RT,
15
December, 2012
The
UN is considering the deployment of 4,000 to 10,000 peacekeepers in
Syria as an emergency measure, reports Russian press, citing UN
sources. This comes as the US along with over 100 countries voice
support for the nascent Syrian Coalition.
The
UN is putting together a contingency plan should the Security Council
give the go-ahead for involvement in the embattled nation, reported
Russian news agency Ria Novosti, citing sources in the UN.
“The
problem is that the UN does not have any resources to spare at the
moment. We would have to relocate some of the 115,000 peacekeepers
currently deployed in different countries and send them to Syria,” an
anonymous source told Ria Novosti.
The
source went on to say that the team of peacemakers would be made up
of observers and civilian units as well as troops. The civilian
mission would ensure that basic human rights are being observed in
Syria.
UN-Arab
League envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi has signaled the need for a
peacekeeper mission to the embattled nation to push for a ceasefire
between opposition groups and government forces.
“A
truce will not hold unless there are observers there to ensure it. I
think that it requires the deployment of a peacekeeping
mission,” said
Brahimi at the end of November.
In
recent weeks the international community has been stepping up
rhetoric concerning the Syrian conflict.
Germany
and the Netherlands will deploy Patriot missiles on the
Turkish-Syrian border at the beginning of 2013 as part of a NATO deal
to minimize fallout from the conflict into Turkey.
According
to reports the deal also stipulates the deployment of 400 American
troops and two patriot missile batteries along the Turkish-Syria
border.
NATO
has assured that the missiles are purely for defensive purposes and
the protection of Turkish civilians. However, with a range of 160
kilometers, fears have been voiced that the Patriot batteries could
be used to create a no-fly zone over Syria.
The
US also followed suit with Britain, France and the Gulf Arab states,
recognizing the new Syrian opposition coalition group as the
representative of the country on Tuesday.
The
US fears that Syrian President Bashar Assad is preparing to use
chemical weapons in the fight against opposition forces. The Obama
administration has forewarned grave consequences should Assad deploy
chemical weapons.
Russia
still insists that a political solution must be found to the
conflict “based
on the final communiqué of the Action Group jointly approved on
ministerial level in Geneva on June 30,” said
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Aleksandr Lukashevich on
Friday.
The
Syrian conflict has raged for over 20 months and claimed the lives of
between 20 to 30 thousand people.
The
international community has thus far failed to come to a unanimous
decision on a solution to the conflict. The US and other western
powers have been supplying opposition forces with “non-lethal
aid” and
are calling for the removal of President Assad. In contrast Russia
believes that the Syrian people should be the ones to decide the
nation’s fate through legitimate elections as oppose to outside
interference.
Russia: Syria Position Unchanged
14
December, 2012
In
an effort to tamp down Western media reports that they had decided a
rebel victory was “inevitable,” Russian officials today insisted
that their position on Syria has not changed and that they remain
determined to find a negotiated settlement
to the ongoing civil war.
That
didn’t stop US officials, and particularly government-funded
outlets, from pushing the narrative that Russia was
poised to abandon
Assad and embrace the rebel fighters.
The
uproar started yesterday when the Deputy Foreign Minister told
officials that a rebel military victory “cannot
be ruled out.”
US State Department officials took this to mean that rebel victory
was inevitable, and are already pressing Russia to join them in
backing the rebels. Others have speculated the comment was a
“misstatement” by the Russian official.
Absent
from the discussion is the possibility that the comment was a frank
assessment of the ongoing civil war, and the reality that since
neither side seems to be able to win in the near term, the war
remains undecided.
'Turkey looks through US eyes, sacrifices own interests'
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