United States and the United Nations are markedly split on the issue of a military strike on Syria as the G-20 summit ended over the weekend, even as the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon seeks a diplomatic solution, or, if need be, an international response based only on a Security Council approval.
While President Barack Obama of the US, the country with the highest level of funding for the UN, and its main host is packaging a military strike, and seeking some international support at the G20 meeting, the UN Secretary-General is on the contrary side saying “I must warn that ill-considered military action could cause serious and tragic consequences, and with an increased threat of further sectarian violence.”
Syria’s government has been accused of using chemical weapons last month in that nation’s prolonged civil war causing the US’s plan to strike the crisis-ridden mid-eastern country as a deterrence on future use of chemical weapons already outlawed by international statute.
Informed sources say the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon would have loved an opportunity to have a one-on-one bilateral meeting with the US President at the summit, which ended on Friday, but the closest he got to Obama was a very short chat, on their feet in-between sessions, while both leaders were waiting to proceed to another session.
On the contrary, the Americans were said to be unwilling and not keen for a one-on-one bilateral between the US President and the UN leader at the G20 summit in St. Petersburg.
It was not clear last night if the White House actually turned down Secretary-General Ban’s request for a bilateral with Obama, but UN press statements on the Secretary-General’s bilateral meeting did not indicate a meeting between Ban and Obama in Russia.
But giving life to the perception at the UN, that the US was no longer interested in the UN in its plan to bomb Syria, the new United States Ambassador to the UN, Ms Samantha Power, had told reporters on Thursday that the US had given up hope of a UN Security Council resolution authorising the intended America strike.
“I was present in the meeting where the UK laid down the resolution, and everything in that meeting, in word and in body language, suggests that resolution has no prospect of being adopted, by Russia in particular,” Power told reporters.
“Our considered view, after months of efforts on chemical weapons and after two and half years of efforts on Geneva (peace talks), the humanitarian situation is that there is no viable path forward in this Security Council,” she said.
While Ban did not get the chance to hold a sideline bilateral with US President Obama in St. Petersburg, he kept his call over the weekend to world leaders, urging them to explore ways to avoid further militarisation of the conflict in Syria and to revitalize the search for a political settlement, warning that “tragic consequences” could follow military action.
While he did not meet Obama, Mr. Ban met with French President Francois Hollande, accompanied by the Joint Special Representative of the UN-Arab League for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, and the Foreign Minister of France, Laurent Fabius. They discussed the situation in Syria, including the UN chemical weapons investigation. Mr. Brahimi also briefed on efforts to convene the Geneva conference.
Ban also met with German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Another foreign head of State that the UN Secretary-General met on the sidelines of the G20 summit was the President of the Republic of Korea, Park Geun-hye.
Ban said the international community must renew efforts to convene the Geneva conference, which would bring all parties to the negotiating table regarding Syria. He added that a viable political outcome would see the full implementation of the Geneva Communiqué.
The Secretary-General also appealed to world leaders to increase support for humanitarian operations in Syria and in its neighbouring countries, which are hosting more than two million refugees. He noted that relief operations inside the country are only 44 per cent funded, while the refugee appeal is funded at only 40 per cent.
“No one could have imagined two years ago that Syria would end up in this unending misery. UN staff on the ground report palpable fear as the population fears imminent acceleration and deepening of the conflict,” Mr. Ban said.
“This is a humanitarian crisis of unprecedented proportions in recent history. The world must do everything within its powers to stop the suffering of the Syrian people.”
Despite the difficult conditions on the ground and the limitations to reach all the population in need, UN agencies will remain inside the country to deliver assistance, Mr. Ban said. “Millions are being assisted on a monthly basis and the UN is working hard to ensure equitable distribution on the basis of need, irrespective of whether it is Government or opposition controlled territories.”
A UN press release, yesterday, stated that UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, Valerie Amos, was in Syria looking at ways of strengthening the Organisation’s humanitarian efforts and to support its staff.
Ban said she has had positive meeting with Syrian authorities and humanitarian partners that would hopefully simplify procedures such as obtaining visas for humanitarian workers.
“Relief agencies must be able to reach people in need, wherever they are. We must do more to impress upon all parties their international humanitarian law obligations to protect civilians,” he said.
Source: Guardian
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