By Connor Molloy and Rana Muhammad Taha
The United States is no longer interested in resolution efforts on Syria that include Iran and will put pressure behind a multilateral response through international bodies, United States State department officials told the Daily News Egypt.
Daniel Ernst, director and Arabic language spokesperson for the US Department of State, told the Daily News Egypt that the US is “focused on working with those in the international community who want to play a productive role in resolving the situation in Syria.” Ernst said there was frustration with Iran, which is a Syrian ally.
“So far, Iran has not proven to the international community that it is willing to play a constructive role in the region, whether through its destabilising activities, its continuous disregard of its international obligations regarding uranium enrichment, or through its support for the Syrian regime,” Ernst said.
The US will now possibly review two different draft resolutions being prepared for a vote at the United Nations Security Council for a resolution on the conflict in Syria today. The Security Council has so far been unable to consistently speak with a unified voice but will need to vote in a special session today despite the member countries differences.
The first draft propositioned by the United Kingdom demanded that Syria’s ruling authorities include a transitional government with full executive power that would include representatives from both sides of the conflict. The UK draft delineates the creation of a new and popularly approved constitution, and the holding of new elections. The resolution also demands the cessation of heavy weapons used in populated areas and the pullback of Syrian army from such areas. The main sticking point of the British draft is that it threatens the use of Article 41 from the UN’s charter.
If Assad fails to adhere to the above demands, the Security Council could respond with the “complete or partial interruption of economic relations and of rail, sea, air, postal, telegraphic, radio, and other means of communication, and the severance of diplomatic relations.”
A Russian resolution is less harsh in tone regarding the abuses committed by the Syrian regime. The Russian resolution condemns human rights abuses by both sides in the conflict, but the language is much less critical of the violence committed by the Syrian regime.
Both drafts express “profound regret at the death of many thousands of people in Syria,” but the British draft goes further, condemning the use of government-run detention centres, highlighting that the Syrian people are denied the freedom to assemble. The British resolution also attacks Syrian government for its “increasing use of heavy weapons, including indiscriminate shelling from tanks and helicopters, in population centres and failure to withdraw its troops and heavy weapons to their barracks.”
The Russian resolution makes no mention of Article 41. Russian Representative to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, described the British draft resolution to reporters as, “a stepping stone for foreign military intervention.” He refused to take part in private Security Council discussions on Monday.
Meanwhile in Syria, fighting in Damascus entered its third day. Reports have emerged of helicopter gunships circling the capital and armoured trucks and tanks encircling rebel forces in the neighborhoods of Kfar Souseh, Nahr Aisha, Midan and Qadam.
