The UN security council has united behind Kofi Annan's peace plan for Syria. Photograph: Denis Balibouse/REUTERS
All 15 council members unite to throw weight behind Kofi Annan’s peace plan in rare show of global unity
Reuters March 21, 2012
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/21/syria-un-security-council-peace-russia-china
The UN security council, including Russia and China, on Wednesday threw its weight behind efforts by Kofi Annan to end the bloody conflict in Syria, providing a rare moment of global unity in the face of the year-long crisis.
In a statement approved by all 15 members, the council threatened Syria with unspecified “further steps” if it failed to comply with Annan’s peace plan, which calls for a ceasefire and demands swift access for aid agencies.
Although the original statement was diluted at Russia’s demand, editing out any specific ultimatums, the fact that all major powers signed up to the proposal represented a major blow to President Bashar al-Assad as he battles a popular uprising.
US secretary of state Hillary 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.”
At least 8,000 people have died in the revolt, according to the UN. Violence has intensified in recent weeks as pro-government forces bombard rebel towns and villages, looking to sweep their lightly-armed opponents out of their strongholds.
Syria lies in a pivotal position at the heart of a web of regional conflicts in the Middle East, comprising a mix of faiths, sects and ethnic groups, and diplomats fear the rebellion is degenerating into a full-blown civil war.
Assad’s forces have chalked up a string of gains as they turned their firepower on areas held by rebels. But the fighting shows no sign of abating and analysts expect the insurgents to change their tactics and adopt guerrilla warfare.
Opposition activists said the army used tanks, artillery and anti-aircraft guns on the Damascus suburbs of Harasta and Irbin early on Wednesday, which were retaken from rebels two months ago but have seen renewed insurgency in recent days. Elsewhere the army fired mortars into the Khalidiya district of Homs, while artillery targeted the rebel town of Rastan, north of Homs city, in central Syria. Video also showed shelling of the ancient Apamea castle at Qalat Mudiq, near Hama.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said two people died in the southern city of Deraa when the army opened fire after a bomb had hit a military convoy, killing two soldiers. It added that two girls died in gunfire in Qalat Mudiq.The official Syrian news agency Sana reported the funerals of seven security force members killed in the fighting.
Reports from Syria cannot be independently verified because officials have barred access to rights groups and journalists.
Russia and China have vetoed two previous UN draft resolutions that would have condemned Damascus and have resisted calls from western and Arab states for Assad to stand down. But faced with global outrage, the two countries agreed to a so-called “presidential statement”. They are generally non-binding documents but do require unanimous support in the security council.
Russia praised the document as pragmatic. “The most important thing is that there are no ultimatums … and no suggestions as to who carries more blame,” foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in Berlin.
The accord came a few days after Annan, a former UN secretary general, told the security council that Syria’s response to his plans for peace were disappointing and he urged the international community to lay aside its divisions.
His proposal, spelled out in the UN statement, tells Damascus to cease troop movements in population centres and end the use of heavy weapons in such areas.
It also calls for the government and opposition to hold talks to secure a peaceful settlement.
Assad has not rejected the proposals but has challenged their feasibility and asked who can speak for the splintered opposition.
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