By
Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, September 3 -- As the United States takes over presidency of
the UN Security Council for the month, on its September 15 agenda is
Libya, from which the US and others have pulled their diplomats given
fighting between armed groups near their embassies.
Inner
City Press on September 3 asked US Ambassador Samantha Power about
Libya, what the Security Council's role should be, particularly now
with airstrikes by regional countries supporting militias in the
country.
Samantha
Power replied that “it's no secret that with so many arms in the
country and so many non-state actors” the situation has “escalated
rather than diminished in recent weeks.” She said the US is
supportive of new Special Representative Bernardino Leon's efforts
and is “hopeful he can be a point person.”
Inner
City Press covered in some detail, here and elsewhere, the switch to
Leon from previous envoy Tarek Mitri. Samantha Power on September 3
said Leon's predecessor made efforts to use the UN's good offices to
facilitate dialogue but “it's fair to say not enough came of those
efforts.”
She
said perhaps now the situation in Tripoli and Benghazi will “add
urgency to efforts to forge a consensus... It has happened in more
difficult circumstances than this one” but “no one can overstate
the challenges facing the Libya people.”
Going
bigger picture, Ambassador Power said that “notwithstanding a
history of some division on aspects relating to Libya, you saw the
speed” with which Security Council's members “changed the
presumption” so that arms flows into Libya have to be pre-approved.
Still, she said, that Security Council resolution is not a panacea.
Inner
City Press will cover the Libya session on September 15, and asked on
behalf of the new Free UN Coalition for Access that the closed door
Council consultations on Libya (and other topics this month) be
followed by a question and answer session. Watch this site.
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