On
Syria,
45 Days Are
Proposed
Despite
Araud's
Denial, 11
& 3:15 at
UK
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
July 11 --
After French
Ambassador
Gerard Araud
told Inner
City Press that
"no," 45 days
is not
the
period, the
UK circulated
a draft
resolution to
"renew the
mandate of the
United Nations
Supervision
Mission in
Syria (UNSMIS)
for a period
of 45 days."
Inner City
Press is
putting the
draft
online here.
Other
key
paragraph are
13 and 14:
"13.
Decides
that, if the
Syrian
authorities
have not fully
complied with
paragraph 5
above within
ten days, then
it shall
impose
immediately
measures under
Article 41 of
the UN Charter
"14.
Requests
the
Secretary-General
to report to
the Council on
the
implementation
of this
resolution
within 10 days
of its
adoption and
every 15 days
thereafter;"
Sources
said that
this "UK"
draft will be
discussed not
only by
experts at 11
in the
morning on
July 12, but
also by
Permanent
Representatives
that afternoon
at 3:15 -- all
this during an
all-day
Security
Council debate
featuring
July's
president
Colombia's
foreign
minister Maria
Angela
Holguin.
President
Nestory
Osorio left
the Council
session on
West Africa on
Wednesday
afternoon
to go pick up
Holguin. The
topic of the
debate on
Thursday, an
an
interactive
(but closed
door) session
on Friday is
"Peacebuilding."
But as a
seasoned
non-Western
diplomat told
Inner City
Press
Wednesday
afternoon, the
Council is
more and more
irrelevant.
Look
at what the
Council
doesn't deal
with,
he said,
mentioning
North
Korea and the
Middle East.
Even on Sudan,
we try to step
in front of
Mbeki. All
that the UK,
France and US
know how to do
is ask for
sanctions. But
on Syria it
would send the
wrong message
to the
opposition.
And so we will
oppose it.
Another
non-Western
Security
Council
members asked
Inner City
Press,
rhetorically
it seemed,
"How do you
sanction the
opposition?
Their right to
self-defense
has been
recognized at
the Friends of
Syria
meetings. And
so it Assad
does nothing
and you
sanction him,
they will just
grab
territory, the
country is
majority
Sunni."
Meanwhile
the head
of the UN
Office on West
Africa Said
Djinnit left
the
consultations
without
passing by the
press
stakeout. Some
wonder if he
can handle
Mali, before
more of
Timbuktu is
destroyed.
Problems the
UN Security
Council could
do something
about, they
don't. Watch
this site.
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