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Annan Backpedals Cancels His Visit to St. Pete
HEAVILY edited for length – can you believe it was A LOT longer?
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's spontaneous trip to join President Vladimir Putin and the leaders of Germany and France in St. Petersburg this weekend was called off only hours after it was announced. The quick turnabout underscores the sensitivity of the diplomatic game being played in world capitals as the Iraq war appears to be wrapping up. At issue is who will control postwar Iraq and namely what role the United Nations -- and countries that are not part of the U.S.-led coalition -- will play.
”Wait! The UN will have a vital role in post-war Iraq?! We CAN’T go to Russia now!”
If Annan had joined them, it would have been seen as a slap in the face of the United States, which has insisted that the U.S.-led coalition now fighting in Iraq has the right to control how Iraq is run and rebuilt.
Yes, slapping us again would not be the wisest move.
Only hours later, though, Annan's visit was canceled. He had planned to leave Wednesday on a trip to Britain, France and Germany, continuing on to Russia.
Annan's office in New York said Wednesday that the entire European tour was scrapped in favor of attending the European Union enlargement ceremony in Athens on April 17, when 10 more countries will join the EU. Putin was invited to Athens, but would be represented by Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, The Associated Press reported, citing the Greek government. The Foreign Ministry in Moscow said it could not confirm officially that Ivanov is going to Athens, and Annan's press service also said it did not know if Ivanov would be meeting with the UN secretary-general there.
Ah. Where in Athens will they be doing lunch, then?
“The task that remains central is contacts with these powers [Britain, France, Germany and Russia] against the background of active work on the outlines of a postwar settlement,which includes us" Gorelik said. Dmitry Trenin, a foreign policy expert with the Moscow Carnegie Center, said Wednesday that Annan had canceled the St. Petersburg visit because appearing there with Schröder and Chirac would have been "scandalous." "He could not associate himself with a group of great powers," Trenin said. "After that, it would have been impossible for him to look the Bush administration in the face. He is already not quite popular with them."
Oh that’s an understatement

“The UN so far cannot serve as a 100 percent guarantee of conflict prevention," Interfax quoted Margelov as saying at a Russian-German conference in St. Petersburg. "But one cannot underestimate its role in both forming public consciousness and post-conflict settlement."
Sure we can.
The key issue is whether the United Nations, and consequently Russia as a permanent member of the Security Council, will have a say in administering Iraq after the war, or whether the organization's role will be reduced to humanitarian projects, thus giving legitimacy to the U.S.-led war without any decision-making role.
I vote for this.
"We will be working to ensure that the UN Security Council will approve such a transfer of power and also clear the way for the activities of specialized UN institutions, providing humanitarian aid, etc.," Izvestia quoted Vershbow as saying. "The final role for the UN is yet to be defined."
They're probably already working on getting the Food for Nooky program together, though. Some of those Iraqi babes looked pretty hot...
Commenting on talks U.S. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice held in Moscow on Monday, Vershbow also said that there could be a place for the United Nations, Russia and other leading powers in the immediate postwar administration, along with the coalition and the Iraqis. "We have quite detailed plans, but they are not formally adopted yet," Vershbow was quoted as saying. "So we think that Russia, which has interests in this country, should take part in the discussions on this subject."
”Please let us weasel ingratiate our way into some money deals projects!”
Posted by: Tadderly 2003-04-09
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=12798