Russia, China block UN vote on Syria

Feb 05, 2012

Russia and China have joined forces in a double veto to knock down a UN Security Council resolution calling for Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to step aside.

The other 13 council members voted in favour of the resolution, which would have said that the council "fully supports" the Arab League plan aimed at ending 11 months of bloodshed in Syria.

The United States says Russia and China have sold out the Syrian people, while France has accused them of becoming "complicit in the policy of repression" of Damascus.

The UN vote came as several people broke into the Syrian embassy in Canberra overnight, following similar protests in London, Athens, Cairo and Kuwait, after reports suggested government forces had killed 200 people in the city of Homs.

Up to 40 protesters entered the Syrian embassy in Canberra about 9:30pm (AEDT), causing extensive damage to the ground floor.

Vases were broken, windows were smashed and pictures were torn down when the men broke into the O'Malley building.

Three embassy staff members were forced to take refuge in the basement, but none were injured. The ACT police and Australian Federal Police are investigating.

Shortly before the UN Security Council voted on the resolution, US president Barack Obama denounced the "unspeakable assault" on Homs, demanded that Assad leave power immediately and called for UN action against Assad's "relentless brutality".

The vote was delayed by an hour or two as Russia tried to win support for amendments to the draft.

The Russians were still unhappy with the Arab plan for a political transition. They said the resolution imposes a solution on Syria, and wanted language condemning the armed opposition as well as the Syrian army.

But Western nations rejected the idea of equal blame, saying Syria's government is mainly responsible.

Russia also insisted on dropping a demand that the government withdraw its security forces from cities, but US and European delegations refused to include that change.

Veto anger

Dropping the usual diplomatic courtesies, US ambassador Susan Rice said she was "disgusted" by the Russian and Chinese veto, adding that "any further bloodshed that flows will be on their hands."

French ambassador Gerard Araud told the council: "It is a sad day for this council, a sad day for all Syrians, and a sad day for democracy."

UN leader Ban Ki-moon also slammed the veto, saying it had undermined the United Nations.

Syrian ambassador Bashar Ja'afari criticised the resolution and its sponsors, Saudi Arabia and other Arab states.

"Is it rational that states that co-sponsor this resolution are states that prevent women from attending a soccer match?" he said.

"Those countries are telling Syria to be democratic?"

He also denied that Syrian forces killed hundreds of civilians in Homs, saying that "no sensible person" would launch such an attack the night before the UN Security Council was set to discuss his country.

Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin denied that Moscow's amendments were last-minute, or that Russia was standing in the way of a peaceful resolution of the crisis.

"Some influential members of the international community, unfortunately, including those sitting around this table, from the very beginning of the Syrian process have been undermining the opportunity for a political settlement," Mr Churkin said.

Chinese ambassador Li Baodong criticised the resolution's sponsors, at least eight of which were Arab states, for "pushing through a vote when the parties are still seriously divided" and said the resolution would not have resolved the issue.

This is the second double veto of a Syria resolution. In October, Russia and China vetoed a European-drafted resolution condemning Syria and threatening it with possible sanctions.

Prior to the vote, several Western diplomats said that if Russia vetoed the resolution, it would be a sign of what they referred to as the "re-Putinisation" of Russian foreign policy - referring to expectations that Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin will return to the presidency after this year's elections.

ABC/wires

200 killed by Syrian shelling

February 5, 2012

BEIRUT: In a barrage of shelling, Syrian forces killed 200 people and wounded hundreds early yesterday in an offensive that appears to be the bloodiest episode in the nearly 11-month-old uprising.

The offensive was reported in Homs, which has been one of the main flashpoints of opposition to the regime during the uprising against President Bashar Assad.

Two main opposition groups, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Co-ordination Committees, said the death toll was more than 200 people, with about 140 of those reported in the Khaldiyeh neighbourhood.

Anger ... a protester with a gas mask sits outside Cairo's Interior Ministry, which controls the police. Photo: Getty Images

''This is the worst attack of the uprising, since the uprising began in March until now,'' Rami Abdul-Rahman, the head of the observatory, which tracks violence through contacts on the ground, said.

The reports could not be independently confirmed.

It was not immediately clear what precipitated the attack, but there have been reports that army defectors set up checkpoints in the area and were trying to consolidate control.

Mr Assad is trying to crush the revolt with a sweeping crackdown that has so far claimed thousands of lives, but neither the government nor the protesters are backing down. Clashes between the military and an increasingly bold and armed opposition has meant many parts of the country have seen relentless violence.

The UN Security Council meeting late yesterday was to take up a much-negotiated resolution on Syria. The move towards a vote came after the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, spoke by telephone with the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, in an effort to overcome Russian opposition to any statement that explicitly calls for regime change or a military intervention in Syria.

The US and its partners have ruled out military action but want the global body to endorse an Arab League plan that calls on Mr Assad to hand power over to Syria's vice-president.

Mr Assad's regime has been intensifying an assault against army defectors and protesters.

The UN said weeks ago that more than 5400 people have been killed in violence since March. Hundreds more have been killed since that tally was announced.

Protesters storm Syria’s embassies in Europe, Middle East, Australia

February 4, 2012

 Demonstrators have stormed Syrian embassies in Europe, the Middle East and Australia after Syrian forces reportedly killed more than 200 people in the city of Homs.

British police used batons to beat back protesters attempting to storm the Syrian Embassy in London for a second time after successfully breaking in early Saturday. The crowd broke several of the embassy’s windows during the melee.

Police said six people were arrested in the initial assault on the building, while another six were arrested hours later when demonstrators chanting “We want to close the embassy” kicked down barriers and rushed the building.

A similar scene played out in Athens before dawn, where police said 13 people — 12 Syrians and one Iraqi national — were detained after forcing their way into the Syrian Embassy before dawn.

In Germany, 20 people forced their way into Syria’s Embassy in Berlin on Friday and damaged offices there, police said.

Syrian protesters in Cairo set part of the embassy on fire Friday night, while protesters in Kuwait broke windows at the embassy and hoisted the opposition flag. The Kuwait news agency said a number of security personnel were hurt in scuffles.

Syrian protesters also attacked and took control of the Syrian embassy in Tripoli, Libya The announcement came from Anas al-Khalid, a member of the Syrian National Council which joins groups opposing the regime of Bashar el Assad. Al-Khalid added that the SNC, “will officially occupy the embassy tomorrow after having signed a number of papers. The taking of the embassy was peaceful. There was no-one in the embassy when we entered.” . ,

In Australia a group of men stormed the Syrian embassy in Canberra, smashing up the ground floor, as protesters attacked other Syrian embassies in Europe and the Middle East.

Australian Federal Police say extensive damage was caused to the embassy after the men forced their way in about 9.30pm (AEDT) on Saturday.

Syria’s government has denied the assault on Homs, calling news reports about it part of a “hysterical campaign” of incitement by armed groups against Syria, meant to be exploited at the U.N. Security Council as it prepares to vote on a draft resolution backing an Arab call for President Bashar Assad to give up power.

A vote was scheduled in New York later Saturday, but negotiations were continuing to the last minute as Russia, a strong ally of Syria, signaled it would veto any call for a political transition in the country.

The Syrian National Council, Syria’s main opposition group, urged Russia to stop its “shameful intransigence” at the U.N. and for the world to help stem the bloodshed. It also called for Syrians to protest outside their embassies.

After protesters gathered force Saturday afternoon in London, police brought in sandbags and riot gear to regain control of the surging crowd at the embassy. Britain’s Foreign Office condemned the initial break-in, which police said began at 0100 GMT Saturday (8 p.m. EST Friday) and drew around 150 protesters.

Britain’s Foreign Office said it takes seriously its obligations to protect foreign embassies and their employees, and that police are reviewing security arrangements at the Syrian Embassy in light of Saturday’s events.

Arab parliament head calls on Arabs to cut Syria ties

By REUTERS

Feb 4, 2012

CAIRO: The head of the Arab Parliament, a committee of parliamentarians from Arab League states, called on Saturday for Arab countries to expel Syria’s ambassadors and sever diplomatic relations over President Bashar Assad’s crackdown on protests.

“(Arab states) should expel Syrian ambassadors and sever diplomatic relations and economic dealings (with Syria) until the regime complies with the demands of the Syrian people,” Ali Al-Salem Al-Dekbas, head of the 88-member committee, said in a statement.

Arab states have turned decisively against Assad in recent months over a crackdown on opponents of Assad that the United Nations says has killed at least 5,000 people in 11 months. Assad’s government says it is fighting foreign-backed insurgents, and most deaths have been among its troops.

Western and Arab nations are trying to overcome Russian resistance to a UN Security Council resolution backing an Arab League call for Assad to give up power. The diplomacy has taken on new urgency since activists said overnight that Assad’s forces had killed more than 200 people in the city of Homs.

Tunisia started a procedure on Saturday for withdrawing its recognition of Assad’s government. Tunisia's president said his government no longer recognizes the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Later in the day, staff at the Syrian embassy in Tunis, the capital, lowered the national flag over the building.

A Reuters reporter outside the Syrian embassy said that when the flag was lowered, a crowd of nearly 200 people, who were protesting nearby against the Syrian government’s crackdown on its opponents, cheered and shouted: “The people want liberty for Syria!”

Dekbas said Arab states should confront the Russian delegate to the United Nations, whose delay in taking action “allows for a continuation of....killing of the Syrian people.”

He condemned what he said was “the international community standing and watching” violence in Syria, which he described as “crimes against humanity.”

Saudi King and IMF chief analyze global economic challenges

Feb 3, 2012

RIYADH: Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah discussed world economic developments and matters related to the International Monetary Fund with its Managing Director Christine Lagarde on Friday.

This is her maiden visit to the Kingdom ever since she became the IMF chief in July last year.

Recently, the IMF urged member states to contribute $500 billion in new lending resources to tackle the European debt crisis to avoid a 1930s-style global depression.

Jarmo T. Kotilaine, chief economist at the National Commercial Bank, told Arab News: “Playing a greater role in the IMF will effectively amount to shouldering some of the responsibility that comes with greater global influence. Encouragingly, countries such as Saudi Arabia can play this role with an admirable track record of macroeconomic stability and rules-based policy making of the kind that the world more generally now needs.”

He said it is clear that, as efforts are under way to better reflect the evolving global balance of economic power in the capital and decision-making of the IMF, countries such as the Kingdom have a potentially far greater role to play.

“With the West still mired in a structural crisis, Saudi Arabia and its leading emerging market peers have become increasingly important as sources of global growth and capital,” Kotilaine said.

Prior to her departure from Tunis, Lagarde said: “Since I was appointed head of the IMF, I have planned to visit all major regions of the world to hear the concerns of our members and understand the issues faced by different countries. Tunisia is the first Arab country I am visiting. I am also going to Saudi Arabia.”

”Tunisia is going through an inclusive process of transition, but faces some extraordinary challenges. I have heard from its leaders how Tunisia was the model that paved the way for the Arab Spring, and their firm belief that it remains capable of lighting the path forward for other countries going through historic changes in the region,” she noted.

She was in Tunis to back the country’s democratic transition and job-creation plans.

Ready yourselves for heavy responsibilities

KUWAIT: His Highness the Prime Minister congratulated yesterday the Kuwaiti people on the conclusion of the parliamentary elections, and said that elected MPs should be prepared to bear “heavy responsibilities” and cope with the upcoming “dangerous phase.”

In a statement, HH Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah expressed congratulations to the candidates “…who won the confidence of the Kuwaiti people and won seats in the National Assembly to represent them.” HH the Prime Minister affirmed that the new MPs should be prepared to bear a heavy burden of responsibilities and cope with the forthcoming “dangerous stage.”

His Highness Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak issued the statement a few hours after the conclusion of the parliamentary polls, which ended with the election of members for the 50-seat National Assembly. The polls were held after HH the Amir dissolved the previous parliament due to deteriorating political conditions in the local arena.

In his address, HH the Prime Minister expressed hope that the new members of the parliament would meet the aspirations of the people regarding security, stability, development, prosperity, combating negative acts and bolstering patriotism.

HH Sheikh Jaber Al-Muarak congratulated the Kuwaiti people, namely the voters, who responded to the aspirations of HH the Amir who had urged them to head to the polling stations and cast their votes. He also thanked all departments, civil servants, staff, associations and judges for taking part in the electoral process and ensuring its success.

He called on all Kuwaitis to abstain from bickering and to look toward the future for the sake of serving Kuwait, “…which we wish to preserve as a homeland of dignity under the wise leadership of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.”

Kuwait Supports Housing in Palestine with $90 million

05 February 2012

RAMALLAH: The Kuwait Development Fund supported housing in Palestine with 90 million US dollars, Mohammed Shtayeh, Palestine's governor at the Jeddah, Saudi Arabia-based Islamic Development Bank, said on Thursday. He said in a press release that $45 million will go for housing projects in occupied Jerusalem, $25 million for the West Bank and $20 million for the Gaza Strip. The money will be given out as loans through Palestinian commercial banks. Shtayeh said that the Kuwaiti imitative is significant because it will house tens of thousands of Palestinians and create dozens of jobs, which also means developing the Palestinian economy by increasing the housing and real estate share in the gross domestic product (GPD), which currently stands at 21 percent.

More Cairo clashes after Port Said football deaths

 February 2012

At least four people have been killed in the latest unrest in Egypt, amid anger over 74 deaths after a football match in Port Said on Wednesday.

Many Egyptians blame the authorities for failing to protect fans.

Egypt's military rulers issued a statement calling for the country to unite and return to stability.

A building opposite the ministry which houses the property tax authority was set on fire, state TV reported.

A demonstrator and a soldier died on Friday in the clashes in Cairo as police fired tear gas at stone-throwing crowds. At least two people were also killed in Suez.

Ambulances and motorcycles ferried many of the injured to field hospitals.

The health ministry said 1,051 people were injured on Friday, the AFP news agency reported.

In its statement, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf) said Egypt was passing through "the most dangerous and most important phase in Egypt's history".

Revenge for revolution?

Analysis

Yolande Knell, Cairo

Hundreds of al-Ahly football fans carried flags and wore their scarves for Friday prayers outside the club, but this was a sombre occasion to remember Wednesday's dead. Afterwards, they marched to Tahrir Square - where they have been joined by supporters of their arch-rivals, Zamalek.

There are several thousand young men at the latest protests in central Cairo. It appears families have stayed away for fear of violence.

On the side streets behind the interior ministry, clouds of tear gas can be seen. There is a constant din from the sirens of ambulances heading to the scene to remove the injured.

Anger is directed at the ruling generals. Cries go up of "the people demand the removal of the marshal" - a reference to Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, who heads the ruling military council. Demonstrators want a faster transfer to civilian rule. Wider Egyptian society worries about the continuing state of insecurity and some people believe that protests like this one are not helping.

The latest bout of unrest began on Wednesday, after a pitch invasion in Port Said, when Cairo's visiting al-Ahly side were attacked after losing to the local al-Masry side. Seventy-four people died and more than 1,000 were injured.

Most of the dead were believed to be al-Ahly supporters. Hardcore fans - known as "ultras" - have accused the authorities of allowing the killings to happen.

They say the authorities wanted revenge because the ultras were among those battling the police during last year's revolution that ousted strongman leader Hosni Mubarak.

Anger over the deaths has combined with widespread frustration at the pace of reforms undertaken by Egypt's interim military rulers.

On Thursday, about 10,000 protesters clashed with police outside the interior ministry in Cairo. More than 1,000 were injured, the health ministry said.

Some 54 police officers and soldiers were also reported hurt.

Spreading unrest

By Thursday night, the unrest had spread across the country. Two people were shot dead in Suez as a crowd of hundreds attempted to overrun a police station.

On Friday, protests resumed outside the interior ministry, where at least one protester was reported dead. A soldier also died from injuries sustained on Thursday, state media said.

The demonstrators say they do not want to storm the ministry, but to hold a sit-in in front of it, the Associated Press reports.

One of the demonstrators, who gave his name as Ahmed, told the BBC: "We need to remain peaceful, and right now we can't.

"If people go to the interior ministry, they are attacked by security forces. The protesters are peaceful; they aren't attacking anyone, but we can't win like this," he said.

In Alexandria, a protest march headed for the regional offices of the military government.

Protester Wael Nawara told the BBC's Network Africa programme that many middle-ranking officers loyal to the former president were still in charge at the ministry and were "conspiring against revolution".

"There have been many calls throughout the last few months of restructuring the ministry of interior to bring the officers who are responsible for earlier deaths to trial, but nothing really has changed much in the behaviour of the ministry," he said.

The government has dismissed several senior officials in response to the football deaths.

Port Said's director of security and the head of investigations were suspended and are now in custody.

Libyan diplomat Omar Brebesh dies 'under torture'

 Mr Brebesh was detained on 19 January after being called in for questioning by a militia in Tripoli

Libya's former ambassador to France has died less than 24 hours after being arrested by Tripoli-based militia, a US-based human rights group has said.

Human Rights Watch said marks on Omar Brebesh's body suggest he died as a result of torture under detention.

Mr Brebesh served under former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who was toppled after a nine-month civil war last year.

The country's interim government is under mounting pressure to prevent the abuse of thousands in custody.

Mr Brebesh was detained on 19 January after being called in for questioning by al-Shuhada Ashura militia in Tripoli, Human Rights Watch quote his son, Ziad, as saying.

A day later, his family heard his body had turned up at a hospital in Zintan, about 100km (60 miles) southwest of the capital, the rights group said.

"Photos of Brebesh's body, seen by Human Rights Watch, show welts, cuts and the apparent removal of toenails, indicating that he was tortured prior to death," the group said in a statement.