UN Chief Discourages Further Militarization of Syria Conflict

UNITED NATIONS — U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is urging a political solution to the crisis in Syria, saying Tuesday that military force is legal only when it is in self-defense or is authorized by the U.N. Security Council.

The U.N. chief is headed to the G20 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, where Syria is certain to top the agenda.

Before departing, he told reporters he appreciates that U.S. President Barack Obama is consulting his Congress before launching any military strikes on Syria, following a suspected chemical weapons attack on August 21 near Damascus that killed hundreds of people. Ban added that he hopes any action is handled in accordance with the United Nations Charter.

“The use of force is lawful only when in exercise of self-defense in accordance with Article 51 of the United Nations Charter and/or when the Security Council approves such action. That is the firm principle of the United Nations,” said Ban.

Ban said that if confirmed, any use of chemical weapons “by anyone, under any circumstances” would be an “outrageous war crime.”

While he said there should be no impunity, he also called for nations to consider the impact of any punitive measures and said further militarization of the Syria conflict should be avoided.

He said the turmoil in Syria and across the region “serves nobody” and he appealed for renewed efforts to convene a political conference in Geneva as soon as possible.

A U.N. team of scientific experts has just returned from Syria and Ban said the biomedical and environmental samples they have collected would be at laboratories by Wednesday for analysis.

The team, which spent two weeks in Syria, is mandated with determining whether chemical weapons were used in Syria, but not by whom. The focus of the investigation shifted from earlier allegations of chemical weapons use to the suspected gas attack at Ghouta near the capital August 21.

Comments

Why States Still Use Barrel Bombs

Smoke ascends after a Syrian military helicopter allegedly dropped a barrel bomb over the city of Daraya on Jan. 31.(FADI DIRANI/AFP/Getty Images) Summary Barrel bombs are not especially effective weapons. They are often poorly constructed; they fail to detonate more often than other devices constructed for a similar purpose; and their lack of precision means they can have a disproportionate effect on civilian populations. However, combatants continue to use barrel bombs in conflicts, including in recent and ongoing conflicts in Africa and the Middle East, and they are ideally suited to the requirements of resource-poor states. Analysis Barrel bombs are improvised devices that contain explosive filling and shrapnel packed into a container, often in a cylindrical shape such as a barrel. The devices continue to be dropped on towns all over Syria . Indeed, there have been several documented cases of their use in Iraq over the past months, and residents of the city of Mosul, which was re

Russia Looks East for New Oil Markets

Click to Enlarge In the final years of the Soviet Union, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev began orienting his foreign policy toward Asia in response to a rising Japan. Putin has also piloted a much-touted pivot to Asia, coinciding with renewed U.S. interest in the area. A good expression of intent was Russia's hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in 2012 in Vladivostok, near Russia's borders with China and North Korea. Although its efforts in Asia have been limited by more direct interests in Russia's periphery and in Europe, Moscow recently has been able to look more to the east. Part of this renewed interest involves finding new export markets for Russian hydrocarbons. Russia's economy relies on energy exports, particularly crude oil and natural gas exported via pipeline to the West. However, Western Europe is diversifying its energy sources as new supplies come online out of a desire to reduce its dependence on Russian energy supplies . This has

LONDON POLICE INDIRECTLY ENCOURAGE CRIMINALS TO ATTACK RUSSIAN DIPLOMATIC PROPERTY

ILLUSTRATIVE IMAGE A few days ago an unknown perpetrator trespassed on the territory of the Russian Trade Delegation in London, causing damage to the property and the vehicles belonging to the trade delegation , Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said during the September 12 press briefing. The diplomat revealed the response by the London police was discouraging. Police told that the case does not have any prospects and is likely to be closed. This was made despite the fact that the British law enforcement was provided with video surveillance tapes and detailed information shedding light on the incident. By this byehavior, British law inforcements indirectly encourage criminals to continue attacks on Russian diplomatic property in the UK. Zakharova’s statement on “Trespassing on the Russian Trade Mission premises in London” ( source ): During our briefings, we have repeatedly discussed compliance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, specif

ISDEI Instituto de Seguridad, Defensa y Estudios Internacionales

Search This Blog