Posted on 10/31/2005 11:36:55 AM PST by SmithL
Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaf slammed Monday a unanimous UN Security Council resolution demanding Syria's full cooperation with a UN investigation into the assassination of Lebanon's former prime minister. The Security Council warned of possible "further action" if Damascus doesn't comply with the resolution.
Al-Sharaf said the international body accused his country of a crime it did not commit. "The council proceeded on the presumption of a criminal act rather than on the presumption of innocence," he said.
The Syrian minister denounced the resolution for targeting Syria, calling it "illogical" because, he claimed, the council based its action on inconclusive evidence.
Al-Sharaf said he would provide all evidence that Damascus has cooperated with the Mehlis commission if he can be heard in a closed-door session of the UN Security Council.
The resolution requires Syria to detain anyone the UN investigators consider a suspect and to let investigators determine the location and conditions under which the individual would be questioned.
U.S., U.K. and France press for resolution The United States, France and Britain pressed for the resolution following last week's tough report by a UN investigating commission, which implicated top Syrian and Lebanese security officials in the February 14 bombing that killed Rafik Hariri and 20 others. The report also accused Syria of not cooperating fully with the probe.
The three co-sponsors agreed to drop a direct threat of sanctions against Syria to get support from Russia and China, which opposed sanctions while the investigation is still under way. Nonetheless, the resolution was adopted under Chapter VII of the UN Charter which is militarily enforceable.
In another concession to try to get Russia and China on board, the co-sponsors also agreed to drop an appeal to Syria to renounce all support "for all forms of terrorist action and all assistance to terrorist groups."
Speaking on Monday U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said "with our decision today we show that Syria has isolated itself from the international community through its false statements, its support for terrorism, its interference in the affairs of its neighbors and its destabilizing behavior in the Middle East."
"Now the Syrian government needs to make a strategic decision to fundamentally change its behavior," she said.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the Security Council is "putting the government of Syria on notice that our patience has limits."
"The people of the Lebanon have become all too acquainted with grief," he said. "We owe them a better future and this resolution is one way of providing them with that better future."
Possible Russian veto Earlier on Monday the Russian Interfax news agency quoted a Russian source at the UN as saying Russia could veto the resolution should the UN threaten Syria with sanctions if it fails to cooperate with the team investigating Hariri's death.
Russia strongly opposes the prospect of sanctions against Syria, a traditional ally in the Middle East.
But British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Monday that he expected solid support for the draft resolution in the council.
"I would be very surprised if we do not come out with a resolution where there is a good majority," he told BBC radio from New York. "We would like to see a full consensus."
Jordan on Monday called on Syria to cooperate with the investigation. Deputy Prime Minister Marwan Muasher said the country "believes in the importance of the cooperation of all countries ... until the truth [over Hariri's killing] is revealed."
Muasher also said Jordan "hopes [the controversy over the investigation] wouldn't culminate in a confrontation which will neither serve the region nor its stability."
He expressed the hope that "the international community will be able to resolve all outstanding issues with brotherly Syria through dialogue."
Syria urges UN not to bow to U.S. pressure Also on Monday, a Syrian government newspaper urged the UN Security Council not to bow to U.S. pressure and called on it to pass a "balanced" resolution in connection with the probe into the murder of Hariri.
"Will the Security Council adopt a balanced and objective resolution that gives everybody their rights or will it be a direct translation of the will of the U.S. administration, its allies, partners, pressures and threats?" Tishreen daily said.
Tishreen's front page editorial did not hold out much hope for a softer resolution, though, and said the tendencies of the Security Council "are almost clear and specific. There will be no surprises."
The powerful bomb set off in a Beirut street sparked mass demonstrations against the 29-year Syrian military presence in Lebanon, of which Hariri had been a vocal critic.
The protests, coupled with international pressure, led to the end of the Syrian military occupation.
The UN report on the bombing has thrown suspicion on leading figures in Syrian circles. One of the suspects is Maher Assad, brother of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Another is the president's brother-in-law and effective second-in-command, Assef Shawkat, chief of military intelligence.
The UN report accused Syria of not cooperating fully with the probe.
Somebody wants their ass kicked...somebody wants their ass kicked! Why do these stupid Mus*** think that by being arrogant and thumbing their noses pays off?
"further action"......ooooooooo,I'm really scaired now!
Maybe the UN will send Syria a memo!
Does anyone worry about the UN?
Cause it always has in the past.
Guess Mrs. Bush never heeded that song, " Don't let your boys grow up to be Cowboys!"
Priceless. heh heh heh.
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