After a quiet afternoon Thursday, the third day of the U.N.’s Arms Trade Treaty conference closed with a bang. The conference president, Ambassador Roberto Garcia Moritán, again tried to persuade the delegates to accept his proposal that, on Friday, they split into two working groups, one to consider the treaty’s …
After the dictatorial circus of the morning, the afternoon session of the ATT Conference was comparatively calm. The lowlight was the address by Saudi Arabia, which seemed to be doing its best to outbid Egypt in the “we support Palestine” sweepstakes. No demand was too extreme: Palestinian state membership in …
The second day of the U.N.’s Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) Conference, July 3, opened much as the first day had closed: with a very delayed start. The issue, still, was the Palestinian demand—instigated by Egypt—to be included as full participants in the conference, which continued to meet staunch resistance from …
The much-heralded United Nations conference to negotiate the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) launched with a media and propaganda blitz, but the reality on the ground was less impressive. Not only did the conference achieve nothing in its first day, but it never got started. By closing time at 6 p.m.—U.N. …
