At
UN on
Syria, US Says
"Expect
Nothing
Specific,"
Morocco Speaks
of Promise,
Amos on Way
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
March 6,
updated --
After China's
Permanent
Representative
Li Baodong twice
told
Inner City
Press there
would
consultations
on Syria by
the
Permanent Five
members of the
Security
Council plus
Morocco for
the
Arab League,
this small
meeting took
place midday
Tuesday.
While
the meeting
took place,
other Council
Ambassador
left. Hardeep
Sing Puri, the
Permanent
Representative
of India --
yes, "the
world's
largest
democracy" --
told Inner
City Press
that maybe
after Security
Council reform
his country
would be in
such meetings.
He
again
predicted
no Council
action until
after the
trips to Syria
of envoy Kofi
Annan
and UN
Humanitarian
chief Valerie
Amos, who it
is now
understood may
brief the
Council next
Tuesday from
Helsinki about
her visit.
When
the "P5
plus Morocco"
meeting broken
up, first out
was US
Ambassador
Susan Rice.
She was asked
whether the
press could
expect a vote
Monday on a
draft
resolution. "I
don't think
you should
expect
anything
specific," she
said and left.
China's
Permanent
RepresentativeLi
Baodong
emerged and
also stopped
to speak,
saying
"We are still
working on
that."
Morocco's
Permanent
Representative
Loulichki
called it
"promising,"
but said that
no date had
been set for
another
meeting.
France
was
represented by
its Deputy
Permanent
Representative
Martin Briens,
who
said nothing.
Russia's
Permanent
Representative
Vitaly Churkin
declined to
comment on
this way out;
on his way
into the
Council he'd
told the press
he's "always
optimistic."
UK
Permanent
Representative
Mark Lyall
Grant,
president of
the Council
for March,
declined to
comment on
Syria. Inner
City Press
told Lyall
Grant that
Sudan's
Permanent
Representative
had "liked the
Sudan PRST;"
a response may
be forthcoming
on that,
perhaps even
from the US.
Watch this
site.
Update
of 4 pm: the
US Mission
provided this,
attributable
to Ambassador
Rice:
“We
have just
begun today
preliminary
discussions
among the
permanent five
members of the
Security
Council plus
Morocco about
whether there
is any
possibility of
reaching
agreement
around a
potential text
that would
demand an end
to the
violence in
Syria and
demand
immediate
humanitarian
access. These
discussions
are just
beginning and
will
continue.
If and when,
it seems there
is a basis for
a meaningful
and viable
text, we will
propose one to
the full
Security
Council.”
, 
