On
Syria, Kidwa
Says Annan
Will Only Stay
if June 30
"Meaningful
Outcome"
By
Matthew
Russell Lee,
Partial
exclusive
UNITED
NATIONS,
June 26, updated
-- As on Syria
the UN
Security
Council held
another
closed
consultation
on Tuesday
morning,
sources inside
exclusively
told Inner
City Press
that Kofi
Annan's (Arab
League) deputy
Al Kidwa
has made
something of
an ultimatum:
only if there
is a
meaningful
outcome of the
June 30
meeting might
the Special
Envoy Kofi
Annan and
his team
continue.
Update
of 10:55 am
-- Syrian
sources tell
Inner City
Press that
while "France
for example
doesn't want
to go to
Geneva unless
a post-Assad
plan's agreed
in advance,"
the real
negotiations
are between
Russia and the
US, which
Syria takes to
be less
intransigent
than France.
Plus, the
Syrian sources
say, once Kofi
Annan said
Iran should
participate,
it is very
hard for
anyone to say
no. We'll see.
Before
the
consultations
began, there
was a clear
statement by
Russian
Ambassador
Vitaly
Churkin, then
an initially
less clear,
two-step
statement by
US Ambassador
Susan Rice.
Both
focused on
Geneva on June
30: Churkin
said that his
foreign
minister (and
predecessor as
Ambassador to
the UN) Lavrov
has
"officially
accepted" the
invitation to
attend.
When
Ambassador
Rice was
asked, she
said we have
accepted the
invitation,
then came
back to say
that does not
mean that the
US will
attended, that
question has
not been
answered yet.
Perhaps
in this
case
"accepting"
the invitation
only means
confirming
receipt?
Clarification
was sought,
and the US
position seems
to be
that idea have
been received,
but that
attendance on
June 30 would
be
conditioned on
a meaningful
outcome, for
example a
political
transition
plan.
One wag mused,
why hold a
meeting unless
the outcome is
decided in
advance?
Meanwhile,
sources
in the
consultations
tell Inner
City Press
that Kofi
Annan's (Arab
League) deputy
Al Kidwa has
made something
of an
ultimatum:
only if
there is a
meaningful
outcome of the
June 30
meeting might
the
Special Envoy
Kofi Annan and
his team
continue. A
well placed
source
called it an
ultimatum.
Kidwa,
as Inner City
Press first
reported, has
not been
allowed into
Syria, because
he was
nominated by
the Arab
League.
Here
is a fast
transcript of
what Vitaly
Churkin said:
Well,
I'm expecting
a pretty grim
description of
the situation.
It means that
we need to
work even
harder. What I
can tell you
is that Sergei
Lavrov
officially
accepted the
invitation to
come to the
action group
meeting on
Saturday, June
30. We attach
great
importance to
this meeting,
As
you know
Russia
proposed an
international
conference on
Syria and
this is very
much in line
with our
thinking. I
hope other
planned
participants
are going to
be there as
well. So we
are looking
forward to it
and we hope it
can provide a
powerful
impetus for
political
efforts to put
an end to the
conflict...
invitations
are
out there
already. and
our minister
has officially
accepted this
invitation.
Watch
this site.
, 
