Syria criticizes ‘aggressive’ statements by West; Russia urged to stop backing Assad
“The aggressive American and Western statements against Syria are escalating in a scandalous manner,” said a foreign ministry statement distributed by the official SANA news agency.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Monday that Washington “condemns in the strongest possible terms the escalation of the Syrian regime’s violent and brutal attacks on its own people,” and demanded U.N. action as a government offensive was blamed for the deaths of dozens more civilians.
“The Security Council must act and make clear to the Syrian regime that the world community views its actions as a threat to peace and security,” she said, according to AFP.
And EU President Herman Van Rompuy said Europe was outraged “at the atrocities and repression committed by the Syrian regime.”
Citing figures of more than 5,000 killed and 400 children “murdered” in the repression, British Prime Minister David Cameron said: “It’s frankly an appalling situation.”
“Our message is clear, we will stand with the Syrian people,” he said. “And it’s time for all the members of the U.N. Security Council to live up to their responsibilities instead of shielding those with blood on their hands.”
“Today all 27 EU members backed that call for U.N. action in a move that was led by the UK,” he said. “It’s time for all the members of the Security Council to back that.”
Damascus described statements by the West as “ridiculous”, and insisted that recent events in the country should be blamed on “armed terrorist groups.”
The country “will continue to defend itself against terrorism and intends to foil this policy of sowing chaos adopted by the United States and the West,” the statement said.
Ghalioun urges Russia to stop backing Assad
Burhan Ghalioun, head of the Syrian National Council (SNC), said that everyone has only one chance left to save his country. He urged the Security Council members to vote in favor of a decision condemning the crimes of the Syrian regime, Al Arabiya reported.
Ghalioun said that Russia should not permit the Syrian regime to make use of its support at the Security Council in covering for its crimes against the Syrian people.
Russia has said it will use its veto against an Arab League-supported resolution calling for Syrian President Assad to accept a ceasefire and hand over power, which is due to come before the United Nations Tuesday.
Clinton is to join British Foreign Secretary William Hague and French counterpart Alain Juppe and the Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi at the Security Council session.
Washington hopes to convince Moscow not to stand in the way of the Arab League’s initiative calling for Assad to transfer power to help resolve a bloody, 10-month-old crisis in Syria, according to Reuters.
Russia has accused the United States and other NATO countries of distorting a March 2011 council resolution on Libya to launch a bombing campaign that helped rebels topple the government of Muammar Qaddafi last year.
U.S. diplomats are now trying to convince Moscow that the objective of the U.S.-backed measure on Syria is not to justify future military action to oust Assad but instead to show international solidarity with an Arab-led political solution to end his bloody crackdown on the opposition.
“We’re hoping that Russia will listen to those in the region,” the U.S. official told Reuters. “We’re trying to convince the Russians that investing in Assad is bad for them, and I think they're coming around to that. Assad is falling.”
But the official also said that even as the United States focused on a diplomatic path, it had no intention of taking the military option off the table altogether.
Another senior U.S. official voiced doubt about a new Russian proposal for talks in Moscow to end the crisis. Russia said Assad’s government had agreed to the idea, but a major Syrian opposition body rejected any dialogue with him.
Street battles raise death toll
The diplomatic push came as street battles raged at the gates of Damascus, with Assad’s troops seeking to consolidate their grip on suburbs that rebel fighters had seized.
As many as 100 people have been killed by the fire of Syrian security forces across the country on Monday, including 56 in Homs, Al Arabiya reported citing activists at the Local Coordination Committees.
The White House said countries needed to accept that Assad’s rule was doomed and stop protecting him in the Security Council.
While insisting Assad was becoming “more and more desperate,” the first official acknowledged that the opposition remained militarily fragmented despite recent gains and was not ready to mount a Libya-style rebel campaign.
The new draft resolution, obtained by Al Arabiya, calls for a “political transition” in Syria. While it does not seek military action or U.N. sanctions against Syria, it says that the Security Council could “adopt further measures” if Damascus does not comply with the terms of the resolution.
Russia may feel that abstaining from a vote on the draft resolution, which would enable it to pass, would be tantamount to tacitly supporting the ouster of Assad, whose government is one of the Russian arms industry’s top customers.
Analysts say Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin -- who is running again for president and bitterly criticized the council resolution authorizing the NATO campaign in Libya, which Russia let pass by abstaining -- wants to look firm in the face of Western pressure.
(Reuters)
