By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, December 3 -- As UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos began a closed door briefing on Syria to the Security Council on Tuesday morning, Syrian Ambassador Ja'afari told Inner City Press his country has written to the Council and Secretary General about Al Nusra Front abuses in their take-over of portions of the historically Christian city of Maaloula.
Ja'afari told the Press he would come back and speak at the stakeout after Amos -- and it now seems, after incoming Council president Gerard Araud of France.
Overnight much Syria news focused on UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay linking war crimes to Syria's head of state Bashar al Assad. Fewer spoke about armed opposition groups like ISIS and Al Nusra. With the Maaloula takeover, will that change?
The UN has still not answered Inner City Press' request, renewed in writing on November 29, about when and where "details about the UN's trust fund on Syria chemical weapons will be available."
On December 2 UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky said the procurement process to choose companies to destroy chemical weapons will in all probability be run through the Organization for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons and not the UN. That might be better, given that the UN has also not answered Inner City Press' November 29 question about procurement with the UN's UMOJA program. Watch this site.
