On
Syria,
Annan
Spokesman
Tells ICP Mood
Is Out of
Game, Colonel
In
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
April 14 --
After the UN
Security
Council
authorized an
advance team
of observers
for Syria in a
rare Saturday
meeting, Inner
City Press asked
Russian
Ambassador
Vitaly Churkin
about envoy
Kofi
Annan's
General Robert
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."
Inner
City Press
immediately
wrote to Kofi
Annan's
spokesman
Ahmad Fawzi to
ask "Why
did Mood leave
when he did,
and more
importantly,
why has he not
gone
back since? Is
he going back?
When? Is he
going to be
replaced?"
Now,
this answer
has been
received from
Fawzi:
From:
Ahmad
Fawzi
Date: Sat, Apr
14, 2012 at
2:31 PM
Subject: Qs on
Gen. Mood,
list of 50
violations,
& still
Kofi Annan
Foundation
To: Matthew
Russell Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
Its
really
very simple.
Major-General
Mood completed
his assessment
mission and
came back to
Geneva to
report to the
JSE, before
returning to
Norway,
mission
accomplished.
There was
never any
intention of
him going
back. The
advance team
of observers
is being
led by a
Colonel.
The choice of
Force
Commander for
the full
observer
mission will
be made by the
Secretary
General, once
the
Security
Council passes
a resolution
authorizing
it.
This
will be news
to Syria,
whose
Ambassador
Bashar
Ja'afari told
Inner City
Press his
government
wants Mood to
come back and
keep
negotiating
"the
protocol."
Other
diplomats at
the UN on
Saturday told
Inner City
Press that
Mood was
miffed that he
wasn't
accorded more
pomp by the
Syrian
government;
note that now
the advance
team is being
led by a
lower level
Colonel (not
named by
Fawzi).
Fawzi
also
answered Inner
City Press'
question on
the "fifty
violations"
mentioned by
Syrian
Ambassador
Ja'afari, and
again didn't
answer the
questions
about the Kofi
Annan
Foundation:
"50
Violations:
there will
violations by
both sides.
This is not
unusual
in this
situation,
both sides
will be
testing each
other. We hope
the
arrival of UN
observers will
encourage the
parties to
exercise
restraint and
embark on the
political
process
envisioned in
the
6-point plan.
"Fund-raising
by
the KA
Foundation:
again, I don't
speak for the
Foundation. UN
activities are
funded either
through the
regular
budget, or
through
extra-budgetary
sources. For
information on
the latter
please go to
the
Controller."
But
the Kofi Annan
Foundation
referred all
questions to
Fawzi. This is
called a run
around. But it
is more
responsive
than the
spokesperson
team of Ban
Ki-moon. Watch
this site.
, 
