By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive
UNITED NATIONS, April 9, updated -- Kofi Annan is moving to give Syria's Assad an extension to the supposed April 10 deadline, sources exclusively tell Inner City Press.
In the hours after reporting on Monday that the UN Security Council would Tuesday get a briefing on Syria and a letter from Kofi Annan, Inner City Press learned more. Sources specify to Inner City Press that the Tuesday video availability will be by Jean Marie Guehenno, Annan's non-Arab League deputy and former head of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations.
Update of 5:30 am April 10: Annan spokesman Fawzi has replied to Inner City Press that "Mr Annan is sending a leter to the Council today, with an update on developments in the Syria crisis, Mr Guehenno will be on stand-by by VCR from Geneva to answer any questions the Council members may have."
More explosively, the sources tell Inner City Press that Annan will be granting Syria's Bashar al Assad an extension to meet his previous commitment to Annan's Six Point plan, including the supposed April 10 deadline -- it will, the sources told Inner City Press, be extended, probably to April 12.
"Kofi has mediator's disease," one of the sources told Inner City Press. "He'll never want to admit that he's failed, that he's been played. And so he'll just give an extension. But when will he lose all credibility?"
Another source earlier on Monday told Inner City Press the buzz is that the Kofi Annan Foundation has been raising money "for Syria work." Inner City Press submitted this as a question to Annan's spokesman Ahmad Fawzi but has yet to receive a response. When one comes in it will be published. It's now understood that a response will arrived at latest Friday, April 13.
The context is that Fawzi declined to answer Inner City Press' weeks ago question of whether the Kofi Annan Foundation has solicited funds from regional countries with an interest in Syria.
So where, one might ask, is the Arab League nominated deputy Nassar El-Kidwa in all this? Watch this site.
