UN Council members endorse Annan's Syria mission UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (L) speaks at a UN Security Council meeting on the s...

UN Council members endorse Annan's Syria mission

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (L) speaks at a UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East at the headquarters of UN, New York, the United States, March 12, 2012. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)

UNITED NATIONS, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Members of the UN Security Council in a ministerial-level meeting on Monday overwhelmingly endorsed efforts by the joint UN and Arab League special envoy for Syria, Kofi Annan, to end the violence and bloodshed in Syria.

Annan, former UN secretary-general, was appointed last month to that position by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Arab League Secretary-General Nabil al-Araby.

Annan had two meetings with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad over the weekend. Annan said that he left a series of proposals with Assad on ending the violence.

The Council meeting was called by this month's president of the panel of 15, Britain, and was presided over by its Foreign Secretary William Hague.

But Ban led off the list of speakers.

The secretary-general said that his predecessor also addressed the humanitarian crisis and called on Assad to join in an inclusive, Syrian-led political process.

"I appeal to the Security Council to unite strongly behind ending the violence and supporting Annan's mission to help Syria pull back from the brink of a deeper catastrophe," Ban said.

He commended the individual efforts of China and Russia, but added that from now "It will be essential for the Council to speak with one voice," something Annan also advocates.

Both Beijing and Moscow vetoed on Feb. 4 the latest proposed Council resolution which would have asked President al-Assad to step down on the ground of its opposition to any foreign interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign nation -- a long-standing policy of both nations.

They defended their positions during the meeting but endorsed Annan's mission.

Hague took advantage of his position and spoke first after the secretary-general, an unusual turn since the presidency usual waits until last before speaking in its national capacity.

The Arab Spring "raises the prospect of the greatest enlargement of human freedom since the end of the Cold War and of a Middle East that in 20 years' time could be made up of open, prosperous and stable societies," he said, but adding that if the scenario included peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

Hague echoed the Beijing and Moscow line of non-interference saying, "We cannot dictate change from the outside."

"There is no one model of democracy and so it is for the people of each country in the region to determine their future in accordance with their different cultures, traditions and political systems," the foreign secretary said.

For her part, U.S. Secretary of state Hillary Clinton said, " The international community should say with one voice -- without hesitation or caveat -- that the killings of innocent Syrians must stop and a political transition must begin."

Li Baodong, Chinese permanent representative to the United Nations, said that his country "has no selfish interests in the Syrian issue. We do not shield anyone, or intentionally oppose anyone."

Reiterating Beijing's position of non-interference, he said, " No external forces should interfere in Syria by force, or push for 'regime change.'"

Li said that China supports the UN in playing a leading role, in coordinating humanitarian relief efforts and helping to improve the humanitarian situation, adding, "China will provide 2 million U.S. dollars in emergency humanitarian aid to the Syrian people through the International Committee of the Red Cross."

He vowed China would fulfill its UN obligations, and "engage in equal-footed, patient and full consultations with other parties to push for an early political solution of the Syrian crisis."

Also speaking at the Security Council, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, "Making hasty demands for regime change, imposing unilateral sanctions designed to trigger economic difficulties and social tensions in the country, inducing the opposition to continue its confrontation with authorities instead of promoting dialogue, making calls to support armed confrontation and even to foreign military intervention .. are risky recipes of 'geopolitical engineering' that can only result in the spread of conflict."

"There is no doubt whatsoever that the Syrian authorities bear a huge share of responsibility for the current situation," he said. "But no one can ignore the fact that for a long time now they've been fighting not unarmed men, but combat units, such as the so- called Free Syrian Army and extremist groups including al-Qaeda which have lately committed a series of murderous terrorist acts."

Al-Assad has long said that the nearly a year violence resulted from insurgents or foreign "terrorists" rather than by Syrians.

Lavrov, who recently visited Damascus, met with the Arab league two days ago and said that there was an agreement to "ending the violence from all sources; two, Impartial monitoring mechanism; three, No outside interference; four, Unimpeded access for humanitarian assistance to all Syrians (and) five, Strong support for Kofi Annan's mission to launch political dialogue between the government and all opposition groups as mandated by the terms of reference endorsed by the UN secretary-general and the Arab League. "

by William M. Reilly