By Matthew Russell Lee
NAIROBI TO ENTEBBE, October 5 to 6 -- Is Omar al Bashir in Libya? a journalist asked Chinese Ambassador Li Bao Dong in Nairobi's airport's VIP lounge on Tuesday night, as the UN delegation waited to fly to Uganda and then Sudan.
I've heard that, Li Bao Dong replied.
"Would you have a problem meeting with him?"
No, said Li Bao Dong, if it was part of the trip I would do it. He said that China has a "different" relationship with Sudan, and that is not a member of the International Criminal Court.
"Nor is the United States," Inner City Press pointed out.
Li Bao Dong smiled, saying that China and the US have a lot in common. He mentioned the death penalty.
Other Ambassadors, too, are on the record about Bashir's indictment by the ICC. Uganda's Ambassador Ruhakana Rugunda said on Monday in New York that his country favors suspending the indictment of Bashir for a year under Article 16 of the Rome Statute of the ICC. Others have that position. Watch this site.
Part of UN delegation arriving in Entebbe, Oct 5-6, 2010, Bashir not shown (c) MRLee
China's Permanent Representative to UN Li Bao Dong served previously as his country's Ambassador to Zambia. Thinking of mining and labor disputes, Inner City Press asked him if there were any hot issues while he was there. Yes, he said, the issues across the Straits. China's first embassy in the area was in Zambia. But Taiwan sensed weakness and moved in. Li Bao Dong had to fight back the challenge there, and elsewhere in the region. And now he is heading to Sudan. Watch this site.
Footnote: in the VIP lounge in Nairobi, a request was made to Inner City Press on behalf of a unnamed Council member not to report that “nothing is being done.” There is, of course, one or more ways to avoid that. Inner City Press is here to cover the Council's trip and results through Uganda, South Sudan, Darfur and Khartoum. Watch this site, follow on Twitter @InnerCityPress.
