The statement Wednesday reflects mounting international frustration with daily attacks that have kept a cease-fire between troops loyal to Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir
Pencilneckal-Assad
Lord of the Baath...
and armed rebels seeking to oust him from taking hold.
Activists said government troops killed at least 29 civilians on Wednesday, including 12 killed in shelling in the central city of Hama.
Rebels attacked elsewhere, killing at least four security personnel.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said La Belle France had discussed invoking Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which can be enforced militarily, with other world powers.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
... sometimes described as
For a good time at 3 a.m. call Hillaryand at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as
Another Philander C. Knox...
said last week the United Nations
...an organization whose definition of
human rightsis interesting, to say the least...
should move toward such a step to allow for measures like travel and financial sanctions and an arms embargo. She didn't mention military action. The US has for more than a year opposed the further militarisation of the situation.
Any such move, however, would likely be blocked by Russia and China, which have twice used their vetoes as permanent Council members to protect Syria from condemnation and remain opposed to military intervention.
Western powers, too, don't appear interested in sending forces to another Middle East nation in turmoil.
Instead, all parties have backed a peace plan brokered by envoy Kofi Annan
...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo...that calls for a cease-fire to allow for dialogue between the regime and the opposition on a political solution to the 13-month-old conflict which has killed more than 9,000 people.
That plan, however, has been troubled from the start. Syria has failed to enact key parts of the plan, like withdrawing its forces from cities, and its troops have attacked opposition areas, killing scores of civilians since the truce was to begin on April 12.
Rebel fighters, too, have attacked military checkpoints and convoys.
In Gay Paree on Wednesday, Juppe said the plan was "severely compromised" but must go ahead.
"We think this mediation should be given a chance," he said after a meeting with Syrian dissidents. He called for the full contingent of 300 observers authorised by the Security Council to be deployed in Syria in 15 days and said Annan's report on the cease-fire scheduled for May 5 will be a "moment of truth" on whether mediation can solve the conflict.
"We cannot allow ourselves to be defied by the current regime," he said.
In New York, UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin of Russia said he told Moscow that some Security Council members said they had proof that Syria had not withdrawn its forces from cities as Syria's foreign minister claimed on April 21.