By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, September 26 -- The deal on Syria chemical weapons was cut between John Kerry and Sergey Lavrov in Geneva. But it was France which rushed to be first to announce that a draft resolution, agreed by the Permanent Five members of the Security Council, would be presented Thursday night at 8 pm to the other ten marginalized Council members.
While some mistook this to mean that the resolution would be voted on, adopted, on Thursday evening, Inner City Press' inquiries yielded that the plan is for the OPCW in The Hague to act, then its text will be an annex to the Security Council resolution.
While all this went on, France sponsored a meeting to promote Saudi-sponsored Syria rebel boss Ahmad al Jarba, giving Jarba fully 20 minutes to speak. Click here for Inner City Press' pre-meeting story. While the French invitation, selectively sent out, said there would be no stakeout, then minister Laurent Fabius said he wanted to speak.
Perhaps made irrelevant on Iran -- it was the UK, EU, German, US and Iran who spoke -- France wants to try to own Syria. They did in the past, it's noted. But those days are over. Watch this site.
Footnote: the conditions for reporting at the UN Security Council stakeout on Thursday were terrible. There was no place to type; when Russia's Lavrov stopped and spoke, few could here him. (Inner City Press filmed a video and put it online here.)
Since June, the Free UN Coalition for Access @FUNCA_info has pressed the Department of Public Information for better conditions: tables to type on, electrical outlets. Now with more journalists on the scene, and table have been put temporarily in the stakeout for the traveling press (then removed), has the time come for reform? Watch this site.
