Annan
Gets
Syria's
Response,
UNclear If To
Ban Who Has No
Meeting with
Russia
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
March 26 -- As
Kofi Annan's
roadshow for
his Syria
plan,
whatever it
is, continued
on Monday his
spokesman just
before noon
New York time
issued a
statement:
"The
Syrian
Government has
formally
responded to
the Joint
Special Envoy
for Syria,
Kofi Annan's
6-point plan,
as endorsed by
the UN
Security
Council. Mr.
Annan is
studying it
and will
respond very
shortly."
In
better
coordination
than has so
far been the
case this was
read out at
the
UN's noon
briefing by
the deputy
spokesman for
Ban Ki-moon,
Annan's
successor as
UN Secretary
General. Then
Inner City
Press asked
the
spokesman,
Eduardo Del
Buey, if Annan
would consult
Ban before
responding:
Inner
City
Press: on the
statement you
just have from
the Spokesman
for the
Joint Special
Envoy, without
obviously
getting into
what the
response
of Syria is,
it says he’s
gotten it and
he is going to
respond to
it. Before he
responds to
it, does he
check with the
Secretary-General
and with Nabil
Elaraby of the
League of Arab
States, or is
his response
to it entirely
up to him?
Deputy
Spokesperson
Del Buey:
Well, our
Secretary-General
is in regular
and
constant
contact with
Mr. Annan, so
I would
imagine that
Mr. Annan
will be
discussing
this with the
Secretary-General
and will be
raising his
observations
and what he
may plan to
say.
Question:
Sure, what I
am asking is
the process
for Kofi Annan
to check with
the two
Secretary-Generals
and then
respond, or
does he
respond and
then tell them
how he
responded?
Deputy
Spokesperson:
Well he has
been appointed
by both
Secretaries-General,
and he is in
constant
communication
with them,
so I imagine
the
conversation
is ongoing.
This
process is
important:
does "Joint
Special Envoy"
Annan confer
with the
UN's Ban and
Arab League
before
responding, or
not? Ban's
spokesman
should not be
"imagining"
how it works.
Inner City
Press obtained
and put online
Syria's first
response to
Annan and put
it online here,
which Annan
called
disappointing.
What
we know of
Ban's last 48
hours in Seoul
is that he has
spoken with
the leaders
of Gabon,
Turkey,
Australia,
Finland and at
most length
South Korea.
In
front of the
Security
Council in New
York on
Monday, Inner
City Press
asked if Ban
will meet with
Russia's
President who
is in Seoul,
and who has
met
with US
President
Barack Obama.
No, the answer
came. So Kofi
Annan
is meeting
with Russia,
but Ban is
not. Watch
this site.
, 
