On
Syria, WFP
& FAO Say
Sanctions Ban
Vaccines,
Russia on
Rebels'
Chemical
Weapons
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, July
9 -- The World
Food Program
released a
detailed study
about
Syria on July
5 along with
the Food and
Agriculture
Organization;
it said
“Vaccines are
in short
supply and
sanctions
prohibit
imports.”
On
Tuesday Inner
City Press
asked WFP's
Emergency
Coordinator
for Syria
Muhannad Hadi
about that
line in the
two UN
agencies'
report, given
the claim that
sanctions are
not impacting
items like
vaccines.
Hadi
said “I can't
talk about
sanctions.” He
did however
say that
harvests are
down 40%. He
described WFP
workers trying
repeatedly to
get into
conflict
zones, adding
that it
doesn't matter
to WFP who is
doing the
shooting that
stops their
entry.
Inner
City Press
asked about
the seige of
Aleppo, which
even
opposition
supporters
acknowledge is
a rebel tactic
to try to cut
off Army
supply lines.
Hadi replied
that WFP
pre-positioned
food in
Aleppo.
But how long
will it last?
Hadi
seemed
genuinely
knowledgeable
about Syria.
But if the UN
can talk
about
sanctions and
the impact in
a joint report,
why can't it
explain what
the line
means, in
person?
Just
before Hadi's
briefing about
Syria, Russian
Ambassador
Vitaly Churkin
told the press
he'd given an
80 page
submission
about rebel
use of
chemical
weapons in
Khan al Asal.
Inner
City Press
asked Churkin
if the
submission
jibed with the
contemporaneous
filming of
Russia state
television
reporter
Anastasia
Popova,
then asked Ban
Ki-moon's
spokesman
Martin Nesirky
if 80 pages
was the most
detailed
submission
yet. This, he
wouldn't
answer. Nor
did he take questions
about the
Central
African
Republic,
which he'd
mentioned in
his opening,
or Haiti.
Watch this
site.
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