By Matthew Russell Lee, exclusive
UNITED NATIONS, January 31 -- The new draft resolution on Syria, obtained by Inner City Press along with the track changes, insertions and deletions in the margin, shows the impact on the draft of the Arab League canceling its observer mission in Syria.
Click here for the document, put online by Inner City Press as a public service.
In the run up to the arrival of ministers at the UN for today's Security Council meeting on Syria, on Monday night the 15 Council members met until 9 pm at what's called the experts' level.
Inner City Press staked-out the meeting and exclusively live-tweeted it, and separately spoke with more senior diplomats at the members' Mission to the UN, one of whom laughed when asked if the changes were attributable to Morocco, which ostensibly drafted and circulated the resolution and chair Monday night's meeting.
"Morocco's just a straw man here," the senior Council diplomat told Inner City Press.
The tracked changes in the margin each bear the electronic signature of the "First Secretary (Political) at the UK Mission" to the UN.
In PP6, inserted is "commending [the LAS] efforts, regretting that, due to the escalation in violence, the observer mission was not in a position to monitor the full implementation of the League of Arab States Action Plan of 2 November 2011, and noting the subsequent decision of the League of Arab states [sic] to suspend the mission."
There are questions about how and by whom this decision was made.
In OP8 there is added, "in the event of a resumption of the observer mission, and in OP16 the the adverb "actively" is added to "remain.... seized of the matter."
The ministers are coming, and what one wag on Monday dubbed the Syria Superbowl is about to begin. Watch this site.
