UNITED NATIONS, May 3 (KUNA) -- Latin American countries on Friday informed the Qatari delegation that its proposed draft resolution on Syria in the General Assembly needed to be amended in order to win their support.
The Qatari draft, supported by some Arab and European countries, is scheduled to be voted on next week, but many Arab, European and Latino delegations, expressed their dissatisfaction with the language as it stands now.
According to the Qatari-proposed draft, the Assembly would "welcome" the establishment of the National Coalition of the Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces as the "credible interlocutor" needed for a political dialogue.
"Credible interlocutor" was originally "legitimate representative." Qatar later changed it after many delegations complained.
Argentinean Ambassador Maria Cristina Perceval, also a member of the Security Council, wrote, on behalf of a number of Latin American countries, a letter to her Qatari counterpart Sheikh Meshal Hamad Al-Thani suggesting that the Assembly would instead read: "Take note (not welcome) of the establishment of the National Coalition of the Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces as an effective (not credible) interlocutor needed for a political dialogue as referred to in the Geneva Communique of June 30, 2012." She noted that the latest version of the draft contains "some progress" in its wording. "We continue to believe that the text needs further improvement in order to address the concerns expressed by the (Latino) group. We believe that more work needs to be done in order to have consistency" in all the paragraphs.
She expressed her dissatisfaction with one paragraph by which the Assembly would "welcome the efforts of the Arab League towards a political resolution of the conflict and support all its relevant resolutions in this regard." "Not all Arab League resolutions on a political resolution of the situation in Syria can be welcomed or highlighted by delegations that were not part of its adoption. In a spirit of flexibility, we could consider to take note of them," Perceval argued in her letter.
She recalled that in the Geneva Communique, there is no military solution to the conflict in Syria, therefore "the insertion of language explicitly calling for no further militarization of the conflict would be necessary." Diplomats told KUNA that other regional groups still find difficulty with the Qatari-proposed draft, and if Qatar wants to win a large number of votes, it has to introduce many amendments.
The lengthy draft does not go as far as granting Syria's seat in the Assembly to the opposition, as the Arab League did in late March, but it sure sets the stage for it.
The draft would, among other things, demand that Damascus strictly observe its international obligations regarding chemical and biological weapons, and refrain from using or transferring them to non-state actors, in an indirect reference to Hezbollah.
It would further demand that Damascus provide full and unfettered access to the Secretary General's team of experts to probe the alleged use of chemical weapons in a number of Syrian cities.
It would "strongly condemn" the Syrian authorities' continued use of heavy weapons, including aircraft, against civilians and "call on all parties" to put an end to all forms of violence, "irrespective of where it comes from, including terrorist acts and acts of violence that may foment sectarian tensions." It would stress the importance of ensuring accountability and the need to end impunity and hold to account those responsible for human rights violations, including war crimes, and the role the international justice could play in this regard, in an indirect reference to the International Criminal Court (ICC), and encourage the Security Council to consider "appropriate measures" in this regard.
It would also welcome Kuwait's hosting of the donor Conference on Syria held on January 30, and urge all donors to provide urgent financial support to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in order to respond to the growing humanitarian needs of the Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries. (end) sj.bs KUNA 032237 May 13NNNN