As
Russia
Calls Meeting
on "Middle
East," Buzz on
Syria Rebels
Getting Arms,
Draft
Circulated
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 15,
updated Dec 16
-- Russia
abruptly
called a
Security
Council
meeting for
Thursday at
noon, acting
in its
national
capacity while
still serving
as Council
president for
December.
Earlier on
Thursday
various
Western
Permanent
Representative
told Inner
City Press
they
did not know
what the
meeting would
be about,
other than the
stated
topic:
"Situation in
the Middle
East."
This
was the topic
agreed on when
Navi Pillay
briefed the
Council on
Syria, and
took
questions on
Palestine. So
would Russia
be making a
similarly
hybrid
move Thursday
at noon?
Sources close
but not the
closest to
Russia
whispered
darkly to
Inner City
Press about
Syrian rebeled
getting armed,
28 security
forces killed.
Would Russia
be asking for
a briefing?
Update
of
11:53 am -
while some
remain
tight-lipped
saying only
that the
noon
consultations
are about "the
situation in
the Middle
East,"
there is more
and more talk
about the 27
security
forces killed
in
southern
Syria.
Some wonder:
what proof, in
terms of arms
flows, does
Ambassador
Churkin have?
Syrian
Ambassador
Bashar
Ja'afari went
into
the Council
earlier,
stopping to
offer Inner
City Press a
"complete"
DVD of Barbara
Walters'
interview with
Bashar Assad.
That may be
superseded.
Update
of
12:30 pm --
Inner City
Press ran to
the UN noon
briefing and
asked
Associate
Spokesperson
Farhan Haq
about the 27
soldiers
killed, the
topic of the
Security
Council
consultations
- did the
Secretary
General have
any response?
Haq
replied, "We
need to be
able to verify
what's
happening...
The Secretary
General
made clear his
concerns about
the violence
in Syria...in
Syria more
than 5000
people are
dead, this
cannot go
on...
Inner
City Press
asked about
Russia's
reported
concern about
who may be
arming the
Syrian rebels,
what does the
Secretary
General think?
"We
don't have
verification,"
Haq said, "the
Secretary
General's
concern
is about all
the violence,
from whatever
quarter and
[wants] Syrian
authorities
and concerned
countries
around do what
they can to
put an
end to this."
Does
that mean not
arming the
rebels? Back
at the
Council, the
consultations
began.
Update
of
1:25 pm --
Russia
introduced a
draft
resolution on
Syria. Inner
City Press
asked the
Permanent
Representative
of Syria,
Bashar
Ja'afari, what
he thought of
the draft, as
Ja'afari
returned with
the
promised DVD
he said has
the full 59
minutes of
Bashar al
Assad's
interview with
Barbara
Walters. On
the
resolution, he
said it's a
"further step
in the right
direction" and
promised more
extensive
comments after
checking with
Damascus.
The Russian
position is
that they are
not catering
to any country.
At the
stakeout, in
the absence of
UK Permanent
Representative
Mark Lyall
Grant, the UK
Political
Coordinator
Michael Tatham
did a rare
stakeout, to
make a
statement --
but then
didn't take
any questions.
We hope to
have more
- watch this
site.
Update
of
4:30 pm --
when Russia's
Vitaly Churkin
came to read a
Council
press
statement
about Iraq -
Kuwait, Inner
City Press
also asked him
what he thinks
the next steps
are on his
Syria draft:
consultations
at the expert
level?
He said that
the stakeouts
after his --
by
France,
Germany and
the UK --
showed these
countries
haven't "yet
digested" the
draft. One of
these three
commented to
Inner City
Press,
it's a bitter
nut.
That
the US didn't
do a stakeout
similar to the
three
Europeans just
after Churkin
circulated the
draft might
not only be
because the US
Permanent
Representative
was speaking
Thursday
morning in
Washington
about South
Sudan, but
reflect again
a difference
in US and EU
policy on
Syria.
Notably,
Hillary
Clinton in
Washington
said among
other things
that the US
would like to
"work with"
Russia on the
draft, which
criticizes
acts of
violence by
"all parties,
including
disproportionate
use of force
by Syrian
authorities"
and "the
illegal supply
of weapons to
the armed
groups in
Syria."
We'll have
more on this.
On
Iraq - Kuwait,
Inner City
Press asked
Churkin if
envoy Tarasov
having run for
and
won a post on
the UN Joint
Inspection
Unit was
discussed.
Some think
it telegraphs
the end of the
mandate.
Churkin said
it's
"sensitive"
and declined
to answer. We
note again the
the JIU
position is
said
not to start
January 1,
2012 but
January 1,
2013...
Update
of Dec. 16, 11
am - Churkin
this morning
says they need
time to
"absorb" the
draft. Since
yesterday he
told Inner
City Press the
European
members had
yet to
"digest" the
draft, does
the shift to
"absorb"
represent some
step forward.
"Maybe
Monday,"
Churkin added,
more talks.
Watch this
site.
(c) UN Photo
Churkin and Li
Baodong,
Situation in
Middle East
not shown
, 
