The UN Security Council on Monday unanimously adopted a resolution demanding full Syrian cooperation with the UN probe into the murder of Lebanon’s ex-premier.
The resolution, sponsored by Britain, France and the United States, calls for Damascus to detain suspected nationals and urges states to impose a travel ban and a freeze of assets on all individuals designated as suspects in Rafik Hariri’s killing.
It warns that if Damascus fails to cooperate with the UN probe into the murder of Hariri, the council ”if necessary, could consider [unspecified] further action”.
”Syria must detain those Syrian officials or individuals whom the commission considers as suspected of involvement in the planning, organisation, sponsoring, organising or perpetrating of this terrorist act, and make them fully available to the commission,” the text says.
It also insists that ”Syria not interfere in Lebanese domestic afairs, either directly or indirectly, refrain from any attempt aimed at destabilising Lebanon, and respect scrupulously the sovereignty, territorial integrity, unity and political independence of this country”.
In order to overcome strong opposition from veto-wielding China and Russia as well as from Algeria, the only Arab member of the council, the foreign ministers of Britain, France and the US dropped a reference in an earlier draft to the threat of economic and diplomatic sanctions under Article 41 of the UN Charter.
But British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw warned Damascus that the council’s ”patience has limits”.
Failure to comply, he added ”would consider further action”.
He said the resolution sends a ”very strong message” to Damascus.
The vote follows the release earlier this month of a report by UN chief investigator Detlev Mehlis implicating senior Syrian security officials in the murder of Hariri in Beirut last February.
Syria was represented at the meeting by its Foreign Minister, Faruq al-Shara, and foreign affairs legal adviser Riad Daudi. — AFP
