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Syria calls for Arab summit after UN resolution
DAMASCUS - Syria called for an emergency Arab League summit in a bid on Monday to rally regional support in the face of stern UN Security Council action that would force greater cooperation from Damascus in the probe of the assassination of a former Lebanese prime minister.But Arab diplomats, already hedging against a lack of broad support for a summit of all 22 members, suggested a smaller gathering of Syria, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Lebanon and Egypt might be organized should others decline out of concern over harming ties to the UN resolutionâs prime sponsors - the United States, France and Britain. Speaking at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, the diplomats said Secretary-General Amr Moussa had sent a special envoy to Gulf countries informing them of the Syrian request. The diplomats, who were not authorized to speak for publication, said Syria hoped for the meeting after Eid. Anti-Syrian Lebanese political leader Walid Jumblatt, meanwhile, warned that Damascus could face chaos and instability like that now roiling Iraq should Assad fail to cooperate with the UN probe into the Feb. 14 assassination of Minister Rafik Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister who was killed along with 20 other people in a huge bombing on a Beirut street. âIf (he) acts like Saddam did, yes, we are heading to a situation similar to what happened in Iraq,â Jumblatt said in an interview with the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya satellite television channel late Sunday. âBut if he acts in order to preserve Syriaâs national unity and Syriaâs interest before (serving) the brother-in-law, a brother or anyone, he can save Syria.â Jumblatt was referring to Assadâs brother, Maher Assad, and his brother-in-law, Assef Shawkat, the chief of military intelligence, whose names were listed in an initial report submitted by UN investigator Detlev Mehlis on Oct. 28. The Syrian media maintained the drumbeat against UN action on Monday, with the English-language Syria Times saying the resolution as drafted was âopenly politicisedâ and too heavily influenced by the United States. âItâs immoral and totally unacceptable that the will of the (international) community remains captive to a unilateral diktat and ... accepts tyranny and hegemony,â the paper said. Tishrin, another government newspaper, criticized the proposed UN document as âtough and unbalancedâ and urged the Security Council to adopt âa balanced and objectiveâ resolution âthat would not be a clear translation of the US administrationâs will.â Al Thawra daily said the United States wants Syria to âbe stripped of its skin, abandon its regional and national role and be turned into a marginal state that carries out orders,â the paper said. Posted by: Steve 2005-10-31 |
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