U.N. envoys criticize Russia for Syrian arms sale; ElBaradei to lead mediation mission
Britain, France, Germany and Arab nations are working on the resolution which could face Russian opposition because of a call on all states to follow Arab League sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad.
Western diplomats stressed however there would be negotiations with Russia and that it was crucial for the 15-member Security Council to draw up a message after being deadlocked since the start of the Syria protests last March.
Russia and China vetoed a previous European attempt in October to get a resolution passed condemning Assad for the violence in which the UN says more than 5,400 people have been killed.
The western allies hope to build on growing Arab League demands for U.N. action, however. Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi has sought a meeting with U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon, a U.N. spokesman said, according to AFP.
Meanwhile, the former chief of the U.N. nuclear watchdog Mohammed ElBaradei accepted an Arab League demand to head an Arab mediation mission in Syria, Egypt’s al-Ahram daily reported.
The newspaper said that the Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi has asked ElBaradei to play that role. ElBaradei was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2005.
Britain, France and the United States sharply criticized Russia for supplying weapons to Syria, where government forces have killed thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators over the last 10 months.
“We are concerned about the supply of weapons into Syria, whether sales to the government or illegal smuggling to the regime or opposition,” Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant told the Security Council during a debate on the Middle East.
Russia slammed for arms deliveries to Syria
Without mentioning Russia by name, Grant cited a media interview in which a Russian official said his country’s arms deliveries to Damascus had no effect on the situation there, according to Reuters.
“We fundamentally disagree,” he told the 15-nation council. “It is glaringly obvious that transferring weapons into a volatile and violent situation is irresponsible and will only fuel the bloodshed.”
Syria bought $700 million worth of Russian weapons, or 7 percent of Russia’s $10 billion in arms deliveries abroad in jet trainers for over half a billion dollars in 2010, according to the Russian defense think-tank CAST.
French Ambassador Gerard Araud echoed Grant’s words, saying that it was “unacceptable that certain countries, including on this council, continue to provide the means of violence against the Syrian population.”
The United States and their European allies have called for a U.N. arms embargo and other sanctions against Syria, but Russia vehemently opposes U.N. Security Council action.
The Saudi envoy at the U.N. Abdullah al-Muallemy renewed the calls for the Syrian authorities to use wisdom and stop quelling the expectations of the Syrian people by further killings and bullets, Al Arabiya reported.
Syria’s envoy at the U.N. Bashar al-Jaafari accused some Arab countries of using the Arab League flag as a cover to further complicate the situation in his country.
U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said it was time for all countries to declare a moratorium on arms sales to Damascus.
“We call on supplier countries to voluntarily halt arms transfers to the regime,” she said. “And, we encourage all nations to join the widening effort to stop the flow of weapons to the Assad regime.”
Rice, Grant, Araud and German Ambassador Peter Wittig met on Monday with a group of Arab envoys, including the ambassadors of Qatar and Security Council member Morocco, to discuss the Arab League's call for Assad to transfer power to his deputy to form a unity government and prepare for elections.
Recently the Russians circulated their own draft resolution on Syria to fellow council members, though U.S. and European envoys say it is too weak and only touches on parts of an earlier Arab League plan for Syria. They also say the Russian delegation has failed to incorporate their proposed revisions in the draft, which was obtained by Al Arabiya.
Syria has agreed to extend a widely criticized Arab League observer mission for a second month.
“Foreign Minister Walid Muallem sent a letter tonight to the secretary general of the Arab League (Nabil al-Arabi) informing him of the Syrian government's agreement to extend the observer mission for one month, from Jan. 24 until Feb. 23, 2012,” said a statement carried by the official SANA news agency on Tuesday.
A new draft resolution
Western diplomats told Reuters privately that they would want a new resolution that would replace the Russian draft and endorse the Arab League plan for Syria. Several diplomats said France and Britain were working with Qatar and other Arab delegations on a new draft supporting the Arab League plan.
“In terms of the Russian resolution, the time for that has now passed,” a Western diplomat said. “We are working with the Arabs and we expect that group to come forward.”
“The Arabs have said that they want a resolution that has consensus agreement, and of course we'll work for that,” he added. “We always work for consensus in the council, but sometimes that's not possible, as with our Syria resolution (that was vetoed by Russia and China).”
Diplomats from several Security Council and Arab nations said there could be a vote as early as Monday or Tuesday next week on a resolution. “I would not exclude it,” said one western diplomat. “It is what we are aiming for,” an envoy from an Arab nation told AFP.
A first draft of the new resolution, obtained by AFP, notes Arab League economic sanctions against Syria and “encourages all states to adopt similar steps and fully to cooperate with the League of Arab States in the implementation of its measures.”
Russia, an ally of the Syrian government, has spoken out strongly against sanctions and could oppose such a measure.
The new resolution condemns the “widespread and gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms by the Syrian authorities” including “arbitrary executions, killing and persecution of protestors and members of the media.”
It demands the Syrian government immediately end “all human rights violations and attacks.” In a potential concession to Russia, it also demands that “all parties in Syria, including armed groups, immediately stop any violence or reprisals, including attacks against state institutions.”
The resolution backs the Arab League initiative launched at the weekend, under which Assad would have to transfer powers to a deputy so that new elections can be held.
It said Syria should “secure access and freedom of safe movement” to Arab League observers and provide “full access to prisons, detention facilities, police stations and hospitals.”
(Reuters)
