As Sarkozy & Juppe Voted Out, Araud & Allies to Hold Over at UN?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, May 7 -- The morning after Nicolas Sarkozy and by implication his foreign minister Alain Juppe were voted out by French voters, despite or because of a plea for support from National Front militants, at the UN many asked: when will French Permanent Representative Araud and his allies be leaving?

  But the answer, surprising to some in contrast to the "Arab Spring" and French statements about it, appeared to be that Araud will "not necessarily" leave. 

  The argument seems to be that Araud was not actually aligned with Sarkozy and Juppe, and / or that he has been doing a good job.

   As previously noted, Araud has been the least transparent of all Permanent Five members of the Security Council's Permanent Representatives. During his Presidency of the Council in May 2011, Araud hit a new low with only three media stakeouts. 

 

   At one of the stakeouts, Araud refused to take any questions, by reading his statement in French then leaving while an aide read it out in English.

  Hostility to the press under Araud has gone beyond non-communication. Earlier in 2011 when Inner City Press obtained a trove of documents concerning the Sarkozy administration's dealings with and about Cote d'Ivoire, the French Mission rather than providing a comment threatened Inner City Press that any publication would be considered a "hostile act." (They then proceeded to try to use proxies to retaliate.)

  This refusal to communicate publicly has consequences. Several times, Alain Juppe has claimed that France was doing or would do something in the Security Council -- request humanitarian corridors, for example -- which Araud then did not do. 

  The same disparity occurred on other matters, including Iran, click here for that.

  Nor would Araud explain the disparity, at least publicly. His "off the record" statements, which his aides jealously guard, put a lie to the claim that he is non partisan and should stay on. 

 

  A new French foreign minister is expected to be named by May 15; scrutinizing these things should be straightforward, and fast. Watch this site.

On Syria at UN, Libya Echoes in Speeches, Of Who Could Impartially Monitor & Transition... in Paris?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, March 12 -- As inside the UN Security Council on Monday morning speeches plodded on about the "Arab Spring," mostly but not only Syria, the press was told that French foreign minister Alain Juppe would come to the stakeout.

Then it was said there would be a delay, that Juppe wanted to stay in the Council and hear China's Permanent Representative Li Baodong.

Li Baodong in his speech echoed Russia in questioning how the Council's Libya resolution was implemented, cautioning against "exceeding mandates." (Russia's Foreign Minister Lavrov had said that on Libya some had "misled the international community.")

Inner City Press asked Juppe, then this UK counterpart William Hague, about Russia and China's accusation. Juppe was dismissive. Video here.

Hague, asked more specifically about the second of the five point Lavrov announced from Cairo, "impartial monitoring mechanism," said the UK would have not a problem with that: "As to any role for a monitoring mechanism or process, well that would obviously depend on the political process that is agreed... We’re not opposed in principle to such a thing." Video here.

But what would it mean? On camera, Inner City Press asked Lavrov to explain it. The answer veered into the role of Kofi Annan. Video here.

But Annan does not have binoculars. And Inner City Press has been told, and it is fairly obvious, that some no one trust current Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to run an "impartial monitoring operations," after he announced in December that NATO had strictly complied with Resolution 1973 and its protection of civilians mandate.

France dropped weapons into the Nafusa mountains; the BBC has reported on the UK's training role in Libya. The recent UN Independent Commission of Inquiry report on Libya says NATO killed some 60 civilians, including 18 rescuers in Majer. How can this impartially be called "strict compliance"?

Beyond the continuing disagreement on whether a UN resolution should call for a "transition" -- or "regime change" as some call it -- there is also this question of who would monitor that even protection of civilians or humanitarian aid wouldn't turn into an exercise in importing weapons, including by French like airdrops.

Inner City Press told India's Permanent Representative Hardeep Singh Puri what Alain Juppe had said about political transition. "Where?" Hardeep Singh Puri asked. "In France?" Another Council diplomat called France the most interested, given Sarkozy's electoral campaign.

Inner City Press asked top UN humanitarian Valerie Amos if she'd met with the Syrian opposition. She said she'd tried to get into an opposition held area of Homs -- not Baba Amr -- but had been unsuccessful. Inner City Press asked for her view of the narrative that Assad's forces were attacking armed opponents, in Homs and now Idlib, versus the narrative that after such attacks, people armed themselves in defense. She said narratives don't matter, civilians should have to be in harm's way.

Inner City Press asked Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky for the third time to disclose who went to Syria with Kofi Annan -- on TV, former UN officials Alan Doss and Ahmed Fawzi were plainly visible, at least in Cairo -- and now, which businesspeople Annan met with.

The UN's Lynn Pascoe on March 9 told Inner City Press Doss would be going in, but Ban's spokesman Nesirky has yet to confirm even that.

Hillary at stakeout, on Afghanistan: "that's not us." (c) MRLee

At Monday's ill-attended noon briefing -- two journalists, this time -- Inner City Press asked Nesirky for Ban's response to Lavrov's call for Ban to address NATO's civilian casualties in Libya. Nesirky said Ban was meeting with Lavrov and it might come up and be in the read out.

Inner City Press asked Lavrov, did you raise it to Ban? Yes, Lavrov said. But what did Ban respond? Watch this site.

Footnote: When Hillary Clinton spoke at the stakeout, she began with the killing of Afghan's by a US soldier described as "rogue." Her spokesperson Victoria Neuland called on two questioners, neither based at the UN. Clinton herself, however, allowed one more, though her answer was equally as scripted. In her speech in the Council she spoke of Yemen, without mention the impunity Ali Saleh has gotten with GCC and, many in the Yemeni youth movement say, US support.

Likewise on Egypt she said the US will support IMF lending, even as many in that country say they shouldn't have to pay back loans taken by the military SCAF government, just as some in the Syrian opposition say that any new Syrian government won't pay any loans taken out over March 2011. Where are Las Vegas odds makers when you need them?

At UN on Syria, Russia Says Hope But Opposes Power Transfer, As Juppe Says Report Is Not Arab League's

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, January 31 -- Amid Superbowl like hype, the UN Security Council met about Syria on Tuesday afternoon; afterward the Press put questions to foreign ministers and ambassadors.

Some made much of Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin saying in the Chamber that he sees "hope" in what's called the draft by Morocco -- as Inner City Press exposed on Tuesday morning, the track changes in the draft were input by the UK.

But later at the stakeout, Churkin said it is not the Council's role to endorse calls for power to be transferred, as the Arab League plan does.

Despite some breathless major media tweets on Tuesday morning that Russia's foreign minister Lavrov would come to New York, he wasn't even taking Hillary Clinton's telephone calls. A Russian Mission source mocked the "Western media's mis-reports" to Inner City Press, saying of Lavrov, "He's in New Zealand."

When she came out, Hillary Clinton took only two questions, telling a chosen reporter that nothing should be read into Lavrov not taking her call, she's traveled in Australia and it can be difficult.

After Hillary Clinton, German Minister of State Michael Link spoke at the stakeout. Inner City Press asked him, since he'd referred to crimes against humanity, if Germany could agree to the type of immunity that Ali Saleh of Yemen got, under the Gulf Cooperation Council plan the Council largely endorsed.

"It's too early to say," Link replied, "but I think that there is a necessity of a special inquiry." So he meant it's too early until the crimes are investigated? Or perhaps he really meant, as the Council agreed to in Yemen, he meant that accountability could be traded away?

Inner City Press has been informed of Saleh's whereabouts in New York - watch this site on that.

After Link, the UK's William Hague strode to the stakeout. Throughout the open meeting, various diplomats polled by Inner City Press said that Hague had been the best, with his improvised snark against Syria blaming, for example, Lawrence of Arabia. (Portugal's Paulo Portas got an honorable mention for citing Dostoevsky.)

Inner City Press asked Hague if Assad transferring power is a precondition. Hague replied that it's all about the Arab League plan - and the plan provides for that.

As noted, Churkin says Russia will not agree to that, even if the Arab League is asking for it. The Arab League's Secretary General Nabil Elaraby did not speak at the stakeout, declaring in the glare of the UN parking lot -- as filmed by Inner City Press -- that there would be no more answers.

Qatar, too, canceled its press conference scheduled for 5 pm. A shame, too, since Hillary Clinton said that Syria, and by implication other countries, shouldn't be run by one man or his family, and Syria's Ambassador Ja'afari snarked about its "satellite television channel and fancy conference centers."

As France's Alain Juppe came to the stakeout, before Hillary Clinton, the sounds was turned off to the media of the speech China's Li Baodong. Juppe spoke in French, and took his first question in French.

Then Inner City Press asked him about Paragraph 44 of the Arab League monitoring report, which says that "Mission reports from Homs indicate that the French journalist was killed by opposition mortar shells." (Inner City Press on January 28 obtained and put the report online, here.)

After first asking for a translation from the Mission's spokesman, Juppe maintained that the report is not endorsed by the Arab League.

But when Inner City Press asked Russia's Churkin about just this an hour later, Churkin notes that it was the Arab League itself which asked that the monitoring report be annexed and made into an official document of the Security Council.

Thus it's been endorsed not only about the Arab League, but also the Security Council. We aim to have more on this.

Churkin on UN TV, BRICS groupies, UN Jan 31 (c) MRLee

Inner City Press covered the expert level negotiations on the draft on Monday night, and took to calling Tuesday's meeting the "Syria Superbowl," with the connotation of too much build up and hype, ending in a whimper or a blow-out.

In what many called a typical slip-up, in the middle of the Syria meeting, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon who was not in town issued a statement of concern about a country beginning with the letter S - except it wasn't Syria, or even South Sudan, but Senegal. Galling, one observer called it.

Several diplomats at meeting's end said this was right. But unlike the NFL Superbowl, which marks the end of the sport for some months, at the UN on Wednesday negotiations on the draft resolution will continue.

Morocco's permanent representative Mohammad Loulichki told Inner City Press that, contrary to the quote the Press ran earlier on Wednesday that the real drafters and promotions and even track-change enterers of the resolution are European, Morocco is behind it.

Coming days should show not only what Russia means by hope, but how much of the Arab League was behind canceling the observer mission, and the demands so far made by the Arab League. Watch this site.