On
Syria,
Araud Calls
Lavrov Rear
Guard, Pillay
Dodges on 2
Years
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
July 2 --
After Navi
Pillay briefed
the Security
Council
about Syria on
Monday, Inner
City Press
asked her
about the long
stalled report
on the
killings at Al
Houla that the
Council asked
for, and
whether Ban
Ki-moon's
decision to
renew her for
only two
years and not
four undercut
her
independence.
I'll
only
answer the
first
questions on
Syria, Pillay
began. And on
that,
she referred
to a different
report, that
of the
Commission of
Inquiry
which on June
29 told the
Human Rights
Council it
didn't really
know
who did the
killings.
(Pillay said
that evidence
points to the
government.)
Pillay
will be
briefing on
Libya later
Monday, and
the Sudan and
Palestine on
July
3, so we hope
to have more.
Then
French
Ambassador
Gerard Araud
came out to
speak. Inner
City Press
asked him
about Russian
foreign
minister
Lavrov's
statement in
Geneva
that the
modified
communique
means Assad
does not have
to leave.
Araud called
this a "rear
guard battle
by our Russian
friends."
Inner
City
Press asked
Araud about
its exclusive
last week that
the
Permanent Five
members of the
Council were
told by the
Secretariat of
a plan to
downgrade
UNSMIS in
Syria to a
political
mission. Araud
replied that
if there is no
political
process and it
remains
dangerous, the
Council might
decide to
leave
altogether, or
to
downgrade the
mission.
Earlier
at
Monday's noon
briefing,
Inner City
Press asked
Ban Ki-moon's
spokesman
Martin Nesirky
about the
Houla report,
and if Ban
agrees
with Hillary
Clinton's or
Lavrov's
interpretation
of the Action
Group
communique.
On
the
Houla report,
Nesirky
repeated that
it is with
other UN
experts
-- but for how
long? He said
that Ban
agrees with
what Joint
Special
Envoy Kofi
Annan said --
not much --
after the
Geneva
meeting.
So
Inner
City Press
asked, has
Annan followed
through and
briefed Iran
and Saudi
Arabia about
Saturday's
meetings?
Nesirky said
he didn't
know, that
because
Saturday's
meeting went
late, perhaps
not. Watch
this site.
, 
