Russia Lays Claim to North Pole While Ceding Ground on Iraq at the UN, Pundits Say

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis

UNITED NATIONS, August 2 -- Thursday the cable TV channels were full of the news that Russia had sent two submarines down below the North Pole, and staked its claim with its flag, inside a titanium thermos, rather than on a pole, given the depth.

            At the UN's noon briefing, Inner City Press asked

Inner City Press: There's this report of Russia planting this flag on the seabed in the North Pole, saying they own it.  And various countries are saying that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea will have to rule on this.  Is there anyone to ask?

 Associate Spokesperson:  We're aware of the reports.  We don't have any comment on them.  You could check with the Tribunal dealing with the Law of the Sea, in Hamburg, whether they have anything to say at this stage.  I don't believe that they have had any comment at this early stage of this case.

            But it's not early in the case. In fact, Russia filed its claim with the UN for this underwater real estate back in 2001, but got denied. Now it is down collecting evidence, to re-submit a claim that the Lomonosov Ridge is in fact an extension of the Siberian continental shelf and so belongs to Russia. Russia's former UN Ambassador and now Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, told reporters that "the goal of the expedition is... to prove that our shelf reaches the North Pole."

            Meanwhile Russia's current UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin was said by diplomatic pundits to cede ground on Thursday, praising a draft resolution which would expand the UN's role in Iraq. "I think it's overall a good draft," he said. "Some work, of course, may be required. But I don't see any basic problems."

            One potential problem is the reservations of UN staff. The Staff Union is scheduled to meet Tuesday to consider their own draft resolution, which would try to make improved safety a precondition for expanded UN staffing in Iraq.

Ban with families of Baghdad bombing victims, July 1, 2007

At Thursday's noon briefing Inner City Press asked

Inner City Press: There's some talk among the staff, about concerns about the United Nations not taking sufficient safety steps if they were to go back into Iraq.  There's some talk about passing a resolution about it.  So what, from Ban Ki-moon's position, as regards the United Nations staff, what would be a minimum level of either safety or protection that you would look for in the case of an increased presence?

 Associate Spokesperson:  As with all duty stations, we are constantly monitoring the security and safety conditions in Iraq and we base our presence on the ground on whether the adequate security conditions are in place.  And so we would continue to do that before making any other decisions about the level of staff who would be there.

            We'll see...

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Click here for a Reuters AlertNet piece by this correspondent about the Somali National Reconciliation Congress, and the UN's $200,000 contribution from an undefined trust fund, while UNDP won't answer.

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