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On Sri Lanka in UN Council, China Blocks March 26
Meeting, Vote May Be Called
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of
Inner City Press at the UN: Exclusive
UNITED NATIONS,
March 19 -- The day after the UN
involuntarily
admitted counting 2,683 civilian killings in Sri Lanka from
January 20 to March 7 of this year, efforts to hold a second UN
Security
Council meeting on Sri Lanka were described to Inner City Press by a
range of
Council diplomats. Non-permanent Council
members including Austria, Mexico and Costa Rica have requested the
meeting for
March 26, under the heading "Other Matters" since Sri Lanka is still
not a formal item on the Council's agenda.
These
members thought they had agreement from other Council members, but now
China is
"vehemently" opposing any discussion in the Council of the plight of
civilians in the Sri Lankan conflict. China argues that it is "merely
an
internal matter," and not a threat to international peace and security.
In the Security Council, Sri Lanka civilians not shown
Sri
Lanka's mission to the UN has contacted Council members to make this
same
argument. Those requesting the meeting
are considering calling a procedural vote, on which there are no veto
rights.
If they have nine votes for the meeting, it will be held -- unless they
don't
even call for a vote. The position, and strength of commitment, of
Western
Permanent Five members is not known at press time. Watch this site.
Click here for Inner City
Press March 12 UN debate
Click here for Inner City
Press' Feb 26 UN debate
Click
here
for Feb.
12 debate on Sri Lanka http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/17772?in=11:33&out=32:56
Click here for Inner City Press' Jan.
16, 2009 debate about Gaza
Click here for Inner City Press'
review-of-2008 UN Top Ten debate
Click here for Inner
City Press' December 24 debate on UN budget, Niger
Click here from Inner City Press'
December 12 debate on UN double standards
Click here for Inner
City Press' November 25 debate on Somalia, politics
and this October 17 debate, on
Security Council and Obama and the UN.
* * *
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
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