Inner City Press -- Investigative Reporting From the United Nations to Wall Street to the Inner City

On Syria, US Sends Rice While Turkey & Jordan to Brief, No Lavrov

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, August 28. updated -- So who's coming for France's August 30 "closed public briefing" in the UN Security Council on Syria?

  Yesterday Inner City Press reported that Colombia will send its foreign minister Patricia Holguin -- President Santos has now confirmed his government's negotiations with the FARC -- while Pakistan would be represented at the Deputy Permanent Representative level.

  Now we add: Germany is going in the middle, to be represented by its Permanent Representative Peter Wittig. Some might say he is almost ministerial: while as Inner City Press exclusively reported, Germany will chair the budgetary Fifth Committee, it has said it will be at the level of Deputy Permanent Representative Peter Berger (who has budget experience, it is noted.)

   The US, it's confirmed to Inner City Press, will be represented by Susan Rice. Since she's in the Cabinet, she is considered a minister. Togo, it's been said, is sending a minister.

   Russia, it now seems clear, is not sending Foreign Minister Lavrov, but rather its Permanent Representative Vitaly Churkin. After some refused his invitation to a New York meeting of the Action Group on Syria, some were surprised he'd attend.

   New Joint Special Representative Lakhdar Brahimi will meet with Security Council members on August 29 in the North Lawn building -- it is NOT a formal Security Council meeting, it's been stress -- then apparently lunch with ministers on August 30.

At the August 30 closed public briefing, the foreign ministers of Turkey and Jordan, neither a member of the Security Council, will give briefings to the Council. Jordan's Permanent Representative has been active of late in the North Lawn building.

 Inner City Press is now told that Lebanon will come -- not the foreign minister -- and Iraq, maybe: as "neighbors."  But if that's the rationale, isn't there another neighbor? 

  Other non-Council members can't speak, which seems to be the reason for this format. But as one wag mused, if Iran is good enough for Ban Ki-moon, why not this debate? Watch this site.