At
UN
on Syria,
Annan Talks
Dialogue, Ban
Spaces
Question, Finances
Undisclosed
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
February 29 --
When former
Secretary
General Kofi
Annan came to
the UN late
Wednesday, it
came after a
day in which
the Security
Council could
not agree on a
statement
demanding or
calling for
Syria to let
UN
Humanitarian
chief Valerie
Amos into the
country.
Annan
said
he will go to
Damascus, and
that he wants
to be the only
mediator. He
said the goal
is to stop the
violence, to
create
dialogue. He
said that some
may not want
dialogue but
the Syrians
caught in the
middle deserve
it.
Inner
City
Press attended
the photo op
-- Annan's
successor as
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon had
with him his
main adviser
Kim Won-soo,
his
outgoing
political
chief Lynn
Pascoe as well
as UN
Peacekeeping
and
other
officials --
and then Ban's
and Annan's
stakeout. Only
three
questions were
allowed, and
none dealt for
example with
Qatar's call
to arm the
opposition, or
even if Ban's
statement that
Assad lost all
humanity was
useful.
Annan
acknowledged
he hadn't
spoken to
Assad in some
years. Still
he was
notably more
alert, several
journalists
commented,
than Ban who
seemed to
space out even
during one of
the three
questions, if
he
would write a
letter to the
Syrian
government
describing
Annan's
mandate.
At
the
day's noon
briefing Inner
City Press
asked Ban's
spokesman
Martin
Nesirky:
Inner
City
Press: the
spokesperson
for the
Syrian Foreign
Ministry has
said that they
have asked the
Secretary-General
for details of
Mr. Annan’s
mandate and
goals and
they expect,
quote, 'from
their point of
view, a letter
to that
effect.' Can
you respond to
it? ...
Spokesperson:
I have seen
what the
Foreign
Ministry
spokesman
said, Matthew,
and
as I have also
just said, the
Secretary-General
and his
Special Envoy
— the Special
Envoy of the
United Nations
and the League
of Arab
States — will
be meeting
this
afternoon.
That’s their
first
meeting. They
have obviously
spoken on the
telephone, but
this is
their first
meeting since
that
appointment. I
think they
will be
discussing
various
aspects, and I
am sure that
they will have
taken
note of what
the Foreign
Ministry
spokesman
said.
Then at
the stakeout,
Ban said the
letter was
already on its
way. So when
was it sent?
And what about
finances?
Watch this
site.
, 
