On
Syria,
Russia PR
Against
Sanctions,
Australia PR
For, French
& US
PRs Not
Present
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNdislosed
Location,
June 7 -- When
Syria diplomat
Bashar
Ja'afari took
the
floor in the
UN General
Assembly after
speeches by
Ban Ki-Moon,
the
Arab League's
Araby and Navi
Pillay's
deputy, the UN
Television
feed
suddenly
turned out.
Last
time the
Qatari
President of
the General
Assembly
ordered this,
the blackout
continues
through out
the session.
This time is
was temporary.
In the
speeches that
followed
German
Permanent
Representative
Peter Wittig
said Ban
Ki-moon found
words.
While
the reference
was to Ban
belatedly
acknowledging
that the Annan
deputy he
named,
Arab League
nominee Kidwa,
has
predictably
been unable to
visit
Syria. But Ban
refused to
confirm that
when Inner
City Press
asked.
So did his
quiet (or
silent)
diplomacy
work?
Russia's
Permanent
Representative
Vitaly Churkin
criticized
sanctions on
Damascus, and
those who are
the rebels.
On
the other
hand,
UK Permanent
Representative
Mark Lyall
Grant said
that Ja'afari
is
covering up
violence by
claiming a
conspiracy:
words
reminiscent of
outgoing
International
Criminal Court
prosecutor
Luis Moreno
Ocampo's
threat this
week to
prosecute
Sudan's
Permanent
Representative.
Speaking
of
Permanent
Representatives,
or Mission's
Number 1
Ambassadors,
while
PRs were
present from
China, Russia
and the UK, it
was noted that
France and the
United States
sent their
Deputies,
Martin Briens
and
Rosemary
DiCarlo.
Questions
arose
regarding both
of these.
The
Permanent
Representative
of Australia
spoke for
sanctions, but
that don't
hurt
people. He is
competing with
Luxembourg and
Finland for
two Security
Council seats.
Libya's
representative
Ibrahim
Dabbashi said
Assad suffers
from "Gaddafi
syndrome."
Dabbashi long
represented
Gaddafi --
but, as Ocampo
twice noted,
he defected
and disavowed.
Then
things
turned, before
the
afternoon's
Security
Council
session at
which much
of this was
directed,
speakers
ranges from
New Zealand,
Chile,
Mexico, Cuba
and Nicaragua.
It's a Latin
thing. Watch
this site.
, 
