As
Kosovo
Arrests Serb
Drivers, Ban's
Call for
"Restraint"
Conjures Seat
Belts
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 22
-- When UN
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon calls
for
"restraint" in
the case of Kosovo
arresting
Serbian
truck drivers,
whom is he
saying should
be restrained?
Should
the
truckers not
drive? Or
should the
Kosovo police
not arrest
them? Or
is Ban only
referring to
seatbelts?
The
question arose
Thursday when
Inner City
Press asked
Ban's
spokesman
Martin
Nesirky:
Inner
City
Press: the
Kosovo police
have detained
13 and
counting Serb
truckers in
this dispute
about who
controls the
border and the
tax
stamps. And I
am wondering,
since at
various
stakeouts
certainly
Russia and
some other
Council
members say
that UNMIK
should take
more
of a role in
this -
what have they
been doing, as
this seemed to
be
escalating
into arrests
and a border
fight?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
Well, I think,
as you know,
the
Secretary-General
has
repeatedly
stressed the
need for
long-standing
issues to be
resolved
through
dialogue and
in a peaceful
manner. And he
has also urged
patience and
restraint to
ensure
stability on
the ground.
And
clearly that
involves the
work of our
colleagues in
the Mission
there.
Inner
City
Press: But
does that mean
that Kosovo
shouldn’t be
arresting
the truck
drivers, or
the truck
drivers
shouldn’t be
driving across
the border?
Trucks
on border,
meaningful
statement by
Ban Ki-moon or
new SRSG not
shown
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
It means that
there should
be dialogue,
and it means
that
there should
be patience
and restraint
on both sides.
Inner
City
Press: No
driving, no
arrests?
Spokesperson
Nesirky:
It means
patience and
restraint on
both sides.
Since
this didn't
answer the
question, we
can only
conclude that
Ban's
restraint
means
seat belts.
Watch this
site.
* * *
At
UN
on Kosovo,
Churkin Says
Ban Ki-Moon
Was Pressured
to Leave UNMIK
Vacant, Tells
Hoxhaj to Obey
Rules, UNGA
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 15
-- On Kosovo,
the UN
Security
Council met
past 8 pm on
Thursday,
ultimately not
agreeing to a
short
statement
proposed by
Russia the
brewing
dispute about
border posts
should be
resolved by
dialogue.
Afterward
as Kosovo
Foreign
Minister
Hoxhaj was
speaking to
the Press at
the Security
Council
stakeout,
Russia's
Ambassador
Vitaly Churkin
told him he
should not be
speaking there
without being
accompanied by
someone from
the UN Mission
in Kosovo,
UNMIK.
Hoxhaj
remained at
the
microphone.
Inner City
Press asked
him to respond
to Churkin's
position. We
are an
independent
state, Hoxhaj
answered, we
will be a
state forever.
After
Hoxhaj left
and Churkin
read out the
proposed press
statement that
hadn't been
agreed to, he
was asked
about "being
rude" to
Hoxhaj. "I
didn't tackle
him," Churkin
said. "Let
that be
noted."
Inner
City Press
asked Churkin
about his
statement,
alongside the
Council's last
Kosovo
meeting, that
UNMIK
is rudderless
and Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon should
already have
named a new
head of UNMIK
to replace
Lamberto
Zannier who
left to head
the OSCE.
Churkin
said it is
"obvious" that
Ban Ki-moon is
being
pressured, and
has given to
to pressure,
not to name a
new head of
UNMIK.
In
this view,
Ban's
reportedly
strong
statements
about Syria
earlier on
Thursday were
not
courageous,
but rather
another
example of
being
pressured to
do and say
things.
Vuk
Jeremic
previously in
UNSC, pressure
on Ban re
UNMIK not
shown
Churkin
recalled when
the Kosovo
delegation
came into the
General
Assembly Hall
and stayed,
and said that
the rule is
that they can
come in only
during the
speech of the
delegation
which invited
them. Expect
fireworks,
during the
UNGA and
possibly
tomorrow in
Northern
Kosovo. Watch
this site.
Footnote:
before
it became
clear that no
press
statement
would be
agreed to,
Inner City
Press asked
Serbian
Foreign
Minister Vuk
Jeremic to
come and "do a
stakeout." He
said, "I don't
know if the
camera is
still there,"
referring to
the time
earlier in the
summer when
the UN TV
camera was
gone when he
came out to
speak.
This
time,
he said the
vast majority
of Council
members said
that KFOR and
EULEX
supporting
Kosovo's moves
was wrong. But
even Churkin
said that
memberS
opposed his
simple draft
press
statement. And
so it goes at
the UN.
, 
in