With
No Libya Asset
Unfreezing or
Stop NATO
Resolutions at
UN, Norway
Makes Request; Whither
Jamahiriya
Sign?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 31 --
As August
turns to
September and
the Arab Fall,
in the UN
Security
Council there
has neither
been proposed
a draft
resolution to
lift sanctions
on Libya
nor to stop
the NATO
bombing.
Even
on the day of
Eid al Fitr,
with the UN
building
closed,
another
country on
Wednesday
submitted an
unfreezing
request to the
Libya
Sanctions
Committee. The
request,
referencing
only the "international
mechanism"
still based in
Qatar and not
the
Transitional
National
Council, was
to be
announced in
Oslo on
September 1.
(Germany's note
verbale
request
announced
August 29
referenced
like the US
the "relevant
authorities,"
according to a
self-described
reliable
source.)
Beyond
South
Africa's
unfreezing
standoff with
the US last
week, the
blocks of
Russia and
China have
been much
discussed,
with the
former called
principled and
the latter,
merely
business
related.
Why
haven't the
Western
countries put
forward a
resolution to
remove the
sanctions in
toto and
unfreeze
Gaddafi's
money? The
answer seems
to be that
with
the situation
on the ground,
this would
trigger a
counter-request
to
get NATO to
stop its
bombing. And
that NATO and
the West don't
want
to do.
As
various
delegations
conferred with
Inner City
Press about
its "scoop"
in obtaining
and publishing
the Ian Martin
report, they
described
stealth
outreach by
the UN to
non-NATO
countries,
while Al
Khatib was
still trying
unsuccessfully
to mediate.
(The consensus
seems to be
that Al Khatib
is now
"finished.")
This included
the likes
of Bangladesh
-- which said
no -- and
non-NATO
member
Finland.
By 48
St Mission,
Rebel flag
& Gaddafi
named sign,
Aug 31, 2011
(c) MLee
After
spotting
Ibrahim
Dabbashi on
Second Avenue
with a cell
phone, Inner
City Press
noticed on the
scaffolding in
front of
Libya's
mission the
sign of
ownership, by
the "Libyan
Arab
Jamahiriya."
Since that was
Gaddafi's
name, one
wonders when
it will
change. Watch
this site.
* * *
On
Libya,
As UN's Martin
Calls Ongoing
NATO Role a
"Factual
Statement,"
Military
Dreams Shot
Down
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
August 30 --
While the 200
UN Military
Observers
envisioned in
Ian
Martin's
leaked August
22 report to
Secretary
General Ban
Ki-moon
were ruled out
on August 30
by the UK and
Russian
Ambassadors
and Martin
himself as not
requested by
the Libyans,
Martin told
the Press that
NATO's
continuing
role is just
"a factual
statement."
Inner
City Press,
which
exclusively
obtained and
published Martin's 10
page plan for
Libya,
asked him
three
questions,
first about
his line that
"the Security
Council's
'protection of
civilians'
mandate
implemented by
NATO does not
end with the
fall of the
Qadhafi
government
and,
therefore,
NATO would
continue to
have some
responsibilities."
"That's
just a factual
statement,"
Martin said.
But unless one
is entirely
embedded on
the Western /
NATO side of
the debate, it
is in fact a
contested and
controversial
statement to
say NATO will
continue to
have
responsibilities
in Libya.
Chinese
Ambassador
Li Baodong,
for example,
on Tuesday
told Inner
City Press
that
post-conflict
"should be the
end of NATO's
mission."
He also said
that the
African Union,
which unlike
NATO is not
mentioned in
Martin's 10
page report,
should play a
role in post
conflict
Libya.
Inner
City Press
asked Martin
about the AU
not being in
his report.
Martin replied
that Ban
Ki-moon is
headed to
Paris for the
September 1
meeting and
hopes to there
meet with the
chairman of
the African
Commission.
(Then Ban will
proceed to,
among other
stops,
Kiribati and
the Marshall
Islands.)
While
Martin was
meeting behind
closed doors
in the
Security
Council,
Russian
Ambassador
Vitaly Churkin
emerged and
Inner City
Press asked
him about the
military
observers
concept in
Martin's
August 22
plan: "up to
200 UNMOs...
50 UNMOs able
to redeploy
immediately
from other
missions."
Churkin
said that "the
Libyans don't
see a need for
military
observers,"
but said to
ask Ian
Martin.
Moments
later Inner
City Press put
the same
question to UK
Ambassador
Mark Lyall
Grant, who
paused and
said that the
NTC, the
National
Transitional
Council, is
"not
suggesting"
military
observers.
Ian
Martin, when
asked by Inner
City Press,
said that the
plan of
military
observers was
premised on
there being a
ceasefire,
which has not
occurred. But
his plan was
dated and
signed on
August 22,
when the
rebels were
already in
Tripoli. Now
there is the
standoff in
Sirte -- watch
this site.
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