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Kerry, Lavrov meeting UN envoy on Syria
Kerry, Lavrov meeting UN envoy on Syria (Reuters) / 13 September 2013 US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met the United Nations special envoy on Syria in Geneva on Friday as they worked on a deal that could avert US military action. Lakhdar Brahimi, who acts for both the world body and the Arab League, met Kerry and Lavrov together. He has been trying to broker a political solution to the Syrian civil war. The two powers are trying to flesh out Moscow’s plan to dispose of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s chemical weapons. Damascus formally applied to join a global poison gas ban – a move welcomed on Friday by Russian President Vladimir Putin . He called it “an important step towards the resolution of the Syrian crisis” and added: “This confirms the serious intention of our Syrian partners to follow this path.” China, too, hailed Assad’s decision. But Kerry underscored that Washington could still attack if it was not satisfied: “This is not a game,” he said on Thursday. * Kerry, Lavrov meet UN/Arab League Syria envoy Brahimi * Meeting follows US-Russia talks in Geneva on Thursday * Putin welcomes Assad commitment on chemical weapons * Kerry warns that US could still strike if not satisfied The talks were part of a diplomatic push that prompted President Barack Obama to put on hold plans for US air strikes in response to a chemical weapons attack on civilians in rebel-held suburbs of Damascus on Aug. 21. The United States and its allies say Assad’s forces carried out the attack with sarin nerve gas, killing more than 1,400 people. Putin and Assad have blamed rebel forces. The United Nations said it received a document from Syria on joining the global anti-chemical weapons treaty, a move Assad promised as part of a deal to avoid US air strikes. The move would end Syria’s status as one of only seven nations outside the 1997 international convention that outlaws stockpiling chemical weapons. US Warning The United States immediately warned Syria against stalling tactics to avoid military strikes. Assad told Russian state television in an interview broadcast on Thursday that he would finalise plans to abandon his chemical arsenal only when the United States stops threatening to attack him. Kerry expressed some optimism about the talks in Geneva, saying, “We do believe there is a way to get this done” and that the United States was “grateful” for ideas from Russia. But he and Lavrov differed sharply on US military threats. “We proceed from the fact that the solution of this problem will make unnecessary any strike on the Syrian Arab Republic,” Lavrov said during the appearance with Kerry. Along with other world powers, Moscow and Washington see the instability in Syria as fuelling wider security threats, but differ sharply on how to respond. Western powers say that Assad is a tyrant who should be overthrown. Russia, like Assad, highlights the presence in rebel ranks of militants. In an audio recording released a day after the 12 th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, Al Qaeda leader Ayman Al Zawahri referred to fighters in Syria among other battlegrounds as he urged supporters to carry out attacks in the United States to “bleed America economically”. “As we defeated it in the gang warfare in Somalia, Yemen, Iraq and Afghanistan, so we should follow it with …war on its own land,” Zawahri said. “These disparate strikes can be done by one brother or a few of the brothers.” Putin’s Russia has been Assad’s most powerful backer during the civil war, which has killed more than 100,000 people since 2011, delivering arms and – with China – blocking three UN resolutions meant to pressure Assad. “President Obama has made clear that should diplomacy fail, force might be necessary to deter and degrade Assad’s capacity to deliver these weapons,” Kerry asserted. “Only the credible threat of force – and the intervention of President Putin and Russia based on that – has brought the Assad regime to acknowledge for the first time that it even has chemical weapons and an arsenal, and that (it) is now prepared to relinquish it,” Kerry added. Kerry said any agreement must be comprehensive, verifiable, credible and implemented in a “timely” way – “and finally, there ought to be consequences if it doesn’t take place.” Kerry called a peaceful resolution “clearly preferable” to military action. A version of the Russian plan that leaked to the newspaper Kommersant described four stages: Syria would join the world body that enforces a chemical weapons ban, declare production and storage sites, invite inspectors, and then decide with the inspectors how and by whom stockpiles would be destroyed. ‘Legally speaking’ Syria has agreed to a Russian proposal that it give up its chemical weapons stocks, averting what would have been the first direct Western intervention in the civil war. “Legally speaking, Syria has become, starting today, a full member of the (chemical weapons) convention,” Syrian UN Ambassador Bashar Jaafari told reporters in New York after submitting documents to the United Nations. Several UN diplomats and a UN official told Reuters on condition of anonymity that it was not yet clear that Syria had fulfilled all the conditions for legal accession to the treaty. Dressed in a white shirt and dark suit and seated in a wood-panelled office, Assad said in his TV interview that Syria opted to cede control of its chemical weapons because of a Russian proposal and not the threat of US military intervention. Assad said in comments translated into Russian: “When we see the United States really wants stability in our region and stops threatening, striving to attack, and also ceases arms deliveries to terrorists, then we will believe that the necessary processes can be finalised.” Syria is already bound by the separate Geneva accords that have banned the use of chemical weapons in warfare for nearly a century, but it had never been required before this week to disclose whether it possessed them. Western nations believe Syria has hundreds of tonnes of toxic weapons material. Assad said Syria would provide an accounting of chemical weapons stocks in 30 days, standard practice under the treaty. Kerry questioned the offer. “We believe there is nothing standard about this process at this moment because of the way the regime has behaved – not only the existence of these weapons but they have been used,” Kerry said. “And the words of the Syrian regime, in our judgment, are simply not enough.” Kerry and Lavrov flew to Geneva with delegations of chemical weapons and nonproliferation experts to begin to hammer out how to identify, secure and neutralise Syria’s chemical weapons. A draft UN Security Council Resolution submitted by France this week demands that Syria declare its chemical weapons holdings within 15 days, and holds out the threat of sanctions or military force if it fails to disarm. While the diplomats met in Switzerland, the war ground on relentlessly. Activists said Syrian warplanes bombed on the main hospitals serving rebel-held territory in the north of the country, killing at least 11 civilians including two doctors. Continue reading
Threat of Syria strike eases as crisis moves to UN
Threat of Syria strike eases as crisis moves to UN (Reuters) / 11 September 2013 Syria accepted a Russian proposal on Tuesday to give up chemical weapons and win a reprieve from US military strikes, and major western powers began working on a United Nations resolution to create a timetable and process for ensuring it happens. Meanwhile, the UN Security Council cancelled a meeting on a resolution aimed at securing and destroying Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles. The closed consultations had been scheduled for 2000 GMT on Tuesday. Australian Ambassador Gary Guinlan said in a Twitter message that the meeting was cancelled “following withdrawal of the request for consultations.” Syrian Prime Minister Wael Al Halki accepted the Russian proposal “to spare Syrian blood,” state television reported. The United States and its allies remained skeptical and President Barack Obama sought to keep the pressure on Syria by maintaining his drive for congressional backing for a possible military strike while exploring a diplomatic alternative. Amid the whirlwind of diplomatic activity focused on the response to a suspected chemical weapons attack on a Damascus neighbourhood on August 21, the civil war resumed in earnest, President Bashar Al Assad’s jets again bombing rebel positions in the capital. France wanted a binding UN Security Council resolution that would provide a framework for controlling and eliminating the weapons and said that Syria would face “extremely serious” consequences if it violated the conditions. Britain and the United States said they would work on quickly formulating a resolution. The UN Security Council earlier called a closed door meeting asked for by Russia to discuss its proposal to place Syria’s chemical weapons under international control, but the meeting was later cancelled at Russia’s request. Moscow, which has previously vetoed three resolutions that would have condemned the Syrian government over the conflict, appeared strongly opposed to the continuation of any military threats to Damascus, as advocated by Washington. Russian President Vladimir Putin said in televised remarks that the initiative to put Syria’s chemical weapons under international control would not succeed unless the United States and its allies reject the use of force against Damascus. The United States appeared unmoved. “For this diplomatic option to have a chance of succeeding, the threat of a US military action … must continue,” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told the House Armed Services Committee. The United States and France had been poised to launch missile strikes to punish Assad’s forces, which they blame for the chemical weapons attack. Syria denies it was responsible. The White House said Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande had agreed in a telephone call on their preference for a diplomatic solution, but that they should continue to prepare for “a full range of responses.” Obama was due to meet Senate Democrats and Republicans to present his case for approving a potential military strike. Secretary of State John Kerry also spelled out the argument in a House hearing and was due to talk by telephone with Lavrov later in the day. The White House said Obama, who has called the Russian proposal a potential breakthrough, would still push for a vote in Congress to authorise force when he makes a televised address to Americans later on Tuesday. But the US congressional vote now appeared more about providing a hypothetical threat to back up diplomacy, rather than to unleash immediate missile strikes. A bipartisan group of senior members of Congress was working on a resolution that would take into account the Russian proposal. Whether international inspectors can neutralise chemical weapons dumps while war rages in Syria remains open to question. Syria’s rebels reacted with deep dismay to the Russian proposal, saying it had already emboldened Assad to launch a deadly new offensive and meant that last month’s gas attacks would go unpunished. The proposal provides a way out for Obama to avoid ordering action that is unpopular with Americans, weary after more than a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and with Congress. Russia’s Interfax news agency quoted Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al Moualem, visiting Moscow, as saying Damascus had agreed to the Russian initiative because it would “remove the grounds for American aggression”. Assad’s warplanes bombed rebellious districts inside the Damascus city limits on Tuesday for the first time since the poison gas attacks. Rebels said the strikes demonstrated that the government had concluded the West had lost its nerve. “By sending the planes back, the regime is sending the message that it no longer feels international pressure,” activist Wasim Al Ahmad said from Mouadamiya, one of the districts of the capital hit by the chemical attack. The Russian proposal “is a cheap trick to buy time for the regime to kill more and more people,” said Sami, a member of the local opposition coordinating committee in the Damascus suburb of Erbin, also hit by last month’s chemical attack. But Damascenes in pro-Assad areas were grateful for a reprieve from Western strikes: “Russia is the voice of reason. They know that if a strike went ahead against Syria, then World War Three – even Armageddon – would befall Europe and America,” said Salwa, a Shia Muslim in the affluent Malki district. French officials said their draft UN resolution was designed to make sure the Russian proposal would have teeth, by allowing military action if Assad is uncooperative. “It was extremely well played by the Russians, but we didn’t want someone else to go to the UN with a resolution that was weak. This is on our terms and the principles are established. It puts Russia in a situation where they can’t take a step back after putting a step forward,” said a French diplomatic source. The White House portrayed the deal as a success that vindicated Obama’s firm stance. “We see this as potentially a positive development and we see this as a clear result of the pressure that has been put on Syria,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said. The White House and the Kremlin both said the Russian proposal was not entirely new and that Obama and Putin had discussed the principles behind it in the past. Putin’s spokesman said it came up at a summit last week. With veto-wielding China also backing it, it would be the rare Syria initiative to unite global powers whose divisions have so far blocked Security Council action. Assad’s main regional backer, Iran, has also signalled support, as has UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Gulf Arab states which support the rebels were skeptical, however: “It’s all about chemical weapons but doesn’t stop the spilling of the blood of the Syrian people,” said Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Shaikh Khaled bin Ahmed Al Khalifa. Syria is not a party to international treaties which ban the stockpiling of chemical weapons but is bound by the Geneva conventions that forbid using them in war. Syria has not said whether it possesses poison gas, while denying it has used it. Continue reading
UN inspectors reach Syria gas victims
UN inspectors reach Syria gas victims (Reuters) / 26 August 2013 UN chemical weapons inspectors in Syria met and took samples from victims of an apparent poison gas attack in a rebel-held suburb of Damascus on Monday after the UN team survived a gun attack on its convoy. A Syrian doctor told Reuters from the town of Mouadamiya that investigators from the United Nations had crossed the frontline from the centre of the capital, which remains under the control of President Bashar Al Assad’s forces. The UN said the shooting crippled one vehicle but mentioned no injuries. With Western powers considering military strikes, despite vocal opposition from Assad and his Russian and Iranian allies, any evidence to support rebel claims that government forces fired gas-laden rockets five days ago that killed hundreds of civilians will be a key element in arguments for peace or war. “I am with the team now,” the doctor who uses the name Abu Karam told Reuters by telephone from rebel-held Mouadamiya. “We are in the Rawda mosque and they are meeting with the wounded. Our medics and the inspectors are talking to the patients and taking samples from the victims now.” Another opposition activist said a large crowd was growing of people eager to air their grievances to the UN team. There was a plan for the experts also to take samples from corpses. Syrian state television blamed rebel “terrorists” for the shooting, which briefly halted the convoy but failed to stop the inspectors from crossing the front line. The opposition blamed it on pro-Assad militiamen. Any delay diminishes whatever evidence the experts might recover. With speculation mounting that Nato powers might fire cruise missiles to satisfy calls for action to protect Syrian civilians, US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said any operation would be coordinated with allies. British Prime Minister David Cameron cut short a holiday to chair a top level security meeting. “The United States is looking at all options regarding the situation in Syria. We’re working with our allies and the international community,” Hagel told a news conference. “We are analysing the intelligence. And we will get the facts. And if there is any action taken, it will be in concert with the international community and within the framework of legal justification.” Hagel plans discussions with his British and French counterparts, a senior US official said. The French foreign minister said on Monday that Russian and Chinese vetoes in the UN Security Council may make it hard to get a UN agreement to satisfy international law. The UN said in a statement that gunmen shot at the first vehicle in the team’s six-car convoy, damaging it to the point that the team had to stop to find a replacement car. “The first vehicle of the Chemical Weapons Investigation Team was deliberately shot at multiple times by unidentified snipers in the buffer zone area,” it said. “It has to be stressed again that all sides need to extend their cooperation so that the team can safely carry out their important work.” The team of chemical weapons experts wearing blue UN body armour left a Damascus hotel where they have been based for over a week, accompanied by a car of Syrian security personnel, as well as an ambulance. At least two mortar bombs struck the area of central Damascus on Monday. Syrian state media said the mortar bombs were locally made and fired by “terrorists”. SANA state news agency said three people were wounded. Assad said accusations that his forces used chemical weapons were politically motivated and warned the United States against intervening in his country. “Would any state use chemicals or any other weapons of mass destruction in a place where its own forces are concentrated? That would go against elementary logic. So accusations of this kind are entirely political,” he told the Russian newspaper Izvestia in an interview. “Failure awaits the United States as in all previous wars it has unleashed, starting with Vietnam and up to the present day.” In Beijing, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China supported an independent and objective investigation by UN experts into allegations of the use of chemical weapons in Syria, and urged a cautious response and a political resolution to the crisis. The experts’ mandate is to find out whether chemical weapons were used, not to assign blame, but the evidence they collect, for example about the missile used, can provide a strong indication about the identity of the party responsible. Continue reading
