As Russia Critiques UN Security Council “Propaganda Wrangling” Session on Ukraine, Petr Iliichev to Succeed Pankin

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, November 26 -- The UN Security Council wrap up session that have become an expected part of each monthly President's program of work came under fire on November 26 from Russia's Ambassador Vitaly Churkin. 

  Beyond critiquing the Security Council's approach to such issues as Syria, Bosnia and Ukraine, Churkin questioned the utility of the wrap up sessions.

  He said these have become a theater for “glorifying approaches that are not effective.” As an observer, it does seem strange to have the Council's 15 members generally praising themselves and each other, rather than for example listening to the other 178 member states -- and, why not, the Observer State of Palestine. As with the spirit behind this Country - By - Country report, critique and disagreements are more illuminating than pablum.

  Churkin complained about a Russian draft Presidential Statement on the dangers of terrorists possibly using chemical weapons in Syria and Iraq being blocked at the expert level. 

  He again explained Russia's abstention on the month's Bosnia resolution, saying “it unacceptable that Bosnia and Herzegovina should be urged to join the European Union and NATO through a decision of the Security Council on the basis of Chapter 7 of the UN Charter.”

  On Ukraine, Churkin said that “the meeting on November 12 was used by those that proposed it for another round of propaganda wrangling.” On November 25, Ukraine saidUN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in a telephone conversation with Petro Poroshenko had “assured that the entire world supported Ukraine."

  Another Permanent Representative who spoke during the wrap up session, Mark Lyall Grant of the UK, largely praised Australia's month as Council president (Inner City Press' review is here), describing the Council's response to the reports of rape in Darfur “agile.” Others disagree, and wonder why the Council didn't “take up” the Secretary General's report on UNAMID's earlier cover ups.

  Inner City Press asked the UK Mission to confirm receipt of a letter from Darfuri groups calling for a review of the response of Herve Ladsous' UN Peacekeeping and got this in return: “I can confirm that we received the letter indirectly. In terms of contents, on alleged rape cases, the Security Council issued a press statement calling for a full investigation. The UK initiated the call for a press statement and so agree that this issue needs to be looked at.”

  Inner City Press has previously reported that Lyall Grant will leave as UK Permanent Representative in April 2015 and be replaced by Matthew Rycroft, here.

 Today, with Russian Deputy Permanent Representative Alexander Pankin's departure public confirmed by his farewell call on Ban Ki-moon's schedule, Inner City Press can report that Pankin's successor as Deputy Permanent Representative will be Petr Iliichev, expert in among other things African affairs. 

 These make up more than half of the Security Council's agenda, so it is appropriate -- how ever frequently or honesty the Council's work is reviewed. Watch this site.

   

In UN Budget Fight at 3 AM on December 24, Of 2.9% Cuts, Corporate Orr, Re-Costing & Ban Ki-moon's Mobility, No Answers

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, December 24, updated -- With the UN budget fight going surreal at 3 am on December 24, Inner City Press was told by a Permanent Representative that "they... the West" proposed to cut the Department of General Assembly and Conference Services and the Department of Public Information by 2.9%.  

  He counter-proposed, "why don't they cut Ban Ki-moon's travel, and consultants?" Why, indeed.  

  Another budget insider told Inner City Press, as of 2 am, that the UN Pension Fund items were agreed, but "re-costing is still in play."  

  On the second floor of the UN's North Lawn building, from which Inner City Press reported on the proceedings, diplomats sat in the half-light. Aluminum trays of Latin food got told -- blood sausage, rice and beans -- while on the first floor some got sleep on couches.

  A UN staffer emerged from hours of waiting in a Conference Room where, he was told, the President of the General Assembly would reconvene a meeting to "hash things out." As of 3 am, it hadn't happened. 

  There again was Peter Wilson of the UK and Alexis Lamek of France, and their counterparts from Russia and from the EU, Ionnis Vrailas. There was US Joe Torsella, on his last night of UN budget duty one assumes.

  And amid calls for cuts, including layoffs for some UN Security officers on January 2, why is the UN moving to send 500 blue helmeted guards to Central African Republic with mandates limited to offering protection to a smaller number of UN staff? Click here for that Inner City Press story.

In the UN budget process, disputes include the referenced $160 million of "re-costing" -- adding back to the budget after Secretary General Ban Ki-moon claimed cuts -- and the mobility plan of Mister Ban.

  Ban's Controller was present along with other staffers. Apparently there were no UN Spokespeople working -- Inner City Press' questions from Saturday morning about the crisis in South Sudan went entirely unanswered for SIXTY hours and counting.

 And Ban's Spokesperson's office won't even hold a noon briefing on December 24, after diplomats worked all night on Ban's budget and supposed reform proposals, and amid the South Sudan crisis. The Free UN Coalition for Access@FUNCA_info has protested.

  When Inner City Press spoke with diplomats working on the budget, there were many critical comments about Ban's "corporate partnerships" proposal, some calling it an attempt to get a promotion for longtime UN official Robert Orr, said to be very close with Ban.  

 At 1 am a source told Inner City Press "they might get some posts, but not the structure."

Notably absent from budget negotiations on December 23-24, even on the sidelines, were the Staff Union, whose incumbent is battling to stay in control or block the recognition of Ticket 1, and those ostensibly covering the UN. Updated here.

  Finland's Deputy Permanent Representative Janne Taalas, the chair of the Budget Committee, joked to about the sunrise; on December 21 he'd joked to Inner City Press that it should get done then since "this is the longest night of the year." Once again, down to the wire. Watch this site.

   

McCain Calls Syria "Growth Hormone for Al Qaeda" Needing More Than MREs, Reuters' Spin of Araud

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 18 -- The schizophrenia in Washington about Syria and its rebels was displayed by Senator John McCain on Tuesday night at the Council on Foreign Relations.

  On the one hand Senator McCain called the Syrian conflict a "growth hormone for Al Qaeda." Minutes later he said that Saudi weapons don't fall into the hands of Al Qaeda and the Al Nusra Front. How can he know that?

  McCain said he's been to Syria, he's met them. How many? Did he go to Raqqa? To Jarabulus where ISIS threatened to kill international humanitarians if they didn't leave?

  To his credit, McCain while claiming that with earlier assistance to the Free Syrian Army it "would have been over" for Assad admitted that it is more complex now. Yes.

  By contrast to Saudi Arabia and Qatar -- pronounced Cutter -- McCain mocked US assistance, which he said amounts so far to Meals Ready to Eat with expiration dates unknown.

On the UN, McCain said the General Assembly should condemn Russia, whose asylum grant to whistleblower Edward Snowden McCain called just a "sign of disrespect by Russia."

  Intriguingly, McCain said the "French Ambassador told me" that one hundred people from France have done to Syria for jihad. Which French Ambassador?

  Reuters in a long-read propaganda piece datelined Washington and Paris has French Ambassador to the UN Gerard Araud on an unnamed day in Spring 2013 telling an unnamed Russian diplomat (Churkin? Pankin?) France would come out with a show of Assad use of chemical weapons.

  The point of the Reuters piece seems to be that France was much more central to the drive toward military threats than was previously known. But in the Kerry - Lavrov endgame in Geneva, Ban Ki-moon calling Sellstrom's report "overwhelming" before he saw it did not come up, as it did in the Washington Post's insider piece.

What about Ban's faux flashing of the first page of the report, which Reuters and others liked so much? It's a team effort: these reporters, at least one of whom has been shown to spy for the UN, are just cogs in a wheel of propaganda. Watch this site.

   

On Syria, As P5 Convened to Meet Ban Ki-moon, UK Silent on Resolution, US Power Just Silent

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, August 30 -- On Syria, last night Inner City Press reported that the Permanent Five members of the UN Security Council would meet today at noon with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. After that was confirmed by the UN, this morning, the UN also said that its "Spokesperson's Daily Briefing" would move back to 12:30 pm.

  Simultaneously in Washington at 12:30, or after that as usual, John Kerry spoke, calling France "our oldest ally." Will he and Ban Ki-moon have the same message? One wag asked, do they ever really not?

  Diplomats from non P-5 countries told Inner City Press of anger of the freeze-out of the 10 elected members of the Council, and others spoke of rumblings for a General Assembly resolution, one adding "that would be too slow for the Americans."

  In the UN's lobby the media assembled to catch the P5 entrances. Russian Deputy Pankin was asked about the upcoming meeting with Ban. Ask him, he replied.

  UK Permanent Representative Mark Lyall Grant stopped and said that he expected an update on the chemical weapons investigation and on Syria. He did not answer a question about the UK draft resolution, which after Cameron's loss in parliament seems doomed, at least in its current form.

  Most interest was reserved for US Ambassador Samantha Power. Her arrival was filmed, but she did not answer any of the questions asked or make any statement, as she did on her first day as UN ambassador. Nor, colleagues told Inner City Press, did Power speak on the way out, saying that John Kerry was speaking. Inner City Press was up in the UN briefing - which will be our next story. Watch this site.

   

On Syria, Russia Amends Its Draft, Deputy-Level Meeting After Kosovo Tuesday

By Matthew Russell Lee, Partial Exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, July 17 -- As the Syria resolution showdown looms, late Monday French Ambassador Gerard Araud told the press that "no one is raising the Russian draft."

  But Tuesday morning Russian Deputy Permanent Representative Sasha Pankin told the Press that the Russian draft -- which Inner City Press first put online, here -- is being amended again.

  UK Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant stopped and told the press that while the vote on the UK-table draft is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, that could be extended if there are "serious negotiations."

  And other sources exclusively told Inner City Press that a DPR level meeting about the Russian draft has been scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, after a closed door session about Kosovo. Nevertheless Morocco's Permanent Representative Loulichki told the press that there is no meeting on Syria resolution(s) on Tuesday.

After hearing from Pankin, Inner City Press directly asked Araud of Russia amending its draft. "Yes," he says, "they have amended their draft."

Moments later Herve Ladsous, the fourth Frenchman in a row to head UN Peacekeeping, once again refused to answer ANY questions from Inner City Press, including on DPKO killings in the Congo -- more on that soon.

The Kosovo session, Pankin told Inner City Press, focused not just on two Serbs recently killed in Kosovo, but on what he called the 1000 murders of returning Serbs in Kosovo, of which he said only one killer voluntarily turned himself in to police.

He also mentioned a visit to Kosovo by "fighters in Syria." Other talk of a more recent visit to Kosovo by Libyans, and of two more possible recognitions of Kosovo, by Libya once the government is settled, and prospectively by Syria if Assad is overthrown. There are side-stakes on all this. Watch this site.

On Syria, Russia's Churkin Vows to Veto Any Chapter 7 Text, Citing Iraq

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, July 16 -- As Ambassador filed into the Security Council Monday to discuss Syria and the impending expiration of the UN Mission's mandate there, French Permanent Representative Gerard Araud stopped and told the press, "Chapter Seven will stay in the text." 

  This is a draft provision which would impose sanctions on the Syrian government if it did not comply in ten days.

  Minutes later, Russian Permanent Representative Vitaly Churkin came out of the Security Council and told the Press that he was leaving his Deputy Pankin in the meeting, since the UK Ambassador insisted they would talk about the draft with Chapter Seven still in it. We will not accept Chapter 7, he said, "it is absolutely unacceptable to us."

  Churkin added, "I made it very clear we are going to vote against this resolution."

  Inner City Press asked Churkin if Russia would call a vote on its draft, which would extend the UNSMIS mission but under the softer Chapter 6 of the UN Charter, with no sanctions. Churkin said he didn't want to set of a competition of voting: "we don't want to engage in some kind of diplomatic competition in the Security Council, this is a serious matter."

Churkin said if a vote is called on a draft with Chapter 7 in it, Russia "will not be the only one" to vote against it.

Inner City Press asked Churkin if Russia now thought that the letters from Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Kofi Annan about the killings at Tremseh were accurate. No, he said, new information has emerged.

He went on to say that is why a UN Mission in Syria could be useful, to verify facts and even deter some abuses. He hearkened back to Iraq, when the Security Council did not permit an armed invasion but "they" went ahead and did it anyway. It will be on them, Churkin said, adding "this is seen by some as a stepping stone to foreign military intervention... this is not in line with the Geneva document [which has] no reference to Chapter Seven."

  Inner City Press asked Churkin if Kofi Annan while in Moscow asked Russia to support Chapter 7 in a resolution. No, Churkin said, he's never heard Annan ask for Chapter 7.

As Churkin spoke, a cluster of spokesman of Western members of the Security Council gathered. Previously, Churkin has asked one of these country's spokesman, "Which delegation are you with, young man?" Now, none of them spoke. But they took notes. And they all went back into the Security Council consultations room. 

 Inner City Press asked another non-Western Council member if he thought a Chapter 6 extension of UNSMIS mandate was possible. It depends, he said, on if "they" -- seeming to mean the US -- want to escalate now or after November. He asked Inner City Press to find out. Watch this site.

Update of 3:47 pm -- while Churkin after his statement to the Press went back into the Security Council suite, another Council member has confirmed to Inner City Press that Churkin is "not in the room" for consultations.

Update of 4:21 pm -- a source who was inside the consultations tells Inner City Press that Churkin didn't only say these things to the Press outside the Council - he said them IN consultations.

On Syria, As Araud Measures Red Line, UNSMIS Held Hostage by "Bogus Link"

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, July 12 -- When the Syria meeting of Permanent Representatives ended Thursday afternoon, French Ambassador Gerard Araud emerged to say, We were 10 kilometers apart, now we are 10 kilometers minus 5 centimeters.

The US may not speak metric but seems to agree, pursuant to US Ambassador Susan Rice's July 11 closed door statement first reported by Inner City Press that the US will only support a Syria resolution under Chapter 7.

But beyond what China's Li Baodong told Inner City Press earlier on Thursday, that China like Russia opposes Chapter 7, a more detailed argument was made to Inner City Press by a non-Western Council member at the end of Thursday's meeting.

  

"How can you sanction the opposition?" the non-Western member asked. "Even if you say you are sanctioning them, who are they? So they are trying to take the extension of UNSMIS hostage, making this bogus connection."

Others have opined that when the deadline comes, next Friday, unless the Western powers see a benefit in canceling the UNSMIS mission, they may back off what Araud called their "red line" of Chapter 7.

Then again, other things can happen. Thursday Russian Deputy Permanent Representative Pankin was asked repeatedly about a massacre he said he hadn't yet heard of -- "we are not reading newspapers in there" -- and asked if that changes Russia's opposition to Chapter 7.

They will continue meeting on Friday the 13th of July, a week before the deadline. Watch this site.

On Syria, Russia Won't Accept Chapter 7, China Too, Rice Won't Discuss Red Lines, Araud Will

By Matthew Russell Lee, Partial exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, July 12, updated -- In what several Security Council members tell Inner City Press is "brinksmanship," US Ambassador Susan Rice's July 11 closed door statement first reported by Inner City Press that the US will only support a Syria resolution under Chapter 7 was countered July 12 by Russia.

  Russian Deputy Permanent Representative Pankin came out of the Security Council before 10 am from a meeting of the five Permanent Members and joked to Inner City Press that things looked "bright and shiny."

  Moments later he clarified his bright line, saying the Russia will not agree to Chapter 7, that it is a "red line."

  Later China's Li Baodong exclusively told Inner City Press "we have a problem with that as well. We support a renewal of the mandate, as requested by Kofi Annan."

  Inner City Press asked Ambassador Rice about this as she left the Peacebuilding debate in the Security Council later on July 12. She answered that she does not like to disclose the US' red lines, "especially not in the press." Or would that be the Press?

Meanwhile the 11 am experts meeting on Syria that had been scheduled as reported by Inner City Press for the UK mission was moved to the consultations room of the Security Council. Why? A member told Inner City Press, "we have two drafts" - the UK and the Russian -- "so we had to find a neutral venue." And so it goes at the UN. 

Update of 1 pm -- Inner City Press asked French ambassador Gerard Araud if Chapter 7 is a red line. "Yes," he said. "On both sides." Watch this site.

At UN on Syria, France Says It Won't Be 45 Days, Kofi on Consequences

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, July 11, updated -- After Syria envoy Kofi Annan briefed the Security Council speaking of "consequences," French Ambassador Gerard Araud rushed first to the stakeout, before even Council President Nestor Osorio, to say that a new resolution, countering the Russian draft, would be circulated in the afternoon.

  Inner City Press asked Araud about what it had already exclusively reported, the American position expressed by Ambassador Susan Rice that the US would only support a 45 and not 90 day extension of the UNSMIS mission.

    Araud replied, "You have more information than I have on our proposal, which is NOT a US proposal."

  As a follow up, Inner City Press asked, "Is 45 days the period?"

   "No," Araud said.

Update: but the draft, in Operative Paragraph 9, says "45 days."

  Others say the real rub is whether the resolution will be under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter or not. Perhaps the drafters -- and the Obama administration - could go up to 90 days, as Russia proposes, if Russia agrees to Chapter 7. Or maybe split the difference at 60 days.

  Inner City Press asked Russian Deputy Permanent Representative Pankin if Annan in his closed door briefing had asked for sanctions or Chapter 7. No, Pankin said, he only spoke of "consequences," which doesn't necessarily mean any particular provision of the UN Charter.

  The UK's Mark Lyall Grant had accurately used that word, consequences. Inner City Press asked him if General Robert Mood, whom German Ambassador Peter Wittig said the day was a good opportunity to thank, is in fact leaving UNSMIS.

  (Wittig, as later transcribed by his mission, replied "I have no information about his plans. I just thought since we are approaching the end of the mandated period it would be worthwhile to thank him for his relentless efforts in a very, very difficult environment.")

  Syria's Ja'afari, when Inner City Press asked about Mood, offered praise and then stopped, saying this wouldn't help Mood at all. 

  He said Syria prefers at least a 90 day extension, but it is up to the Council. He specifically denounced the Swiss grenades that entered Syria via the UAE (and, the Emiratis claim, the Muslim Brotherhood), and then also Germany selling submarines to Israel.

  Back in, well, whatever, Lyall Grant declined to answer about Mood, and said to watch for the resolution. From the UK transcript:

Inner City Press: how long are you proposing to expand the Mission for, and what percentage of its military component do you think will be reduced and do you think General Mood will stay on? Is that your understanding?

Amb. Lyall Grant: I don’t want to comment on individual tenures. General Mood was taken on in an initial three month mandate and that three months is obviously up in a couple of weeks, but it’s for him and the Secretary-General to decide on the future for him. In terms of the mandate renewal, you will see obviously once the text is circulated and put into blue, you’ll obviously get a chance to see what is included in it.

  But who will sponsor it? As another Council meeting, about West Africa, began in the Council, Inner City Press asked the Portuguese delegation if they were co-sponsors. They said they thought so. We'll see.

Footnote: of those speaking at the stakeout, only Ambassador Rice wouldn't take a question from the Press, although or because it had already reported through other sources her 45 day quote. One would think the US would (want to) reiterate this publicly. But we'll see.

On Syria, China Supports Rollover, UK Wants to Hear, Russia's Pankin Is Not Igor

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, July 11, updated -- As Ambassadors filed into the UN Security Council to hear envoy Kofi Annan's briefing about Syria late Wednesday morning, it was the draft resolution Russia circulated on Tuesday that drove the questioning.

  Inner City Press asked French Permanent Representative Gerard Araud, "Any views of the Russian draft?"

  Araud said, "No, no views." It is expected that France and others will counter-circulate their own draft, which unlike the Russians' will be under UN Charter Chapter 7.

  UK Permanent Representative Mark Lyall Grant said it made no sense to talk yet about rolling over the mandate until Annan's briefs the Council on the "wider plan."

  China's Permanent Representative Li Baodong, on the other hand, said "We will support the rollover" of the mandate of the mission, UNSMIS.

  Inner City Press asked Russia's Deputy Permanent Representative Sasha Pankin if there had been any direct responses to his country's draft. Mostly what you got, he replied, referring to US Ambassador Susan Rice's exclusive quote to Inner City Press on Tuesday, that the Russian draft is "insufficient."

  Pankin noted that his name is NOT "Igor," as he was identified citing AFP on a site overseen by the US Broadcasting Board of Governors, which also overseesVoice of America....

On Syria, Russia Circulates Resolution, 3 More Months, Rice Tells ICP It's Insufficient

By Matthew Russell Lee, Partial Exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, July 10, updated -- Russia late Tuesday afternoon circulated a draft resolution on Syria to the other 14 Security Council members, Deputy Permanent Representative Pankin told the press at 6 pm in front of the Council.

Inner City Press asked Pankin if Russia's proposal would cut the military component of the UN Mission in Syria by 50%, as UN Peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous proposed in a closed door meeting of the Troop Contributing Countries.

Now, Inner City Press understands that Ladsous wanted to cut military by 75%, consistent with a Western push to even pull the Mission out. Thus, Russia steps in with a resolution to keep the Mission in, with "creative ambiguity" as Pankin put it, for at least the next three months.

As US Ambassador Susan Rice walked out as Pankin fielded questions from a reporter for a paper in Lebanon, Inner City Press went over and asked her what she thought of the Russian draft. She smiled and told Inner City Press, exclusively it seems, that is is "insufficient."

Later Inner City Press asked all and sundry about General Robert Mood leaving. "Some say he doesn't want to renew his contract," came one answer. "He is being pushed out," others say, "as being too straight, not pro-West enough."

As Inner City Press has noted, Mood would be good for this and other reasons as a head of UN Peacekeeping. Watch this site.

Update: Inner City Press asked July's Council president Nestor Osorio, what do you think of the Russian draft? He pointed to what he was holding and said, I am studying it.

  One non-Western (and of course, non-Russian) member of the Council, when Inner City Press asked about the draft said, "I love it."

Update of 6:59 pm -- another non-Western Council member came and told Inner City Press, of the Russian draft, it is "very good, very well timed."

UN's Mood Says Lead-Up to Houla Unclear, UK Admits, Germany Says No, Russia on 3rd Force

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, May 27 -- After the UN Security Council issued its Press Statement on the killings in Houla, Syria, late Sunday afternoon, Inner City Press put questions about it to the Ambassadors of the UK, Syria, Germany, Russia and France - for the latter two, the Deputies.

  First, a BRICS representative told Inner City Press that General Robert Mood has said that the circumstances leading to the killings in Houla were unclear or murky, and had mentioned killings by close-range shooting and "extreme physical abuse" - a shorthand for beheading.

  Even before the statement was read out by the Azerbaijani presidency of the Council for May, Syrian Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari told Inner City Press exclusively that his government viewed Houla as analogous to "Algeria in the 1990s" -- brutal beheadings meant spark a civil war.

  Ja'afari also said a goal of those behind the beheadings included increasing the size of the UNSMIS mission, militarizing them and internationalizing investigations and accountability, mentioning "Ocampo" of the International Criminal Court (soon to be replaced by Ms. Bensouda).

  When the formal stakeouts started, Inner City Press asked French Deputy Permanent Representative Martin Briens to respond to the analogy to Algeria in the 1990s. 

  He said no further comment is necessary, it is the responsibility of the government to protect civilians. But it's said Houla was not in government control.

  Inner City Press asked German Permanent Representative Peter Wittig to confirm that Mood said that the circumstances leading to the killings in Houla were unclear. Wittig replied that in its view things were not murky.

  But UK Permanent Representative Mark Lyall Grant, when Inner City Press asked him the same question about Mood's statement that the lead-up was unclear, to his credit acknowledged that was said. 

  He went on to say that in a sense it didn't matter, Syria should not have used tanks, these should have already been back in the barracks.

Russian Deputy Permanent Representative Pankin said that Russia called for the briefing. Inner City Press asked him about the analogy to Algeria in the 1990s. 

  He replied that there is the presence of a third force, or external forces, who want to bring about military intervention or victory. He said that an investigation is much needed. But who will do a credible investigation?

  As the last speaker, Syrian Permanent Representative Ja'afari called the statements of Wittig and Lyall Grant a "tsunami of lies," which different from what General Mood had said. "What about Ban Ki-moon," Inner City Press asked: was he and his letter more akin to Mood or to the German and UK Ambassadors' presentation? He replied, closer to the UK and Germany, of course. Of course!

  Finally, Inner City Press asked Ja'afari if this might lead to an increase in the size of UNSMIS. Yes, Ja'afari said. So, in a cynical view: a jobs program? The investigation is important.

Footnote: During the afternoon's closed consultations, representatives of several countries not (yet) on the Security Council came to monitor proceedings. Inner City Press tweeted that Sudan and Norway were there, then that Liechtenstein and Finland had been first. 

  At the end, Australia let it be known that they had been present too, and give a written statement by Foreign Minister Bob Carr. Duly noted. But where was Luxembourg, which is running against Finland and Australia in October for two seats on the Security Council in 2013-14? Watch this site.