New UN fight looms over crisis in Syria
PHOTO/AFP/ ANWAR AMRO
Syrian nationals living in Lebanon and supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hold his portraits and a huge Syrian national flag during a demonstration outside the Chinese embassy in Beirut on February 12, 2012 to thank the UN Security Council veto by China along with Russia of a resolution to block UN action against the Damascus regime.
UNITED NATIONS, Sunday
Arab and western states are to launch a new bid at the United Nations this week to put pressure on Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, setting off new diplomatic hostilities between Assad’s friends and foes.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar have drawn up a resolution backing an Arab League plan to end the 11-month-old crackdown on protests which could be voted in the UN General Assembly this week.
This follows Russia and China’s veto of virtually the same resolution in the UN Security Council.
Russia and China are expected to oppose the new text but no one can veto resolutions in the 193-nation General Assembly, though they carry less weight.
Setting the scene for the confrontation, UN human rights chief Navi Pillay will brief the General Assembly on Monday about Syria.
The meeting was called by assembly president Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, who is from Qatar.
Pillay is no longer keeping a count of the dead in Syria as she says accurate information cannot be got. Syrian activist groups say more than 6,000 have died since protests erupted last March.
The draft resolution “fully supports” the plan for Syria agreed by the Arab League last month, calling for Assad to transfer powers to a deputy so that elections can be held.
It condemns violence by all sides in Syria but specifically calls on Assad’s government “to immediately put an end to all human rights violations and attacks against civilians”.
China and Russia vetoed the UN Security Council resolution on February 4 because they said it was “unbalanced”.
Russia, in particular, has opposed any move that would force Assad, a key Moscow ally, to stand down.
Russia has signalled that it will maintain a hard line on Syria.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Friday that Russia was ready to follow the Security Council veto with additional “strong measures” should the West continue to refuse to acknowledge the opposition’s role in the crisis.
The United Nations leadership is also maintaining its tough stand on Syria with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon repeatedly calling on the government to end the violence.
Ban reaffirmed, in a statement released on Friday, that “the crisis in Syria can only be stopped through a comprehensive peaceful political solution”.
