Briefing on Sudan, Somalia, and Other Matters

USUN PRESS RELEASE #241

Ambassador Bolton: We are going to introduce our resolution to extend the Sudan Panel of Experts, to extend its mandate for a year and hope to have an experts meeting on it tomorrow and have it adopted by Friday when the existing mandate expires. We’ve got a lot of other things to do today but maybe I should just take your questions for a minute or two here.

Reporter: (Inaudible) are we going to use red cards in the next straw polls?

Ambassador Bolton: That would be our view, that the third straw poll – it’s time to use – well, not red cards but different color ballots to distinguish the votes of the five permanent members and the non-permanent members. I think it’s about time to move to that stage.

Reporter: (Inaudible)

Ambassador Bolton: We don’t have it yet. At least I don’t have it yet.

Reporter: Mr. Ambassador, are you going to discuss at all what is happening in Somalia?

Ambassador Bolton: Well there is a briefing this afternoon from the Kenyan report on the IGAD process which is going to be scheduled for this afternoon but I haven’t seen any written product of that yet. But yeah we’ll be discussing Somalia in light of that briefing I think.

Reporter: The UN says it’s investigating the incident with the Venezuelan Foreign Minister at the airport. Do you feel that that’s the appropriate place for this incident to be investigated, the UN?

Ambassador Bolton: No, not really. Look, there was no incident at the airport. This was Venezuelan street theatre. He did not request the courtesies we would have extended to get him through the airport. He purchased his ticket at a time, and in a manner and with funding such that he was asked to go to secondary screening. And he objected to that. The first thing he did was call the press and speak to them in Spanish. So this is propaganda. But I hear the chimes so, we’ll see …

Reporter: What’s the impact of Chavez’s speech on Venezuela’s hopes for a Security Council seat which the U.S. opposes? Analyzing it please.

Ambassador Bolton: I’m just not going to comment on that kind of non-serious performance. It’s not constructive for the UN to have people do that.

Reporter: (Inaudible)

Ambassador Bolton: Let’s just leave it at that.

Reporter: (Inaudible)

Ambassador Bolton: I’m just going to leave it as saying it’s not constructive for the UN. I can’t believe anybody really thinks that it is.