World powers warn of tough action if UN Syria plan fails

A COALITION of Western and Middle East powers warned on Thursday that it would seek tougher international action if Bashar alAssad’s Syrian regime continues to flout a shaky United Nations peace plan.

Senior officials, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, accused Assad of breaking the ceasefire and said a UN observer mission would have to be dramati- cally reinforced.

And Clinton called on the international community to press the UN Security Council to authorize a so-called Chapter Seven resolution, which would brand Assad a threat to peace and authorize tough international measures.

These could include, she said, “travel and financial sanctions, an arms embargo, and the pressure that that will give us on the regime to push for compliance with Kofi Annan’s six-point plan.”

Clinton also raised the prospect that Turkey could react to “outrageous” Syrian shelling on its border by invoking a clause in the Nato alliance treaty that would require members to decide if their security is threatened.

Juppe warned that Syria was on course for “civil war” and confirmed the 15 nations present had agreed to seek “other options” if the Annan plan fails.

Earlier, Juppe’s leader President Nicolas Sarkozy had spoken of the possibility of setting “humanitarian corridors” in a country where 11,000 have died in the year since Assad launched a crackdown on a popular revolt.

The Paris meeting included foreign ministers and envoys from Germany, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Egypt, the UAE, Spain, the United States, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, Britain, Tunisia, Tur- key and the European Union.

But there were notable absentees, including Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, whose government wields a veto at the Security Council and would be likely to block any attempt to seek a Chapter Seven resolution.

“We need to start moving very vigorously in the Security Council for a Chapter Seven sanctions resolution,” Clinton told the envoys.