France criticises UN over Syria violence

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Source: Aljazeera


Friday's protests were dedicated to calling for foreign intervention for the first time since the uprising began

Alain Juppe, France's foreign minister, has stepped up pressure on veto-wielding Russia to support a UN Security Council resolution against the Syrian government's violent crackdown on protests. Speaking during a visit to Australia on Sunday, Juppe said the UN's failure to condemn the actions of Syrian security forces against anti-government protesters was a "scandal".

The developments come after Nabil el-Araby, the head of the Arab League, said he had reached an agreement on reforms with Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, during talks in Damascus on Saturday. They also followed Friday protests which activists dedicated to calling for international protection from security forces for the first time since the uprising began in March.

Syrian opposition representatives visited Moscow on Friday to press the Russian government to do more to support Syrian protesters. "The incomprehensible and contradictory position of the Russian leadership on what is happening in Syria could hurt Russia's image in the future," Ammar al-Qurabi, head of the Syrian opposition delegation, told a news conference.

Al-Qurabi's comments made clear that Russia, a close ally of Syria's ruling Baath party with a naval maintenance facility in the country and a major arms contracts with the government, risks losing influence and potentially lucrative business deals in Syria if Assad is toppled.

Read more: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/09/201191173155703680.html

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1. Aljazeera: Russia rejects more UN pressure on Syria

Russia has rejected Western calls for greater pressure on Syria over its violent crackdown on protests against President Bashar al-Assad, in which the United Nations said 2,600 people have been killed.

On Monday, a day after France described the lack of a firm UN stance against Damascus as a "scandal", Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, said recent US and European sanctions on Syria meant "additional pressure now is absolutely not needed in this direction".

Separately on Monday, activists said Syrian troops have carried out deadly raids around the city of Hama began after security forces cut all roads leading to the area along with electricity and telephone lines. The activist network called the Local Coordination Committees said there were civilian casualties but the exact number was not immediately clear. Al Jazeera sources claimed 11 people have been killed in various areas in the last 24 hours.

Russia and China, veto-wielding members of the United Nations Security Council, have resisted efforts by Washington and its European allies to increase the international response to Syria's repression of nearly six months of protests.

http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2011/09/201191210248647960.html