Roundup: UN resolution on Syria draws mixed reactions
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E-mail Xinhua, August 4, 2012
BEIJING, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- A UN General Assembly resolution on Syria adopted Friday met with mixed reactions from the international community, which had diverging views days before it was put to a vote.
Wang Min, China's deputy permanent UN representative, said that putting pressure only on one party would not help resolve the Syrian issue and would instead derail the issue from the track of a political settlement.
"What has happened proves that imposition of pressure only on one party will not help resolve the Syrian issue. On the contrary, it will only derail the political settlement of the issue, cause further escalation of the turmoil, and let the crisis spill over to other countries in the region, thus jeopardizing regional peace and stability," Wang said after voting against the resolution, which is not legally binding.
The resolution condemns the Syrian authorities' increasing use of heavy weapons as well as continued widespread and systematic gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Drafted by Saudi Arabia with support from other Arab nations, it received 133 votes in favor, 12 against and 31 abstentions
"China opposes and condemns all forms of terrorism and violence against innocent civilians. We urge all parties concerned in Syria to immediately and completely cease violence and create conditions for a political settlement to the crisis," the Chinese envoy said.
Wang also said the Syrian issue must be resolved through political means, stressing that military means would go nowhere.
In Moscow, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and his visiting Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, reiterated their countries' principled position that the Syrian crisis must be settled free of foreign intervention.
Both sides also urged an end to violence in Syria, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"The two sides highlighted the necessity to stop bloodshed and violence in that country, whatever it originates from, with no delay to settle the intra-Syria problems by the Syrians themselves with no outside involvement," the statement said.
The two diplomats also urged "consolidated international efforts" for a peaceful settlement of the 17-month Syrian crisis based on a peace plan by UN-Arab League joint special envoy Kofi Annan, who announced his resignation Thursday, and the Geneva agreements that envisage a Syrian-led transition, the ministry said.
Friday's meeting was initiated by Amir-Abdollahian, who said Iran "condemns foreign intervention" in the Syrian crisis.
"We believe the situation in Syria cannot be settled by military means. The settlement must be political," he added.
The Iranian diplomat also regretted that "some countries" attempted to undermine Annan's six-point peace plan.
Also on Friday, the Russian Defense Ministry said Russian warships have no plan to call at the Syrian port of Tartus, but do not rule out such a possibility,
"In case the time of the flotilla's mission is expanded, the group's command has a full right to top up the stocks by using the material-technical support base at Tartus, which is designed for that purpose," the ministry said in a statement.
"The command will plan re-supplying the ships' stocks either via support vessels or via the support base in Tartus," the statement said.
Currently, there are some 10 Russian warships, including large landing ships, and auxiliary vessels in the Mediterranean Sea to perform combat training missions.
According to the ministry, three more Russian warships are to joint the group in the next few days.
Meanwhile, countries including Britain and France welcomed the UN General Assembly resolution on Syria.
"The international community has demanded that the Syrian regime take the first steps to end the ever increasing violence and has called for all parties to implement the United Nations' and Arab League's political transition plan," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said in London.
In Paris, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said the resolution, "for which France was strongly mobilized," reaffirms the international community's commitment to seeking a credible way out of the crisis in Syria.
He reiterated France's support of diplomatic moves to end bloody clashes in the Arab country. Enditem
