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On
Syria, ICP
Asks US State
Dep't of
Inclusion of
Kurds, Spox
Says Up To de
Mistura
By Matthew
Russell Lee
WASHINGTON,
March 15 --
Before UN
envoy for
Syria Staffan
de Mistura
took four
questions in
Geneva on
March 14, he
announced that
for the next
ten days, he
will grant no
exclusive
interviews.
Background
below.
Later on March
14, after de
Mistura
briefed the UN
Security
Council by
video,
Ambassador
Gaspar Martins
of Angola,
president of
the Council
for March,
emerged to say
that all
members found
Russia's
announcement
of starting to
withdraw most
of its forces
from Syria
positive.
Inner
City Press
asked Gaspar
Martins if the
(yet to be
agreed)
inclusion of
Kurdish groups
in Syria into
the talks was
discussed.
Yes, he said,
there is a
desire that
the talks get
more
inclusive.
But will
they, particularly
after the
Ankara attack?
On March
15, Inner City
Press put the
question to US
State
Department
spokesperson
John Kirby.
From the State
Department
transcript:
Inner City
Press: what
does the U.S.
think of the
inclusion of
Kurdish groups
from – in
Syria in the
talks?
There’s more
and more –
many countries
talk – say
they should be
involved.
Obviously,
Turkey says
that they
shouldn’t be
involved;
there’s the
Ankara
attack.
Has your –
what’s the
thinking here?
MR
KIRBY:
I’ve addressed
this before
and our
position is
exactly the
same.
The
invitations to
the talks were
decided and
sent by the
UN, by Special
Envoy de
Mistura.
He sent
invitations
this time to
the same
groups that he
sent last
time.
Right now,
that does not
include
Kurdish groups
in the
proximity
talks.
That said, as
before, he
continues to
consult with a
wide range of
groups, to
include
Kurdish
groups.
And we believe
that we need
to respect his
decision-making
process going
forward and
how he wants
to conduct
these
talks.
We’re going to
continue to
support
that.
And again,
there are
consultations,
there are
discussions
going
on. We
recognize that
those
consultations
are important.
Here's the
background,
then Inner
City Press'
question on
it: on March 1
the
"Association
des
Correspondants
Aupres des
Nations Unies
a Geneve"
(ACANU), in a
bit of
advocacy the
NY-based UNCA
does not
engage in,
protested de
Mistura making
announcements
about the
Syria talks in
exclusive
interviews,
and not to all
correspondents
at once.
Inner
City Press has
obtained the
ACANU letter,
which was
cc-ed to UN
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric (who
threw Inner
City Press out of
the UN Press
Briefing Room
on January 29
and out of the
entire
UN on February
19 and 22, petition
here) and
published
it here.
In New
York, Ban
Ki-moon and
his Under
Secretaries
General like
Herve Ladsous
dole out
information to
favored
correspondents;
Ban's
USG for Public
Information
Cristina
Gallach on
February 19
went so far as
to oust Inner
City Press
after speaking
with Giampaolo
Pioli's UNCA
but not Inner
City Press.
Will de
Mistura, as
now pledged,
be different?
On March 14,
Ban Ki-moon's
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric told
Inner City
Press there is
no policy in
this regard. From the UN
transcript:
Inner City
Press: I saw
you [carbon
copied] on
this, so it
seems like a
fair question
to you.
I saw a letter
from the
ACANU, or the
Geneva press
association of
correspondents,
directed to
Mr… Mr. de
Mistura and
[carbon
copied] to
you,
protesting
that he
announced a
delay… initial
delay in the
Syria talks in
an exclusive
interview.
And I saw him
this morning
very early say
that he's not
going to do
any exclusive
interviews
between 14 and
24 March, sort
of as an
accommodation.
I guess I
wanted to
know, what is
the UN's
policy in
terms of both
the
Secretary-General
or a
news-maker
like de
Mistura
giving… ACANU
seemed to say
very clearly
this
information
should be
given to all
correspondents
at the same
time. Do
you agree with
that?
Spokesman:
No, Mr. de
Mistura is a
seasoned
diplomat.
He chooses to…
he deftly
handles the
media, and he
will do
whatever he
feels he needs
to do.
There is no
policy per se
on any of
these issues
that you
raised.
No
policy - like
on the
"lending out"
of the UN
Press Briefing
Room,
resulting in
differences of
opinion on the
right to cover
events there
which the UN,
Dujarric, can
use as a pretext
to oust the
Press.
UN
Geneva spokesman
Ahmad Fawzi on
March 14 gave
the first
question to
“our Turkish
colleague” --
who asked
about the
timing of
elections in
Syria. The
next picked
questioner
identified
himself “with
the Geneva
press corps;”
then Al
Jazeera Arabic
asked if there
is any
deadline for a
deal to be
reached.
To
this, de
Mistura said
this first
round would
run from March
14 to 24 --
during which
no exclusive
interviews, he
said -- then a
recess of a
week or ten
days. This
will be
folllowed by a
second round
of two weeks,
then another
recess, length
undefined.
Fawzi's
final question
went to ACANU,
representing
Geneva
correspondents
accredited by
the UN,
hopefully
(much) better
than the decaying
and corrupt UN
Correspondents
Association
the UN uses in
New York. This
question was
to say when
meetings begin
and end. And
then it was
over.
One couldn't
help wonder if
there were
anywhere near
this focus on
the slaughter
in Yemen - and
where is de
Mistura's
counterpart
Ismail Ould
Cheikh Ahmed?
On
Syria, will
the Ankara
attack impact
mounting
demands that
the Kurds be
given a role
in this round
of talks?
We'll have
more on this.
* * *
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