The Chinese News Agency Xhinua Net reported yesterday that Mr. Churkin denounced the fact that he threatened Bin Jassem during the UN Security Council meeting held on February 4th 2012.
According to an article by the same news agency, Mr. Churkin considered that the disseminations of such "dirty", "provocative", and false reports aim chiefly at damaging the Russian relations with Arab countries.
On the personal front, and since I posted the news about the conversation between Churkin and Bin Jassem, I hereby sincerely and genuinely apologize...not for posting the news, but for failing to credit it to "anonymous sources".
As clearly shown in my blog, I am accustomed to crediting the source of the news or report. This one time, however, I was not able to do so because I could not locate the original source (or the video of this now infamous conversation).
In my case, I posted the news simply because I was exited. Despite Churkin's denial to the alleged threats made to Bin Jassem, I still hope to God that the incident be a true one.
However, since I vowed never to be part of the industry of "creating" news, I am compelled to publish this corrective post.
Honestly, I still don't know which is the fact, and which is not. In my mind (and my heart), I have imagined the conversation between Churkin and Bin Jassem a zillion times, and I was so eager to find a recording of that conversation.
Unfortunately, I did not find any evidence of the latter...but I still smile, from the bottom of my heart, every-time I replay the Churkin-Bin Jassem dialogue in my head.
Last but not least, Mr. Churkin should not consider his "alleged" threats to Bin Jassem as a possible offense to Arab countries. On the contrary, many of us thought of that incident as a retribution to genuine Arabs who do not, not in their silliest whims, think of Bin Jassem as a representative of the Arab mind, values, and spirit.
Whether true news or not...thank you Mr. Churkin for this opportunity to smile, even laugh, from the bottom of my heart!
