Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/sudan1sahara043009.html
UNITED NATIONS, April 30 -- As a Security Council meeting on both South Sudan and Western Sahara droned on an hour past noon, US Ambassador Susan Rice emerged, looking around at the stakeout for her French counterpart Jean-Maurice Ripert. The issue was France's insistence that the Council's resolution on South Sudan should call on President al-Bashir to reverse his decision to expel international NGOs from Darfur.
China had countered that the resolution should then also note the African Union and Arab League position that the indictment of al-Bashir should be suspended. China proposed a compromise, sources tell Inner City Press, in which the resolution would refer only to two events in March, leaving unstated the indictment and expulsion. France said no, they would abstain and make a statement to explain why.
Simultaneously, France was opposing a Ugandan proposal to include human rights language in the Western Sahara resolution. Cynics guessed that the two disputes might become linked, with France getting its way on one and not the other. (As usually in such a trade off, Polisario of Western Sahara could be expected to get the short end of the stick). Polisario's own unpaid lobbyists from Independent Diplomat were on the scene, speaking also about the illegal exploitation of natural resources in Wester Sahara, including Europe's yen for fish, slaked also illegally off Somalia.
The UN's new envoy to Western Sahara, Christopher Ross, sat taking it all in. Inner City Press asked him about resources and human rights, questions he genially deflected. You look like Lynn Pascoe, Inner City Press finally said. I've heard that, he responded. And then went back into the meeting.
At 1:05 p.m., Ambassadors Rice and Ripert went back into the meeting, and the bell rang to convene the other members. Moments later, it was announced that consultations on both items is postponed to 4 p.m., with an emphasis the Western Sahara MINURSO human rights language. A Western P-5 Perm Rep said the Sudan resolution is agreed to. Watch this site.
