UNITED
NATIONS, March
28 -- During
the Arms Trade
Treaty talks
which failed
on Thursday
night, many
called
president
Peter Woolcott
fair and an
honest broker.
But
according not
only to Syria
but other
countries, it
broke down at
the
end.
Syria's
Permanent
Representative
Bashar
Ja'afari
exclusively
told Inner
City
Press that
Woolcott had
committed that
once an
objection was
made
“crystal
clear,” he
would
announced
there was no
consensus, no
adoption.
But
after it was
clear that
Iran was
blocking
consensus,
then North
Korea
and Syria,
Woolcott gave
the floor to
Mexico and
others to
argue that
the ATT should
be adopted
nevertheless,
“since there
is no
definition of
consensus.”
These
arguments
continued
until Russia
made a point
of order, that
it IS
clear what
consensus
means, and
that none
existed here.
Then
and only then
did Woolcott
say that he'd
always thought
it had to be
by consensus,
and none
existed.
Ja'afari
told
Inner City
Press he asked
to speak
again, and was
told that if
he did, he
would be
“last.”
Afterward
a
number of
other
countries,
including some
not opposed to
the ATT, said
that
Woolcott was a
tool of the
big countries.
“He let Mexico
speak
to try to
change the
atmosphere in
the room...
You see he
only
stopped when a
big country
like Russia
spoke up,” one
arms expert
told Inner
City Press.
Another
said,
we can't just
change the
rules. Another
said, the US
pushed for
the ATT to be
under the rule
of consensus,
to be able to
block it --
then “pushed
Iran to block
it.”
Inner
City Press
asked the head
of the US
delegation
about this; he
did not
disagree,
including
saying, it's
not a
criticism.
Alright then.
Watch
this site.
Update
of 9:30 pm -
We'd be told
there would be
a Woolcott stakeout,
to get his
side. But it's
canceled. To
be fair we'll
make his
argument:
there was a
list of
speakers.
, 
