By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
June 3 -- One
month ago,
before Lakhdar
Brahimi quit
as UN - Arab
League Joint
Special
Representative
on Syria,
Inner City
Press reported
and critiqued
as his
possible
successor
Tunisia's
Kamel Morjane.
But a related
question is
whether a Brahimi
replacement
would still
also represent
the Arab
League. Inner
City Press on
June 3 asked
Russian
Ambassador
Vitaly Churkin
if he thinks a
replacement
should also
represent the
Arab League.
After saying a
replacement
should first
of all be a
good and
qualified
person,
Churkin
replied that
it is not
clear that
Arab League
"Joint" status
is helpful,
citing the
Arab League
taking the
seat of president
Bashar al
Assad.
Churkin
referred to unnamed
others who
don't want a
Brahimi
replacement at
all. It seems
Russia wants a
replacement,
probably one
without a
formal Arab
League
mandate.
This
would seem to
make Amr
Moussa, a name
in the mix
after Morjane,
less likely.
Background:
Morjane,
as well as
working in
1999 for the
UN's troubled
mission in the
Congo MONUC
and UNHCR, was
Tunisian
strongman Ben
Ali's minister
of defense
then foreign
minister, and
had been
groomed as a
successor.
If
Morjane is
named as envoy
to Syria, it
would be a
case of a
retread of a
pre Arab
Spring
dictatorship
blue-washed
into one
pushing to
oust Syria's
Bashar al
Assad.
Sources
tell
Inner City
Press that
after the
Tunisian
revolution
Morjane was
eyed for
having helped
launder Ben
Ali's funds.
They say his
passport was
revoked and
ask: what type
of passport
does he have
now? They say
that about the
Permanent Five
members of the
Security
Council,
France which
supported Ben
Ali so long
would also
support
Morjane.
Given
that current UN
Peacekeeping
chief Herve
Ladsous helped set
up disgraced
French foreign
minister
Michele
Aliot-Marie's
flights on
"Air Ben Ali"
-- he refused
to answer
Inner City
Press on this
then
everything
else -- it
would perhaps
not be a
stretch.
UN Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon talked
with the Arab
League in Abu
Dhabi, and the
buzz is that
while Rudd
couldn't bring
the Arab
League's
co-blessing,
Morjane might.
But to what
end? Watch
this site.
Footnote:
The Kevin
Rudd attempt
is notably
because he'd
like to rise
all the way to
Secretary
General,
despite the
position being
committed to
Eastern
Europe. Rudd's
calculus seems
to be that
Russia might
veto most Eastern
European
candidate and
there
he'd be,
waiting. But
what of gender
balance? We'll
have more on
this.
, 
