By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, November 2 -- Follow Saudi Arabia's announcement it would not take the UN Security Council seat it without competition won, the last two weekends have featured orchestrated moves by the Arab Group at the UN in New York to ask Saudi Arabia to reconsidered.
Two weeks ago, a press release to this effect was sent out, but several Arab Group members complained to Inner City Press that the statement had not properly been circulated or approved. This was cured last weekend, after an in-person meeting of the Arab Group ambassadors on October 25.
Now things are moving up a notch. The League of Arab States will meet at the ministerial level in Cairo on November 3, on paper about Syria and to meet Saudi-sponsored opposition figure Ahmed al Jarba -- but also, sources tell Inner City Press, to formally ask Saudi Arabia to reverse itself and take the Security Council seat.
This is to be sealed with US Secretary of State John Kerry's visit after Cairo to Saudi King Abdullah in Riyadh, where the sources predict to Inner City Press Kerry will "so supplicate" to the King that Saudi Arabia will claim victory and taken the position: have its seat and eat it too.
Meanwhile Kerry's spokesperson is hyping other portions of his upcoming trip, on Saturday "welcoming" to Twitter Jordan's Nasser Judeh (who has long been on Twitter) and saying Kerry looks forward to meeting him his week.
What about the Saudi King? What's that Kerry visit about?
The other stops on Kerry's trip, beyond Cairo, Riyadh and Amman, are Warsaw, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Abu Dhabi, Algiers, and Rabat.
In New York, Inner City Press has repeatedly asked UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's spokespeople to name the last date on which Ban met with the Saudis, and now toconfirm or deny that Saudi Arabia declined a visit by UN (and Arab League) envoy on Syria Lakhdar Brahimi.
Ban's office will answer none of this; instead Ban offered the type of praise of Saudi Arabia that Kerry is expected to deliver -- or even top -- in Riyadh. Watch this site.
Longer form analysis here, on Beacon Reader (subscription) site.
