الرئيسية
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria faces growing economic sanctions and
condemnation over what the United Nations calls "gross human rights
violations," but President Bashar al-Assad shows no sign of buckling
under pressure to end his military crackdown on popular unrest.
State
television broadcast pro-Assad rallies "supporting national unity and
rejecting foreign interference," after the Arab League imposed sanctions
on Sunday.
The European Union weighed on Monday, further
tightening the financial screws on Damascus for its "brutality and
unwillingness to change course." The EU and United States jointly urged
Syria to end violence, permit peaceful democratic transition, and allow
in human rights observers.
Assad's Foreign Minister Walid
al-Moualem hit back, lambasting the Arab League for "a declaration of
economic war" that he said had closed the door to resolving the crisis.
"Sanctions
are a two-way street," Moualem told a televised news conference. "I am
not warning here, but we will defend the interests of our people."
In
Geneva, a United Nations commission of inquiry said Syrian military and
security forces had committed crimes against humanity including murder,
torture and rape, for which Assad and his government bore direct
responsibility.
It demanded an end to "gross human rights
violations" and the release of those rounded up in mass arrests since
March by Syrian forces quashing pro-democracy demonstrations.
More than 3,500 people have been killed in eight months, according to the United Nations.
EU
foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said the European Union was
calling for a special session of the UN Human Rights Council on the
situation in Syria, "given the gravity of the situation and the urgency
for the international community to respond."
Syria's close
trading partners Lebanon and Iraq rejected the Arab League measures,
whose economic impact could be less severe than intended, analysts said.
"We do not agree with these sanctions and we will not go along with them," said Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour.
The
Arab League meanwhile appealed once more to Damascus, offering "a
review of all of the measures" if Syria dropped its opposition to an
Arab plan to end the crackdown.
Anti-Assad activists said eight
civilians were killed on Monday in the province of Homs, which has seen
some of the worst violence this month.
In an apparent political
concession, which protesters have been demanding for months, Moualem
said Syria planned to drop a constitutional clause which designates
Assad's Baath Party as the leading party.
The revised constitution foresees "multi-party" politics with "no place for discrimination between parties," he said.
FIGHTING BACK
The Arab League sanctions hit banking, finance, investment and official travel but stop short of a full trade embargo.
"The
sanctions are still economic but if there is no movement on the part of
Syria then we have a responsibility as human beings to stop the
killings," said Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani of Qatar, the League's
point man on Syria.
"Power is not worth anything when a ruler kills his people."
The
president of the Union of Arab Banks, a division of the Arab League,
said the sanctions would hit Syria's central bank, which has "big
deposits" in the region, especially the Gulf.
Moualem said 95 percent of the targeted money had already been withdrawn beyond the reach of sanctions.
Along
with peaceful protests, some of Assad's opponents are fighting back.
Army defectors are grouped loosely under the banner of a Syrian Free
Army and more insurgent attacks on loyalist troops have been reported in
the last few weeks.
Arab nations wanted to avert a repeat of
what happened in Libya, where a U.N. Security Council resolution led to
NATO air strikes. Sheikh Hamad warned fellow Arabs that the West could
intervene in Syria if it felt the League was not serious.
British
Foreign Secretary William Hague said the Arab League sanctions
demonstrated that "the regime's repeated failure to deliver on its
promises will not be ignored."
France said it wanted Syria's
powerful and critical neighbor Turkey to join an EU foreign ministers'
conference to discuss further measures. Paris has proposed a secure
humanitarian corridor linking Syria to Turkey.
One Western
diplomat said Assad could, for now, count on support from China and
Russia at the United Nations. But they may change position if he
intensifies the crackdown and if the Arab League campaigns for
international intervention.
China and Russia have oil concessions
in Syria. Moscow also has a naval repair base on Syria's Mediterranean
coast and announced on Monday that it was sending warships there, in an
apparent display of determination to defend its interests.
"The
sanctions are likely to lose Assad support among those in Syria who have
been waiting to see whether he will be able to turn things around, such
as merchants who could now see their businesses take more hits," the
diplomat said.
Syrian officials blame the violence on armed
groups targeting civilians. Government security forces say 1,100 of
their members have been killed.
Assad, who inherited power from
his father in 2000, said in an interview this month that he would
continue the crackdown and blamed the unrest on outside pressure to
"subjugate Syria."
(Additional reporting by Laila Bassam in
Beirut, Khaled Yacoub Oweis in Amman, David Brunnstrom and Justyna
Pawlak in Brussels and Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; Writing by Douglas
Hamilton; Editing by Peter Graff)
condemnation over what the United Nations calls "gross human rights
violations," but President Bashar al-Assad shows no sign of buckling
under pressure to end his military crackdown on popular unrest.
State
television broadcast pro-Assad rallies "supporting national unity and
rejecting foreign interference," after the Arab League imposed sanctions
on Sunday.
The European Union weighed on Monday, further
tightening the financial screws on Damascus for its "brutality and
unwillingness to change course." The EU and United States jointly urged
Syria to end violence, permit peaceful democratic transition, and allow
in human rights observers.
Assad's Foreign Minister Walid
al-Moualem hit back, lambasting the Arab League for "a declaration of
economic war" that he said had closed the door to resolving the crisis.
"Sanctions
are a two-way street," Moualem told a televised news conference. "I am
not warning here, but we will defend the interests of our people."
In
Geneva, a United Nations commission of inquiry said Syrian military and
security forces had committed crimes against humanity including murder,
torture and rape, for which Assad and his government bore direct
responsibility.
It demanded an end to "gross human rights
violations" and the release of those rounded up in mass arrests since
March by Syrian forces quashing pro-democracy demonstrations.
More than 3,500 people have been killed in eight months, according to the United Nations.
EU
foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said the European Union was
calling for a special session of the UN Human Rights Council on the
situation in Syria, "given the gravity of the situation and the urgency
for the international community to respond."
Syria's close
trading partners Lebanon and Iraq rejected the Arab League measures,
whose economic impact could be less severe than intended, analysts said.
"We do not agree with these sanctions and we will not go along with them," said Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour.
The
Arab League meanwhile appealed once more to Damascus, offering "a
review of all of the measures" if Syria dropped its opposition to an
Arab plan to end the crackdown.
Anti-Assad activists said eight
civilians were killed on Monday in the province of Homs, which has seen
some of the worst violence this month.
In an apparent political
concession, which protesters have been demanding for months, Moualem
said Syria planned to drop a constitutional clause which designates
Assad's Baath Party as the leading party.
The revised constitution foresees "multi-party" politics with "no place for discrimination between parties," he said.
FIGHTING BACK
The Arab League sanctions hit banking, finance, investment and official travel but stop short of a full trade embargo.
"The
sanctions are still economic but if there is no movement on the part of
Syria then we have a responsibility as human beings to stop the
killings," said Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani of Qatar, the League's
point man on Syria.
"Power is not worth anything when a ruler kills his people."
The
president of the Union of Arab Banks, a division of the Arab League,
said the sanctions would hit Syria's central bank, which has "big
deposits" in the region, especially the Gulf.
Moualem said 95 percent of the targeted money had already been withdrawn beyond the reach of sanctions.
Along
with peaceful protests, some of Assad's opponents are fighting back.
Army defectors are grouped loosely under the banner of a Syrian Free
Army and more insurgent attacks on loyalist troops have been reported in
the last few weeks.
Arab nations wanted to avert a repeat of
what happened in Libya, where a U.N. Security Council resolution led to
NATO air strikes. Sheikh Hamad warned fellow Arabs that the West could
intervene in Syria if it felt the League was not serious.
British
Foreign Secretary William Hague said the Arab League sanctions
demonstrated that "the regime's repeated failure to deliver on its
promises will not be ignored."
France said it wanted Syria's
powerful and critical neighbor Turkey to join an EU foreign ministers'
conference to discuss further measures. Paris has proposed a secure
humanitarian corridor linking Syria to Turkey.
One Western
diplomat said Assad could, for now, count on support from China and
Russia at the United Nations. But they may change position if he
intensifies the crackdown and if the Arab League campaigns for
international intervention.
China and Russia have oil concessions
in Syria. Moscow also has a naval repair base on Syria's Mediterranean
coast and announced on Monday that it was sending warships there, in an
apparent display of determination to defend its interests.
"The
sanctions are likely to lose Assad support among those in Syria who have
been waiting to see whether he will be able to turn things around, such
as merchants who could now see their businesses take more hits," the
diplomat said.
Syrian officials blame the violence on armed
groups targeting civilians. Government security forces say 1,100 of
their members have been killed.
Assad, who inherited power from
his father in 2000, said in an interview this month that he would
continue the crackdown and blamed the unrest on outside pressure to
"subjugate Syria."
(Additional reporting by Laila Bassam in
Beirut, Khaled Yacoub Oweis in Amman, David Brunnstrom and Justyna
Pawlak in Brussels and Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; Writing by Douglas
Hamilton; Editing by Peter Graff)
