Inner City Press: Investigative Reporting from the United Nations

At UN, New Draft Urges Restraint from “All Sides” in “Syria-Led Process," Russia Still Says It Wouldn't Help

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, June 8, updated -- As European members of the Security Council introduced an even further watered down Syria resolution on Wednesday, India said it was “not sufficiently good enough, try harder.”

This Indian position had been foreshadowed in the previous open Council meeting on Syria, after Lebanon blocked a draft press statement. Then, India alleged there were “armed extremists among the protesters,” and wanted the statement to condemn the demonstrators as well.

The new UK draft, then, “calls upon all sides” -- instead of just the Syrian government -- “to act with utmost restraint.”

The Organization of the Islamic Conference had complained that the earlier draft, put online by Inner City Press here, used OIC's May 22 statement. While Western Council members counters that all they'd done was quote what OIC said, the new draft has no reference to the OIC.

Russia's Permanent Representative Vitaly Churkin first told reporters that since so much had been crossed out, he needed to see a clean copy. Afterwards he said, as transcribed by a Friend on Inner City Press, when asked about this new draft:

Amb. Churkin: No, because we're not persuaded it can establish dialogue and reach a political settlement to put an end to violence in Syria. We are concerned it may have an opposite effect.

Q. Russia's been pretty strong all along, so you're basically saying -- I don't want to put words in your mouth -- that this is a veto situation?

Amb. Churkin: You know, someone else made even before us our position. It is exactly as I've described it to you now. We don't think this helps.

Ban & Assad, UN Panel of Experts Report not shown but here

There are also additions. In what's called an attempt to indicate if not guarantee that this Syria process will not go the way of Libya, on which African Union ministers will visit the Security Council on June 15, the new draft emphasizes that the “only solution” is a “Syria-led political process.”

The Europeans say they are calling for a vote “in the coming days.” About Sudan and Abyei, this meant a week, from last Friday to this. Watch this site.

* * *

On Syria Draft Russia, China & India Won't Engage, S. Africa
Won't Without Them

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, June 3 -- At a UN meeting Thursday about the draft Syria resolution, Russia, China and India said there was no reason to begin word by word negotiation: they overall oppose the resolution. Then the European sponsors tried to reach out to South Africa and Brazil, to see if they would engage in negotiations without the nay-saying three. They were rebuffed.

As South Africa's Permanent Representative Baso Sangqu put it to Inner City Press on June 3, “We are in solidarity with the E[lected] Ten, we will not go into some cocoon of the Security Council. If they won't negotiate, either will we.”

Also on June 3, Russia's Deputy Permanent Representative Pankin asked Inner City Press, “Why a new resolution -- for more bombing?” The reference was to what NATO has done in Libya after Russia and China, along with non veto wielding India, Brazil and Germany, abstained on Resolution 1973.

The Europeans' draft resolution still refers to a statement by the Organization of the Islamic Conference, to which the OIC has objected in a letter it sent to the Security Council president for May, Gerard Araud of France.

At this stage, Inner City Press is putting a copy of the draft resolution online, here. Watch this site.

* * *

At UN on Syria, As 2 Vetoes Loom, Request to Withdraw Resolution, West Thinks More than 9 Votes Might Change

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, May 31, updated -- Days after the European members of the UN Security Council formally introduced a resolution about the violence in Syria, not only have Russia and China indicated they will not support it: now they want the Europeans to just as formally withdraw the resolution.

A Permanent source told Inner City Press on Tuesday morning that the Europeans “should just withdraw it. Any resolution on Syria would be a gamble, that it might turn out like Libya.” He

Inside the Council, a briefing on Libya began amid reports including video of Western “boots on the ground” in Libya. A spokeswoman for Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who is supposed to be coordinating and receiving notices about military action in Libya, said she had no comment on the report.

A non-Permanent Western member of the Council bemoaned to Inner City Press that the cause and concept of protection of civilians has been injured in Libya.

At a surreal Friday evening stakeout, Inner City Press asked May's Council President, Gerard Araud of France, if he thought there was any chance to call a vote on the Syria resolution before the end of May. We are not ready, he said on camera, adding off camera that it was not promising.

On Tuesday morning a Permanent Western member's representative told the Press that there are definitely nine votes for the Syria resolution, leading into a meeting at the experts' level on Wednesday, and if the number goes higher than might make it harder for Russia and China to veto. As of Tuesday this seems unrealistic. Watch this site.

Update of 12:41 p.m. - China's Permanent Representative Li Baodong told Inner City Press that his county is against anything that would destabilize. We'll see.

* * *

As UN Report on Iran Arms Sales to Syria Put Online, France Talks of 9 Votes

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, May 17 -- With the days of UN Security Council inaction on Syria mounting, on Tuesday Council President Gerard Araud of France anounced in a closed door meeting that the Council can meet and vote anywhere, including on the trip to Africa that starts on May 20.

With Alain Juppe bragging that there are almost the nine required votes to pass a Council resolution on Syria, it seems that France is counting on neither Russia or China vetoing the resolution.

The Permanent Representative of one of these told Inner City Press on Tuesday that “Hague of the UK hasn't been talking so much about Syria recently -- now the UK is back to focusing on Libya.”

On Libya, another Council source pointed at the 10-0-5 vote on Resolution 1973, focusing specifically on the African countries that rather than abstain with Russia, China, Brazil, India and Germany voted for the resolution.

While the content of the draft Syria resolution being referred to be France is said by others to be “weak” -- modeled on the Council's first press statement on Libya back in February -- it is worth noting Russia's complaints about the UN Panel of Expert report alleging Iranian arms transfers to Syria.

Inner City Press has obtained a copy of the Iran Panel of Experts report, and as a public service is putting it online here.

As regards Syria, the UN Iran Panel of Experts report states:

The Panel notes that most reported incidents of conventional arms-related violations involve Syria, which has a long and close relationship with Iran. In all such incidents inspected by the Panel, prohibited material was carefully concealed to avoid routine inspection and hide the identity of end-users. It is likely that other transfers took place undetected and that other illicit shipments were identified but not reported to the Committee....

The vessel Hansa India, chartered by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) left Bandar Abbas, Iran on 25 September 2009, destined for Latakia Port (Syria) via Damietta Port (Egypt). It was stopped and searched by the United States Navy in the Red Sea en route to Damietta and in conformity with instructions received from the German authorities, the vessel’s flag State, instead of offloading the cargo in Damietta (the original port of discharge), the Hansa India was instructed to go to Malta Freeport. In Malta Freeport, the cargo was inspected upon arrival by the Maltese authorities. The cargo was found to contain bullet casings and blank disks....

While en route from Damietta, Egypt, to Latakia, Syria, the MV Francop was intercepted on 3/4 November 2009 by the Israeli Navy and diverted to the Port of Ashdod where the ammunition was unloaded, inventoried and dispersed for safekeeping at a variety of Israeli Defence Force depots...

YasAir Cargo (Turkey) Turkey reported to the Committee on 28 March 2011 that between 19-21 March 2011 they had inspected a YasAir Cargo Airlines transport aircraft at Diyarbakir Airport, Turkey (S/AC.50/2011/COMM.31). The aircraft had been en-route from Iran to Syria. Arms were found onboard in nineteen crates declared as “auto spare parts.” They comprised 60 Kalshnikov rifles, 14 BKS (Bixi) machine guns, 7920 rounds of Kalashnikov ammunition, 560 60mm mortars and 1288 120mm mortars.

Victoria (Israel) Israel reported to the Committee on 28 March 2011 that on 15 March 2011 the Israeli Navy boarded the MV Victoria, which had originated its voyage in Latakia Port, Syria and was en route to Port of Alexandria, Egypt (S/AC.50/2011/COMM.30). Three crates of arms were found hidden inside shipping containers, comprising 232 120mm mortars, 2280 60mm mortars, six NASR 1 (C 704) anti-ship missiles, two Kelvin Hughes radars, two control stations, two C 704 launchers and 66,240 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition. The arms had been unloaded at Ashdod Port in Israel and stored...

Syria is the stated destination of six out of the nine incidents of conventional arms transfers reported to the Committee. The Government of the Syrian Arab Republic, in a letter dated 12 January 2010 (S/AC.50/2010/COMM.1), underlined the fact that “the Francop vessel was not carrying anything that pertained to Syria” and denied the allegations. The Panel awaits Syria’s response to its queries.

Watch this site.

Click for Mar 1, '11 BloggingHeads.tv re Libya, Sri Lanka, UN Corruption

These reports are usually also available through Google News and on Lexis-Nexis.

Click here for a Reuters AlertNet piece by this correspondent about Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army. Click here for an earlier Reuters AlertNet piece about the Somali National Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an undefined trust fund. Video Analysis here

Other, earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.

Inner City Press -- Investigative Reporting From the Inner City to Wall Street to the United Nations