Syria’s Crackdown Puts Lebanon in Critical Situation at Security Council
Lebanon is facing a critical situation at the U.N. Security Council concerning the developments in Syria since it represents Arab countries especially if it had to object on the presidential statement of the Council.
A high-ranking source in the March 14-led opposition told An Nahar newspaper on Wednesday that “Lebanon’s behavior at the Security Council proves that the cabinet is still under the Syrian hegemony.”
“Objecting on the presidential statement is a shameful stance, it (Lebanon) is behaving as if it is the envoy of the Syrian regime, not for Lebanon.”
A western diplomat refused “throwing the case of Syria” on Lebanon, the daily reported.
Divisions remained on Tuesday among the 15 nations on the wording of any condemnation of President Bashar Assad's crackdown on protests and whether it should be a formal resolution or a less weighty statement.
Indian envoy Hardeep Puri told An Nahar newspaper during a press conference: “We realize the difficulty of going ahead with the presidential statement, and this is why we refuse this option.”
“There must be a way to overcome this difficulty,” he said.
The envoy, whose country assumed the rotating presidency of the U.N. Security Council for August, suggested that the members have to agree on the presidential statement elements and try to formulate a resolution out of it, where 14 members must vote on it” while Lebanon would refrain from voting.
A diplomatic source involved in the ongoing negotiations said that Lebanon must not be put in the forefront of the crisis. “We can reach an agreeable formula if some countries limit their objectives,” this way Lebanon avoids being in a critical situation, An Nahar quoted the source as saying.
Brazilian envoy Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti proposed on the Security Council an “initiative” made up of six points, An Nahar said.
The Security Council members agreed on merging Brazil’s proposal with the draft law that Britain had handed to the U.N. Security Council regarding Syria.
European diplomats say there is now agreement that there must be a Security Council response, a development that amounts to progress after weeks in which opponents sometimes even did not turn up for talks on Syria.
"We are progressing toward a constructive text," a Western diplomat told Agence France Presse.
"There are still key unresolved issues which will go back to capitals,” he said.
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