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UN Security Council discusses conflict in Syria


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UN Security Council discusses conflict in Syria

2012-02-02 08:35:05 GMT+7 (ICT)

NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) -- The United Nations (UN) Security Council on Tuesday afternoon began discussing the situation in Syria, where thousands of people have been killed over the past 10 months in a government crackdown against a popular uprising.

Senior representatives of UN Member States began addressing the 15-member body on the situation in the Middle Eastern country following a briefing by Nabil El Araby, the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States (LAS), describing the work of the League's human rights monitors inside Syria.

El Araby urged members of the Council to back a draft resolution, prepared by Morocco and based on the LAS plan of action on Syria, which calls for an immediate cessation of violence by all parties and progress towards national dialogue that leads to a peaceful political resolution of the crisis.

With UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon previously urging Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to "stop killing his own people" and embark on a path to greater democracy, the UN has demonstrated constant pressure on Syrian officials to end the string of violence.

During his visit to Jordan on Tuesday, Ban stated that "it is more urgent than ever to put an end to this bloodshed and violence, to start a credible political solution that addresses the legitimate aspiration of the Syrian people and to protect their fundamental freedoms."

El Araby said the Arab League is attempting to avoid any foreign intervention, especially military intervention, noting that the draft resolution calls for the full respect of Syria's territorial integrity and unity of the country's people.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al-Thani, told the Council that LAS initiatives to end the violence in Syria "have been in vain" because the Syrian government has failed to make any sincere effort to cooperate.

"The reality on the ground bears witness that bloodshed has not stopped, that the killing machine is still at work, and that the violence is spreading," said Al-Thani.

Al-Thani continued by asking that the Council "assume your responsibilities under the Charter of the United Nations to address the humanitarian tragedy taking place in Syria, by adopting a clear resolution that supports the latest Arab initiative that was adopted in the resolution of LAS Ministerial Council in Cairo on January 22."

"We also call on the Security Council to take all measures based on the resolutions adopted by LAS and notably the economic resolutions and travel ban on Syria," he added.

"We are not calling for a military intervention," Al-Thani continued. "We are advocating the exertion of a concrete economic pressure so that the Syrian regime might realize that it is imperative to meet the demands of its people. We are not after regime change neither, for this is a matter that is up to the Syrian people to decide."

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also pressed for a clear message of support to the people of Syria, urging the international community to put aside differences. "Syria is a unique situation that requires its own approach, tailored to the specific circumstances occurring there," she said. "And that is exactly what the Arab League has proposed - a path for a political transition that would preserve Syria's unity and institutions."

William Hague, the UK's Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, also urged the council to unite behind the LAS plan to facilitate a peaceful resolution of the conflict. "To fail to do so would be to undermine the credibility of this institution, betray the Syrian people, snub the Arab League and fail in this Council's responsibilities," he sid.

Meanwhile, Syria's Ambassador to the UN, Bashar Ja'afari, said his country rejects any "international intervention" and added that "homelands are built by their own citizens."

Ja'afari also added that Syria will continue to protect its own people against armed elements, denouncing what he termed "feverish attempts" to interfere in Syria's internal affairs by misleading world public opinion.

Russia's Ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, urged both the Syrian Government and all opposition groups to send their representatives to Moscow on an agreed upon timeline to conduct informal contacts without preconditions.

"This would allow for the Syrian parties to discuss many issues on the national agenda without any limitation, in particular the task of preparing inter-Syrian dialogue," Churking said. "Today it is more important than ever to engage in dialogue which would lead to the realization of the necessary agreements on the political future of the country," he added, urging the Council to play "a constructive role" in the process.

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-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2012-02-02

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The realpolitik is that Moscow will veto any UN resolution mentioning outside intervention so the slaughter will continue most likely with civil war resulting. Here is Al-Jazeera commenting on the last Assad clan crackdown in 1982.

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/02/20122232155715210.html

"Assad wanted to punish the whole of Hama. Through us, he wanted to teach all Syrians that challenging the regime would lead to this. And it worked. It worked for 30 years."

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