By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, February 1 -- As protests spread from Egypt to Sudan and even Albania, February's UN Security Council president Brazil undertook Tuesday to meet with each of the Council's members about the month's program of work.
Just outside the chamber, Inner City Press asked Ambassadors questions as they emerged, starting with whether Egypt might be considered in the Council, at least in the “horizon” or big-picture briefing by the Department of Political Affairs.
Without exception, the Ambassadors said that it would not be considered. “It'll be talked about, but not here around the horseshoe table,” India's Permanent Representative Hardeep Singh Puri said on his way out.
On his way in, when Inner City Press asked about the month's “hot topics,” he said that the hot topics would not be dealt with in the Security Council. Some wonder: then why want so badly to be on the Council?
The morning began with Bosnia, January's president, passing the torch to Brazil -- or the “hot potato,” as Bosnia's Ivan Barbalic put it to Inner City Press.
Next came Russia, with its usual troika of Vitaly Churkin, Konstantin Dolgov and the ubiquitous Vladimir. Asked about the truth of the US pushing additional Cote d'Ivoire sanctions in the Council, Churkin said no, given the African mediation efforts, no new sanctions would be discussed.
France's Gerard Araud, next in line, agreed that additional sanctions would not proceed in light of the African mediation -- which includes Chadian president Idriss Deby. Inner City Press asked Araud -- and UK Deputy Permanent Representative Philip Parham -- about Sudan international justice issues, which will be the subject of a separate story.
India's Hardeep Singh Puri said, of Sudan, that there might be one meeting instead of the planned two about the Southern Sudan referendum, and that Brazil's Permanent Representative Ribeiro Viotti-- he called her by her first name Maria Luiza -- would consult, “as a mature member,” and decide.
Asked if he envisioned the draft resolution on settlements by Israel being considered, he said on the record that he did not, that leaving it “in blue” for an extended period of time would not be a problem.
Many Arab Ambassadors are saying this as well, noting that the US under Barack Obama is under pressure to veto the resolution, and that “would not help anyone.”
The next Ambassadors spoke, among other things, about the new report on North Korea: when would the 1718 Committee consider it? It has been circulated, was the response, and will follow the normal procedure. Inner City Press asked for a response to the cynic's view that China will not want the report to proceed anytime soon. “That's a cynic's view,” was the response.
The wild card for the month will be the Department of Political Affairs briefing. Inner City Press asked if it would include reference to Egypt and Tunisia, even Jordan and Yemen. “Probably not,” came the response. “That is too big picture.” And so it goes in the UN Security Council.
