 6 of
the UN
Charter. But
the resolution
also outlines
the conditions
that must be
precedent
for the
advance team
as well as the
monitoring
mission to
effectively
carry out its
operations,
and those are
described in
paragraph six.
So
it
will be
important that
the advance
team get on
the ground and
then
be able to
report back as
to whether
that initial
tranche is in
effect able to
operate freely
and move as it
must with the
freedom to
communicate
internally as
well as with
the Syrian
people,
sufficient
to fulfill its
mandate. If
that is indeed
the case, that
will provide
the necessary
assurances to
members of the
Security
Council who
must
take a
decision on
authorization
of the full
mission.
From
the UK Mission
transcript:
Inner
City Press:
When you say
political
transition, is
this to be
interpreted as
meaning Bashar
al-Assad
leaving power?
Is there a
political
transition you
can envision
where he
remains in
power in
Syria?
Amb. Lyall
Grant: Kofi
Annan’s plan
makes clear
that there
needs to be
the start of a
political
dialogue that
leads to a
political
transition and
the
introduction
of a
democratic,
plural
political
system in
Syria.
Frankly, it
looks to us,
the British
government,
most unlikely
that that is
going to be
possible with
President
Assad still in
office. But
the Kofi Annan
plan does not
call for the
president to
stand down, it
calls on him
to appoint an
interlocutor
to start that
political
dialogue. So,
by definition,
that
interlocutor
would not be
Mr Assad.
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