By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive
UNITED NATIONS, October 14, updated -- For days as the Eritrean Permanent Representative Araya Desta has been checking and re-checking the Security Council, Gabon's Permanent Representative Nelson Messone has been speaking to other member's ambassadors one by one.
When Inner City Press asked Messone what project he was working on, Messone laughed it off. Desta meanwhile said that the next step would be Eritrea's submission of its "comprehensive response" to charges that it, among other things, planned to bomb the Africa Union summit in Addis Ababa. "We will never give in," Desta told Inner City Press.
On Friday morning outside the so-called "horizon briefing" of the Council by the UN Department of Political Affairs, sources told Inner City Press that the topics in the closed meeting included Somalia, Madagascar and "sanctions."
Then Inner City Press heard that Gabon would be circulating a draft resolution for new sanctions on Eritrea.
Desta previously in the Council, new sanctions not shown
Then one source then another said that new Eritrea sanctions were mentioned in the consultations Friday morning. Diplomats from Eritrea's neighbors came down to the stakeout. It had begun: Watch this site.
Update of 12:50 pm -- As the Security Council meeting broke up, it was confirmed that Gabon is circulating the draft Eritrea sanctions resolution, and that South Africa is not a co-sponsor. Inner City Press asked US Ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis if the US is a co-sponsor of the resolution. "Nothing for you today," he said.
Subsequently another Permanent Five member's representative told Inner City Press that confidentiality was a major topic in the consultations - although not mostly directed at the topic of Eritrea. More to follow. Watch this site.
