U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and U.S. Ambassador John Bolton clashed with one another on Tuesday over whether Syria was cooperating with the U.N. Security Council in implementing recent resolutions. The question is key as the council a little over a week ago unanimously approved a new resolution ordering Syria to cooperate fully with a U.N. investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri or face possible unspecified "further action." Following that October 31 vote, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the measure "made it clear that failure to comply with these demands will lead to serious consequences from the international community."Tuesday's verbal clash began when Annan, in Cairo for a meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, told reporters Damascus "has had a good record" in implementing Security Council resolutions. Bolton, asked in New York about Annan's statement, said Syria's performance in carrying out council resolutions had ranged from "very lacking" to "substantially lacking."
Look for more tears shed by Senator George Voinovich on the Senate floor.
Asked whether Annan's words were helpful to the council, Bolton responded: "I think I will not comment on his comment."
The 15-nation council has passed a number of resolutions in the past 14 months dealing with Syria's domination of neighboring Lebanon and with Hariri's February 14 assassination. A resolution adopted September 2, 2004, demanded the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Lebanon, a disbanding of all militias in Lebanon and an end to Syrian meddling in Lebanon. A second, approved April 7, 2005, authorized an international investigation into Hariri's murder.
Following the September 2004 resolution, Syria withdrew its forces from Lebanese soil and Lebanon held parliamentary elections free of Syrian interference. Acting on the April 2005 text, Detlev Mehlis, who heads the U.N. inquiry into Hariri's death, accused the Syrian authorities last month of obstructing his work and said the killing could not have been plotted without the knowledge of Syrian security officials and their Lebanese allies. Annan, in Cairo, said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had assured him of Syria's intention to cooperate with Mehlis and praised Syrian implementation of the September 2004 measure.