By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, February 21 – After a deadly car bombing in Damascus on Thursday, at the UN Russia circulated a boilerplate Security Council press statement condemning the “terrorist attack.”
The Security Council routinely issues such statements, whether the attack is in Baghdad, New Delhi or Nigeria. The UNTV camera was left up at the stakeout after the Council concluded its morning meetings.
But 2 pm, when Inner City Press had been told the Syria statement might be read out by this month's Security Council president, Kim Sook of South Korea, came and went.
Inner City Press remained in front of the Security Council, periodically hearing from sources that agreement on the press statement was becoming more unlikely.
It was after 6 pm that the Russian Mission to the UN circulated its own press release, going public with the dispute, and saying that its draft statement was “blocked by the US delegation linking it with other questions... By doing so the US delegation encourages those who have been repeatedly targeting American interests, including US diplomatic missions.”
Can you say, Benghazi? Susan Rice?
Inner City Press is putting the Russian press release online, here.
Meanwhile, when Inner City Press asked Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokesman Martin Nesirky to confirm that envoy Lakhdar Brahimi had renewed his contract for six months, Nesirky said no, Brahimi and his team were re-upped to the end of the year. Watch this site.
