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In UN Council, Myanmar and Mugabe in Footnotes,
Demand for Tony Blair, Kosovo Wide Open
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of
Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
UNITED NATIONS,
November 4, 10:30 am, updated
-- With proxy wars
raging in the Congo, Somalia and elsewhere, the Costa Rican presidency
of the
UN Security Council began with a breakfast Tuesday morning. Ambassador
Jorge
Urbina greeted dozens of diplomats and freeloaders at the Council's
entrance.
Several of each stopped and spoke with Inner City Press, together
painting a
picture of the coming month's program of work.
"Myanmar
and Zimbabwe are in the footnotes," one well-placed source confided,
adding that the U.S. put Myanmar on, and the UK "peace and security in
Africa," in this case the code word for Mugabe. The Kosovo meeting was
going to be closed, but since the Serbian foreign minister -- "who
seems
to live in New York," one staffer snarked -- wants to speak, or even
his
president Tadic, it will an an open session.
Urbina speaks on Kosovo, in the Chamber as it should be
There is a
footnote on the Middle East, which Inner City Press is told means Tony
Blair,
the still-outstanding request that he come and briefing the Council,
since he
serves as envoy to the Middle East Quartet. Last week, even UNRWA's
Karen
AbuZayd noted that many hats Blair wears, wondering what if
anything he
accomplishes.
Urbina is
said to favor meetings being open, rather than private consultations.
Whether
that means he will describe Council dynamics at the stakeout
microphone, as
neither the Belgian or Chinese Ambassadors were willing to do, remains
to be
seen.
Update
of 1 p.m., while in Amb. Urbina's press conference: he has
confirmed that Zimbabwe is on, but in response to Inner City Press'
request that in the spirit of transparency he disclose which delegation
asked to put it on, he said "the Council as a whole." He confirmed that
Tony Blair has been asked to briefing the Council, some time ago, but
has yet to respond.
That there will be no
debate in his month on Protection of Civilians, he ascribed to delay by
the Secretariat, and that John Holmes will only report in December. The
November 22 to 28 trip, he refused to state the destination, or if the
press can go. Still it was heady stuff, and may bode well for the month.
Watch this site, and this Oct. 2 debate, on
UN, bailout, MDGs
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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