After
Ban Speaks on
Bulgaria Bomb,
SC Wonders,
Why Yet Not
Syria? And
Then It Came
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
July 18,
updated twice
-- Amid the
Syria
resolution
standoff on
Wednesday
afternoon, a
Security
Council member
came out and
asked Inner
City
Press,
rhetorically
it seemed, why
it was that
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon hadn't
yet issued any
kind of
statement
about the
deadly bomb
in Damascus.
The
Council
member,
decidedly
non-Western,
said that Ban
routinely
comments on
killings or
even attempted
killings of
government
officials, as
well as other
matters. Why
not here?
While
one
can imagine
answers -- the
Red Cross has
called it a
civil war,
the Defense
Minister was
killed --
Inner City
Press put in
the
question to
Ban's top
three
spokespeople,
as well as one
about
another
bombing, in
Bulgaria,
explicitly
"without
analogy"
A
question has
arisen here at
(even, in) the
Security
Council, so
I'm
asking you:
is
the
Secretary
General going
to be issuing
a statement on
the bombing
in Damascus
killing
government
officials? If
so, when? If
not, why
not? And,
without making
any analogy,
same questions
on the bombing
in Bulgaria.
On deadline on
the above.
Separately and
not yet on
deadline [2
other
questions.]
While
no
Syria
statement has
been issued,
nor the
question
answered, this
was then put
out, before 6
pm --
Statement
Attributable
to the
Spokesperson
for the
Secretary-General:
Attack in
Bulgaria
The
Secretary–General
condemns in
the strongest
possible terms
today’s
deadly bombing
attack on a
bus carrying
Israeli
tourists
outside of
the Burgas
airport in
Bulgaria. The
explosion
reportedly
killed at
least seven
and injured
more than 30
people, some
critically.
The
Secretary-General
expresses his
condolences to
the victims
and their
families, to
the
Governments
and people of
Bulgaria and
Israel. New
York, 18 July
2012
Even
before Inner
City Press put
the questions
to Ban's
spokesperson's
office,
another
Security
Council member
told Inner
City Press,
Ban "has
to
issue a
statement on
Damascus
bombing... at
least
condolences."
Are those
limited to
civilians?
Watch this
site.
Update
of 6:40 pm --
on the
Bulgarian
bombing
Germany is
drafting a
Security
Council press
statement, the
Presidency
told Inner
City Press, at
Bulgaria's
request. And
on Syria?
Update
of 6:49 pm -
and then, a
Ban Ki-moon
statement on
Syria came
out: http://www.un.org/sg/statements/index.asp?nid=6197
, 
