By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, July 11 -- After French Ambassador Gerard Araud told Inner City Press that "no," 45 days is not the period, the UK circulated a draft resolution to "renew the mandate of the United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) for a period of 45 days." Inner City Pressis putting the draft online here.
Other key paragraph are 13 and 14:
"13. Decides that, if the Syrian authorities have not fully complied with paragraph 5 above within ten days, then it shall impose immediately measures under Article 41 of the UN Charter
"14. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the Council on the implementation of this resolution within 10 days of its adoption and every 15 days thereafter;"
Sources said that this "UK" draft will be discussed not only by experts at 11 in the morning on July 12, but also by Permanent Representatives that afternoon at 3:30 -- all this during an all-day Security Council debate featuring July's president Colombia's foreign minister Maria Angela Holguin.
President Nestor Osorio left the Council session on West Africa on Wednesday afternoon to go pick up Holguin. The topic of the debate on Thursday, an an interactive (but closed door) session on Friday is "Peacebuilding." But as a seasoned non-Western diplomat told Inner City Press Wednesday afternoon, the Council is more and more irrelevant.
Look at what the Council doesn't deal with, he said, mentioning North Korea and the Middle East. Even on Sudan, we try to step in front of Mbeki. All that the UK, France and US know how to do is ask for sanctions. But on Syria it would send the wrong message to the opposition. And so we will oppose it.
Another non-Western Security Council members asked Inner City Press, rhetorically it seemed, "How do you sanction the opposition? Their right to self-defense has been recognized at the Friends of Syria meetings. And so it Assad does nothing and you sanction him, they will just grab territory, the country is majority Sunni."
Meanwhile the head of the UN Office on West Africa Said Djinnit left the consultations without passing by the press stakeout. Some wonder if he can handle Mali, before more of Timbuktu is destroyed. Problems the UN Security Council could do something about, they don't. Watch this site.
