‘No war in Syria, no Russian arms used’
FOREIGN Minister Sergei Lavrov yesterday defended Russia’s sale of arms to Syria and accused the US of supplying rebels with weapons to fight against the government, as Damascus rejected a United Nations (UN) monitors’ statement the country had entered a de facto civil war.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday Washington was worried Russia was sending attack helicopters to Syria and described as “patently untrue” Moscow’s argument that its arms transfers to Syria were unrelated to the conflict there.
“We are not violating any international law in performing these contracts,” Mr Lavrov said at a news conference during a visit to Iran.
“They are providing arms and weapons to the Syrian opposition that can be used in fighting against the Damascus government.”
UN veto-holder Russia is one of Syria’s principal defenders and has thwarted efforts by western powers to force President Bashar al-Assad to step down. China has voted with Russia. Russia has instead proposed a conference bringing together global and regional powers including Iran. The Friends of Syria grouping, dominated by the US and France, is reluctant to include Shiite Iran.
Mr Lavrov said Russia’s position was based on concern for the Syrian people and the country’s integrity, and not Mr al-Assad.
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said yesterday the Syrian crisis could not be resolved through interference by external powers.
The UN says government forces have killed more than 10 000 people since March last year.
Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in Paris yesterday France would propose making UN special envoy Kofi Annan’s plan for Syria obligatory by invoking the UN’s chapter seven provision. He described the conflict as a “civil war”, repeating UN undersecretary-general for peacekeeping operations Herve Ladsous’s assertion on Tuesday.
Mr Fabius said “if you can’t call it a civil war, then there are no words to describe it”. He said that to stop “this civil war from worsening”, Mr al-Assad must leave power and Syrian opposition groups must start a new government.
Mr Fabius said he hoped Russia would agree to using Chapter seven, a measure which can authorise the use of force, and he said that a no-fly zone was another option under discussion. France would also propose toughening sanctions on Syria at the next meeting of European Union foreign ministers, he said.
The world community would prepare a list of second-ranking military officials who would be pursued by international justice, alongside Mr al-Assad and his immediate entourage, Mr Fabius said.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said yesterday Syria was on the verge of collapse and that he would be holding urgent talks with Mr Lavrov today. “Syria is on the edge of a collapse or of a deadly sectarian civil war,” he said in Kabul where he will attend a regional conference on Afghanistan.
He said he would meet Mr Lavrov on the sidelines of the conference to persuade Russia to use its leverage with the Syrian government to implement Mr Annan’s plan.
Opposition campaigners said at least 60 people were killed in the past two days, and that hundreds of Syrian troops, backed by tanks, thrust into the eastern city of Deir alZor yesterday. They said it was a major offensive to root out rebels in the capital of the oil-producing province on the border with Iraq. Large swathes of the province have fallen into rebel hands. Reuters