On
Libya, China
Says NATO
Should Stop,
Russia Sees
TNC As
"Effective"
Ruler
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 1 --
As at the
"Friends of
Libya"
meeting in
Paris,
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon and
his most
special
adviser Ian
Martin try to
put the UN and
its views at
the center, in
New York
Chinese
Permanent
Representative
Li Baodong
told Inner
City
Press China
thinks "the
conflict must
be stopped,
including
NATO's
bombing."
Martin,
in his
August
22 report to
Ban that
Inner City
Press exclusively
obtained
and published,
said that the
'''protection
of civilians'
mandate
implemented by
NATO does not
end with the
fall of the
Qadhafi
government
and,
therefore,
NATO would
continue to
have some
responsibilities."
When
Martin
belatedly took
questions on
August 30 and
Inner City
Press asked
him
about this
line, with
which China
and others
disagree, Martin
called
it a "factual
statement."
The
reason the UN
won't get
called out on
this is that
China, Russia
and others now
want the UN to
play a central
role, opposing
it to NATO.
But that is
what makes
Martin's
"factual
statement"
about a
continuing
NATO role
problematic --
and
interesting.
On
the last
evening of
August a
well-placed
European
diplomat at
the UN posited
to Inner City
Press that the
reason there
has not yet
been proposed
in the
Security
Council a
resolution to
systematically
unfreeze
Libyan assets
is that it
would "give an
opportunity
for China
and Russia to
counter
propose that
NATO must stop
bombing."
Therefore
the
piecemeal
notes verbales
to the
Council's
Libya
Sanctions
Committee
continue.
German
Permanent
Representative
Peter Wittig
told Inner
City Press on
September 1
that his
country's
requests --
citing
"relevant
authorities"
and not the
Transitional
National
Council -- had
the last "two
holds" on them
listed that
morning. As
Inner City
Press reported
on August 31,
Norway on that
day make its
own unfreezing
request.
Churkin
& Li
Baodong talk
Libya, NATO
continuing
role not shown
Named
as a placer
of holds was
Russia, which
is now
reported to
have
recognized the
TNC. Russia's
Ministry of
Foreign
Affairs'
English
language web
site
on September 1
said "The
Russian
Federation
recognizes the
National
Transitional
Council of
Libya as the
ruling
authority."
Inner
City Press
asked Russia's
Permanent
Representative
Vitaly Churkin
about this; he
said
"'effective'
authority
would be a
better"
translation --
as in "the
effective
authority."
But focusing
on one of the
word's at
least two
meaning, will
the TNC be
effective?
Watch this
site.
* * *
With
No Libya Asset
Unfreezing or
Stop NATO
Resolutions at
UN, Norway
Makes Request; Whither
Jamahiriya
Sign?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 31 --
As August
turns to
September and
the Arab Fall,
in the UN
Security
Council there
has neither
been proposed
a draft
resolution to
lift sanctions
on Libya
nor to stop
the NATO
bombing.
Even
on the day of
Eid al Fitr,
with the UN
building
closed,
another
country on
Wednesday
submitted an
unfreezing
request to the
Libya
Sanctions
Committee. The
request,
referencing
only the "international
mechanism"
still based in
Qatar and not
the
Transitional
National
Council, was
to be
announced in
Oslo on
September 1.
(Germany's note
verbale
request
announced
August 29
referenced
like the US
the "relevant
authorities,"
according to a
self-described
reliable
source.)
Beyond
South
Africa's
unfreezing
standoff with
the US last
week, the
blocks of
Russia and
China have
been much
discussed,
with the
former called
principled and
the latter,
merely
business
related.
Why
haven't the
Western
countries put
forward a
resolution to
remove the
sanctions in
toto and
unfreeze
Gaddafi's
money? The
answer seems
to be that
with
the situation
on the ground,
this would
trigger a
counter-request
to
get NATO to
stop its
bombing. And
that NATO and
the West don't
want
to do.
As
various
delegations
conferred with
Inner City
Press about
its "scoop"
in obtaining
and publishing
the Ian Martin
report, they
described
stealth
outreach by
the UN to
non-NATO
countries,
while Al
Khatib was
still trying
unsuccessfully
to mediate.
(The consensus
seems to be
that Al Khatib
is now
"finished.")
This included
the likes
of Bangladesh
-- which said
no -- and
non-NATO
member
Finland.
By 48
St Mission,
Rebel flag
& Gaddafi
named sign,
Aug 31, 2011
(c) MLee
After
spotting
Ibrahim
Dabbashi on
Second Avenue
with a cell
phone, Inner
City Press
noticed on the
scaffolding in
front of
Libya's
mission the
sign of
ownership, by
the "Libyan
Arab
Jamahiriya."
Since that was
Gaddafi's
name, one
wonders when
it will
change. Watch
this site.
, 
