On
Syria, from UN
to Russian
Mission, 45
Minutes, No
Comment, R2N?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
September 11
-- The day
after US
President
Barack Obama's
Oval Office
speech on
Syria, the
Permanent Five
members of the
Security
Council met.
But where?
At the Russian
Mission, Inner
City Press
followed and
found out: and
from 4:10 to
4:45, when
Ambassadors
Power, Araud
and Lyall
Grant walked
out, refusing
comment.
The
meeting came
after
yesterday's
cancellation
of the
consultations
of
the full
Council which
Russia had
requested.
While as Inner
City
Press reported
yesterday the
meeting was
formally
cancelled by
an
e-mail from
the Russian
side, they
explain that
it was France
that
asked them to
cancel it, to
"work on" --
or soften --
the
French draft
resolution.
Wednesday
before
3 pm Inner
City Press
went to the
building that
houses the
French and UK
Missions at 3
pm, and
witnessed
French
Permanent
Representative
Gerard Araud
stroll in at
3:06 pm.
Clearly, the
meeting was
not at 3 pm.
Back
in the lobby
of the UN, a
major
non-Council
member told
Inner City
Press that it
would be at
the Russian
Mission, up on
67th Street.
But
from the
French mission
a colleague
called in: US
Ambassador
Samantha
Power had gone
it.
One
CitiBike ride
later, it
became clear:
the P3 held a
pre-meeting on
47th Street.
Then UK
Permanent
Representative
Mark Lyall
Grant came
out and got
into a black
car. A
Lebanese TV
journalist was
whisked
away, and a
black van
carrying
Ambassador
Power also
headed north.
A
subway ride
later, Inner
City Press
witnessed
Ambassador
Power going
into the
Russians'
white brick
mission,
across from
the Park East
Synagogue and
a fire
station, at
4:10 pm.
How
long would she
stay? In the
morning Power
spoke on the
Responsibility
to Protect. Is
there a
Responsibility
to Negotiate?
Between a
French
draft
resolution
under Chapter
7, praised by
Human Rights
Watch for
its citation
to the
International
Criminal
Court, and the
Russian
proposal of a
Presidential
Statement?
Watch this
site.
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