By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, February 26 -- On the International Criminal Court and whether and when the case of Libya should be referred to it, even the European Union is not united, it emerged Saturday at the UN. As the Security Council met on a draft resolution which would refer Libya to the ICC, a Western -- and we must say, EU -- diplomat emerged to tell the Press that Portugal was not supporting referring Libya to the ICC, due to concerns about retaliation against their citizens in Libya.
Inner City Press e-mailed the Mission of Portugal and asked for a response, ideally to the assembly UN press corps. And it happened: Portugal emerged and told Inner City Press that Portugal supports the draft as is, with the referral of Libya to the ICC, adding that Portugal is open to a compromise to get a resolution done today.
Some skeptics surmise that there may have been an idea of blaming Portugal for dropping from the draft the referral of Libya to the ICC.
An explanation has been requested: watch this site.
Meanwhile, the US Mission tweets in response to Inner City Press that it will have a lot to say on the record. When?
Update of 1:43 pm -- a Afro-Arab state's representative tells Inner City Press that in consultations, Portugal was speaking of putting referral of Libya to the ICC in a separate resolution. Still no response from the Western spokesperson who threw Portugal under the bus.
Meanwhile there's talk of China being 100% opposed to referral, with the counter-proposal of saying ICC will be discussed later coming from India and Gabon -- whose president Ali Bongo is a supporter of Gadhafi, and which dropped out of a planned joint stakeout with South Africa and Nigeria after Friday's meeting. Watch this site.
