By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, October 8 -- The chemical weapons mission to Syria will have its back-office in Cyprus, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has told the Security Council in a letter released Monday night.
So it is not strange that at a Cypriot photo exhibition in the UN lobby on Tuesday evening, Inner City Press spoke with Syria's Permanent Representative to the UN Bashar Ja'afari. He told Inner City Press that while even US Secretary of State John Kerry is praising Syria for its compliance, Ban Ki-moon is not.
He sees from one eye, Ja'afari said.
Recent background to this was Ban Ki-moon, after receiving an urgent complaint from Ja'afari, doing nothing as France held an event inside the UN declaring Saudi-sponsored rebel Ahmad al Jarba the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people.
After that, Ban invited Jarba to his UN-provided home on Sutton Place, met with him and issued a read-out which was longer than Ban's read-outs with several Presidents, notably from Latin America including even Dilma Rousseff of Brazil, who criticized the US for spying.
Another attendee at Tuesday's Cyprus event went further than Ja'afari, saying Ban's response when US President Barack Obama was threatening cruise missiles on Damascus "said it all."
Here's from the transcript of the UN's noon briefing on October 8, Inner City Press questioning Ban's associate spokesperson Farhan Haq about Ban's letter:
Inner City Press: he said that he is considering establishing a trust fund, so I wanted to know if you could say a little bit how that works, is it anyone that wants to contribute to it? And the other one is, it says, he has this idea that in phase three, Member States are gonna be invited to provide additional assistance, not only equipment but he seems to say security, so I just wanted to know what does this mean, is this gonna be a mission under DPKO [Department of Peacekeeping Operations], is the reference to Member States in phase three an idea that there would military security provided by countries not under DPKO or what, or just if you can say a little bit more what’s the intention of this paragraph.
Associate Spokesperson Haq: Well, first of all, these are recommendations, proposals, that have gone to the Security Council. So, the important thing is to see how the members of the Security Council will react. And, of course, we await a response from the Security Council to this. This is his recommendations in terms of how we are to abide by the various timelines that the Security Council have given for us to do this work. But, I would just refer you to the letter itself, which says, “given the complex nature of phase three,” which is — for those of you who have been following this, the phase stretching from 1 November of this year until the end of June 2014 — “given the complex nature of phase three, additional analysis and consultation is required, involving the OPCW, the United Nations and Member States which may be in a position to contribute to the associated activities in order to develop a viable operational concept and conduct the necessary planning”. So, that would need to be the first step, is essentially dialogue amongst those parties.
Inner City Press: just a follow-up because it has this phrase about it being highly probable that Member States would be asked to provide security, I understand the Security Council has to approve it, but I wanted to know, is this a proposal that this security would be through a mission under DPKO or that they would authorize other forces to go into Syria, that’s the question.
Associate Spokesperson Haq: Well, I don’t think we can get ahead of ourselves here. First, of course, like we said, the Security Council needs to consider this letter, and respond as appropriate. Beyond that, as I just said, there would need to be a dialogue involving the United Nations, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and key Member States. And we will have to see what the results of those… that dialogue would be.
Inner City Press: I am sorry to be still on this letter, but where it says that there will be a special coordinator that the Secretary-General would appoint in consultation with the Director-General of OPCW, is this a name that would then be put through the Security Council kind of like an SRSG [Special Representative of the Secretary-General] is, advise and consent, or is it entirely up to the two, heads of the Organizations? And because I am trying to understand this idea that everything is up to the Security Council, on the trust fund, he says “I also intend to establish a trust fund”. So, does that mean also, with the approval of the Security Council, or is that something he can do himself?
Associate Spokesperson Haq: Well, the first foremost point is we are awaiting what the Security Council’s response to this letter will be. It is the Security Council, mind you, who requested this letter within a ten-day deadline. We have met that deadline, we have presented these proposals, and we will have to see what the reaction will be.
Inner City Press: it’s just to understand what part of what he is proposing is something that he is saying, this is what I want to do, please approve it. And which part of it is he just saying this is what I intend to do and I am going to do, which is different.
Associate Spokesperson Haq: The letter as whole is a response to their request for a concept of operations for a series of proposals. He has now presented them the proposals and it is for them to review. Yes, Pam?
We'll have more on this Trust Fund. Watch this site.
