LITTLE ROCK — Overcoming months of division, the U.N. Security Council delivered a diplomatic setback to President Bashar Assad of Syria on Wednesday, unanimously embracing efforts by Kofi Annan, the former secretary-general, to negotiate a cease-fire in the year-old Syria conflict, funnel aid to victims and begin a political transition in the country.
In a diplomatic document known as a presidential statement that was read out in a formal session, the 15-member council expressed its “gravest concern at the deteriorating situation in Syria, which has resulted in a serious human-rights crisis and a deplorable humanitarian situation.”
A presidential statement, which needs approv-al from all council members, becomes part of the council’s permanent record. It is stronger than a press statement, which does not. But unlike resolutions, neither statement is legally binding.
Russia and China, which used their vetoes on the council to block past efforts to adopt a resolution on the Syrian conflict, agreed to the statement.
It endorsed a plan by Annan, publicly revealed in detail for the first time, that he had presented to Assad in meetings earlier this month as the special representative of both the United Nations and the Arab League.
The statement said Annan’s plan would “facilitate a Syrian-led political transition to a democratic, plural political system, in which citizens are equal regardless of their affiliations or ethnicities or beliefs, including through commencing a comprehensive political dialogue between the Syrian government and the whole spectrum of the Syrian opposition.”
The plan, which closely resembles an Arab League proposal that Assad has rejected, calls for all combatants to immediately stop fighting, for the military to withdraw from populated areas, for a U.N.-supervised truce and for the provision of humanitarian assistance, the release of all arbitrarily detained persons, freedom of movement for journalists and freedom for peaceful demonstrations. It warns of unspecified “further steps” if Annan’s plan is not carriedout.
The statement does not have the enforcement muscle of a formal Security Council resolution, but it reflected some significant diplomatic bridging of disagreements that had principally pitted Western and Arab countries against Russia, which has been Assad’s most important supporter.
Russia’s endorsement of the statement is a blow to Assad, who has consistently refused to negotiate with his political opponents and characterized the uprising asa terrorist crime wave. More than 8,000 people have been killed and thousands more have been displaced in Syria since protests against his autocratic rule first began in March 2011.
Russia and China had called the earlier resolutions unbalanced, saying they blamed only the Syrian government and demanded an end to government attacks, not ones by the opposition. Moscow also argued that the resolutions promoted regime change in Syria and expressed fear of outside intervention to support the rebels, as happened in Libya.
There was no immediate reaction from Assad himself. But the state-run Syria Arab News Agency, in a brief dispatch on the Security Council’s action, emphasized that the statement satisfied Russia’s insistence that it contain no “final ultimatums, threats or try to solve the problem through proposing unilateral demands.”
The United States, which had previously blamed Russia for obstructing the Security Council’s ability to reach an agreement on Syria, praised the statement. “ It’sis a positive step. The council has now spoken with one voice,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in Washington. “To President Assad and his regime we say, along with the rest of the international community: Take this path, commit to it, or face increasing pressure and isolation.”
She called on the Syrian military to refuse orders to fire on its fellow citizens, and on business leaders still supporting Assad to back Annan’s mission.
Annan’s spokesman, Ahmad Fawzi, also expressed gratitude, saying in a statement that Annan was “encouraged by the united support of the Security Council and urges the Syrian authorities to respond positively.”
Annan’s proposal would require the Syrian government to immediately stop troop movements and halt the use of heavy weapons inpopulated areas. As these actions are taking place, it says, the government should work with Annan to bring about a halt to violence, under U.N. supervision.
It says Annan should seek similar commitments fromthe opposition, with no mention of a time frame.
Annan met twice with Assad on March 10-11 and has sent a team to Damascus to discuss implementation of his proposal.
Germany’s U.N. Ambassador Peter Wittig expressed hope that the statement “will change the dynamic on the ground.”
“This is a newly found unity of the council which we welcome after this rather sad track record of the two double-vetoes in the past, and it shows nobody can really have an interest of mayhem in the region,” Wittig said.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who has called the Syrian crisis the most serious issue facing the world, gave strong backing to the council statement and called on the Syrian government and opposition “to work in good faith” with Annan, U.N. deputy spokesman Eduardo del Buey said.
Speaking to reporters after the Security Council session, Russia’s ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, sought to frame its unanimous action as a vindication of Russia’sposition, partly because it does not explicitly call for Assad to step down, contains no ultimatums and ascribes responsibility for the conflict to all combatants - not just Assad.
“We are very pleased,” he said. “The Security Council has finally chosen to take a pragmatic look at the situation in Syria.”
Churkin said the intent was to “end the violence as quickly as possible. It exactly corresponds to what we’ve been advocating at the council since the outset of the crisis.”
The Security Council also issued a press statement, which Russia had proposed, that condemned the bombing attacks on Syrian government targets in Damascus and Aleppo in recent days, which Assad has blamed on his opponents. The press statement describes thoseattacks as terrorism.
VIOLENCE FLARES
The “extremely dangerous” conflict in Syria could have global repercussions, Ban said Wednesday, as fresh violence broke out and an al-Qaida-inspired group claimed responsibility for two suicide bombings in Damascus.
Because of Syria’s close alliances with Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, there are deep concerns that the violence could spread beyond the country’s borders, especially if other nations arm the rebels or send in their own troops.
During the U.N. Security Council committee meeting Wednesday, the United States, Britain and France accused Iran of smuggling weapons to Syria to help put down the uprising.
“We do not know how events will unfold,” Ban said during a speech in the Indonesian capital, Jakarta. “But we do know that we all have a responsibility to work for a resolution of this profound and extremely dangerous crisis ... that has potentially massive repercussions for the region and the world.”
Syrian activists reported shelling by government in forces in hot spots including the central province of Homs, and fighting betweenarmy defectors and soldiers in Damascus suburbs.
Large-scale bombings near government security buildings in the capital, Damascus, and the northern city of Aleppo have added a new and increasingly deadly element to the revolt.
U.S. intelligence officials have pointed to al-Qaida-in-Iraq as the likely culprit, raising the possibility its fighters are infiltrating across the border to take advantage of the turmoil.
In a statement posted Wednesday on a militant website, an Islamist group called the Al-Nusra Front to Protect the Levant claimed responsibility for twin suicide bombings in Damascus on Saturday. The blasts, which targeted the air force intelligence building and the criminal security department, killed at least 27 people, the state-run news agency said.
“It’s looking more and more like Al-Nusra is just a front for [al-Qaida-in-Iraq] in Syria,” a U.S. official said Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss matters of intelligence.
The Associated Press could not verify the authenticity of Wednesday’s Al-Nusra statement, which said the attacks were in retaliation for the Syrian regime’s shelling of residential areas in opposition strongholds in Homs, Idlib, Hama and Daraa.
“We tell the [Syrian] regime to stop the massacres against the Sunnis, otherwise, you will bear the sin of the Alawites,” the Al-Nusra Front said. “What is coming is more bitter and painful, with God’s will.”Information for this article was contributed by Rick Gladstone of The New York Times and by Edith M. Lederer, Peter James Spielmann, Geir Moulson, Bradley Klapper, Elizabeth A. Kennedy, Niniek Karmini, Maamoun Youssef, Kimberly Dozier and Malcolm Foster of The Associated Press.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 03/22/2012