On
Syria, UNSC Press
Statement, Said To Be Blocked by
Russia, Here
By Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS,
March 10 – The Syria Press Statement
of the UN Security Council,
which some "reported" Russian
had blocked, has been agreed
to:
"On 8 March 2017,
the members of the Security
Council were briefed by the
Secretary-General’s Special
Envoy for Syria, Staffan de
Mistura, and reiterated their
support for his leadership of
the United Nations’ efforts to
facilitate the lasting
political settlement of the
Syrian crisis through an
inclusive and Syrian-led
political process that meets
the legitimate aspirations of
the Syrian people.
The members of the Security
Council reaffirmed their
strong commitment to the
sovereignty, independence,
unity and territorial
integrity of the Syrian Arab
Republic, and reiterated that
the only sustainable solution
to the current crisis in Syria
is through an inclusive and
Syrian-led political process
based on the Geneva Communiqué
of 30 June 2012, as endorsed
by the Security Council
resolution 2118 (2013), the
Security Council resolutions
2254 (2015), 2268 (2016) and
2336 (2016), and relevant
statements of the
International Syria Support
Group.
The members of the Security
Council welcomed the
conclusion of a further round
of United Nations-facilitated
intra-Syrian negotiations in
Geneva on 3 March 2017. They
further welcomed the
announcement by Special Envoy
de Mistura of a clear agenda
for future negotiations as
indicated by Resolution 2254,
focusing on governance;
constitutional issues;
elections; and counter
terrorism, security and
confidence building measures.
The members of the Security
Council reiterate their
commitment to ensuring the
inclusion of Syrian women in
the political process through
sustained consultation and
dialogue and promoting their
full and effective
participation.
The members of the Security
Council recognised that the
continuation of political
negotiations was made possible
by the ceasefire developed
through the Astana process.
The members of the Security
Council called on the Syrian
parties to fully implement the
ceasefire, established
pursuant to the arrangements
of 29 December 2016, noted by
UN Security Council resolution
2336, including ending
ceasefire violations and
ensuring humanitarian access.
The members of the Council
also encouraged the
International Syria Support
Group members to use their
influence over the parties to
help end violations, reduce
violence, build confidence and
ensure safe, sustained and
unhindered humanitarian access
in line with UN Security
Council resolution 2165
(2014).
The Members of the Security
Council looked forward to the
early resumption of the
intra-Syrian negotiations and
encouraged the Syrian parties
to return to talks in good
faith and to engage
constructively and without
preconditions on the agenda
set out by the UN Special
Envoy when talks resume."
The Syria talks
known as Geneva V are now set
for March 23, UN envoy Staffan
de Mistura said on March 8,
making a point to call on a
female journalist first on
International Women's Day. He
did not say if he is applying
to head the UN Development
Program, and thus to move on
from his Syria post. Before de
Mistura spoke, US Ambassador
Nikki Haley was asked of Iran
involvement in talks. She
paused, then said there are
some not at the table who
should be. Watch this site.
In Geneva
as in New York, the UN made a
point of telling those with
"temporary accreditation" that
they could not get into the
building after 7 pm, even with
a stakeout scheduled for 6:30
pm. The Free
UN Coalition for Access
(FUNCA)
objects to the UN's two-tier
system for correspondents,
which in New York meant for
example that Inner City Press
which covered Peru's
President's meeting with
Antonio Guterres was Banned
from the area of the UN where
he spoke to the media
afterward. (But see this
Periscope). Ban
Censorship in 2017.
Even before
February 25, multiple UN
sources sounded a dissonant
note to Inner City Press.
As
exclusively reported
February 2, the sources had
told Inner City Press that de
Mistura is in fact angling to
replace Helen Clark atop the
UN Development Program or
UNDP. (The UN Spokesperson's
office, as usual, is in
untransparent denial mode.
Also in the mix are, among
others, David Miliband).
Now Inner
City Press is hearing from its
sources that seeking to
replace de Mistura as UN Syria
envoy is Sigrid Kaag, long
time envoy in Lebanon. (We'd
ask Kaag to confirm or deny,
but it turns out Kaag blocks
Inner City Press on Twitter, click
here to view: strange,
for a publicly paid UN
official.) We'll have more on
this.
On
February 8, Izvestia
quoting Ilian
Masaad and MP
Mohamed Khair
al-Akkam
reported that
"de
Mistura may hand in his
resignation letter soon... The
final decision will be made
after another round of
intra-Syrian talks in
Switzerland’s Geneva due on
February 20. De Mistura was
appointed by former UN chief
Ban Ki-moon, and the new UN
Secretary-General Antonio
Guterres has to decide on the
organization’s format of
dealing with the Syrian
settlement. Former deputy UN
chief Sergey Ordzhonikidze,
who personally knows de
Mistura, told the paper that
the issue on replacing the UN
envoy is indeed long overdue.
'Staffan de Mistura failed to
show his worth in this office.
By the way, I’m sure that the
Syrian conflict is very
important and the
Secretary-General should deal
with this issue himself.'"
So might
Guterres, for that reason or
others, support de Mistura for
this other UN system post?
Watch this site.
As to UNDP,
Inner City Press last month reported
on Clark stepping down,
reviewed candidates from the
UK's David Miliband to
France's Segolene Royal, and asked
the UN's holdover spokesman
Stephane Dujarric to describe
the process. He
declined.
(Inner City
Press on February 3 published
a story about UN
turn-over and transition based
not on Dujarric's non-answers,
but just published UN vacancy
announcements.)
Now
multiple independent sources
tell Inner City Press that de
Mistura wants the position,
has lobbied some member states
about it, including after
anger at him was expressed at
a recent meeting of the Syrian
opposition.
But what
message would it send, de
Mistura campaigning for a
different UN post at this
time? Watch this site.
When de Mistura
took questions on January 31,
Inner City Press asked him
among other things if the
Trump administration's
proposal for safe zones in
Syria (and Yemen) had been
discussed. Video here.
No, de
Mistura said, new US
Ambassador to the UN Nikki
Haley hadn't raised it. Some
wondered if that reflects the
irrelevance to which the UN
sank under Ban Ki-moon. We'll
see.
When Russia's Ambassador to the
UN Vitaly Churkin announced on
Friday December 30 that he hoped
for a unanimous vote on New
Year's Eve at 11 am on a
resolution endorsing his
country's and Turkey's ceasefire
plan in Syria, Inner City Press
asked him which groups are
included. Video
here.
But at 11 am, Churkin
said other Council members are
difficult, and said they might
not vote until "tonight" - New
Year's Eve. Journalists laughed,
nervously.
The Ambassador of New
Zealand, leaving the Security
Council later in the day after a
two year term, said
clarification is needed as to
what is exempt from the
ceasefire -- all of Idlib? --
and that there's a problem with
endorsing. Video
here.
But after language was changed
to welcoming with some other
amendments, final
version Tweeted here, the
Security Council members
returned at 1 pm and adopted the
resolution. Afterward for the US
Mission to the UN Deputy
Ambassador Michele
Sison, not Samantha Power,
gave a speech of skepticism,
as did the UK's Peter Wilson.
There were no right of reply,
and the Syrian delegation did
not speak.
After the meeting
came the ritual changing of the
flags. New Zealand, for one,
watched its being removed. The
delegations of Bolivia,
including Permanent
Representative Sasha Llorenti,
and of Kazakhstan
took photos with their flags. Video here.
***
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