At
UN, UK Starts
Libya Mission
Draft With
Martin,
Unfreezing Not
So Fast
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 7 --
With the UN's
and Ian
Martin's plan
to send
military
observers to
Libya
having been shot
down by the
National
Transitional
Council,
as a fallback
the UN wants
to focus on
prisons
and the
training of
police.
Well-placed
Security
Council
sources told
Inner City
Press on
September 7
that the
United Kingdom
is drafting a
resolution to
create a UN
Libya mission,
and that the
UK is "waiting
to hear back
from Ian
Martin" on its
contours. The
UK shouldn't
have much
trouble
reaching Ian
"the Brit"
Martin.
Meanwhile
despite
some loud
unfreezings of
Libyan assets,
sources say
that it is not
smooth sailing
for the other
pending
unfreezing
requests.
"The
money wouldn't
go to the
Libyan
people," a
dubious
Security
Council
diplomat told
Inner City
Press on
Wednesday
morning. "It
would go to
the Contact
Group" --
since renamed
the Group of
Friends of
Libya -- "that
is, to some
nations
claiming to
act on
behalf of the
Libyan
people."
Secretary
General
Ban Ki-moon's
moonlighting
mediator Al
Khatib appears
entirely off
the scene.
Even as the
NTC negotiated
with those in
Bani Walid, Al
Khatib was
nowhere to be
seen.
"It's over for
Khatib," a
well placed
Permanent
Representative
told Inner
City Press on
Tuesday
night. "Ian
Martin has
won. But what
has he won?"
Khatib, Ban
& Martin
on Aug 26, no
Qs on Martin
plan allowed
At
the September
6 noon
briefing,
Inner City
Press asked
Ban's new
Deputy
Spokesman
Eduardo del
Buey about
Khatib's role:
Inner
City
Press: what’s
the role now
of this, Mr.
Al-Khatib, as
mediator? I
mean, there is
this stand-off
between the,
the NTC and
the Qadhafi
supporters in
Bani Walid
which seems to
call out for
some
kind of
mediation; is
he totally out
of the game
now? When is
the
last time he
went to Libya?
What is his
continuing
role with the
UN
as a mediator
between these
two parties?
Deputy
Spokesperson
del Buey: He
continues in
his role as he
had been
appointed to,
and it is a
question now
of the
hostilities
coming to a
cessation and
the transition
over to the
post Qadhafi
era in Libya,
where Ian
Martin’s group
will take over
and do the
work with the
Transitional
Council to
implement the
changes that
are going to
take
place in
Libya.
Inner
City
Press: did the
UN ask the NTC
if they had
any desire for
this
kind of
mediation,
they have been
obviously
speaking to,
to Qadhafi
supporters and
tribes there,
but it seems
to be a kind
of a
mediat-able
(sic), you
know,
mediation
situation. Is
there no role
for Mr.
Al-Khatib in
that?
Deputy
Spokesperson:
Well, I’ll
have to find
out and get
back to you on
that.
We'll
be waiting.
Watch this
site.
, 
