By Hosni Imam
LONDON, July 1 (KUNA) -- Kuwait has a functioning parliament, and it is a parliamentary democracy that is unique in the region, a former UN under-secretary general for Mideast affairs has said.
In an exclusive interview with KUNA, Lord Williams, who was also a former UN envoy and special Coordinator for Lebanon, said Monday it is a credit to Kuwait and its rulers that, since an early time, they have decided on this political course.
"It is a remarkable period for Kuwait since independence in 1961, and, in all that time, Kuwait has faced many challenges, above all the Iraqi occupation. But the country has always bounced back and recovered from adversity", Lord Williams underscored.
He described Kuwait as "a model for the GCC and the wider Arab world".
During his eventful diplomatic he was also the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process.
Equally Lord Williams served as a UN envoy to the Balkans during the civil war in Bosnia and Croatia.
In his wide ranging remarks, the highly experienced international diplomat also expressed his grave concern over the rise in the number of casualties in Syria to 100,000 people killed and many other thousands injured.
"That figure is in itself a stark indictment of the failure of the international community to come to terms with this terrible conflict." In some way, it reminds him of the failure of the West in dealing with the Bosnian conflict in the mid-1990s of the last century, as it took them over three years before there was a decisive intervention to end the war there, he recalled.
Dr. Williams voiced the hope that the Geneva conference could start as soon as possible and, if necessary, even without the parties to the conflict.
He lamented the fact that "there is not enough diplomacy going on now to resolve the Syrian conflict.
In addition, representatives of all the key countries, the G8, who recently met in Northern Ireland, plus other key countries in the region, including Turkey and Iran, should be sitting down to discuss this crisis, the former UN undersecretary urged.
In answer to another question, he stressed that "Geneva 2 is not only possible but also necessary, as perhaps there is "no alternative".
He noted that "history has taught us that wars end only in two ways: one by the victory of one party over the other, and the second by negotiations, and it is nearly always preferable to have a negotiated settlement".
Lord Williams was convinced that this was not going to be easy.
On the position of both Washington and Moscow towards the Syrian crisis, Lord Williams said he was very pleased when the US Secretary of State John Kerry visited Russia and agreed with Foreign minister Sergey Lavrov that there should be a second international conference in Geneva.
"That development gave us all some hope, but unfortunately that did not happen, and the recent G8 summit in the UK, instead of moving forward on this, actually moved backward".
On the international aspect of the Syrian conflict, he said: "This is really quite worrying, and in some ways worse than during the Bosnian war in the 1990s of the last century, as it is clear that the Syrian regime is supported by Iran and Hezbollah. But there is also Russian assistance and continued arms supplies, as well as the political support that Moscow gives.
On the other hand, some countries in the region are supporting the opposition, in addition to the backing of some western countries", the former UN envoy to Lebanon said.
"The last thing we can afford is this to turn into a proxy war, where all the victims are the Syrian people".
Lord Williams called the intervention of both Hezbollah and Iran "a very dangerous development and an extraordinary escalation".
He noted that Hezbollah's direct involvement in the war is getting deeper and deeper, and their role has not diminished.
The former senior UN official warned against the dangerous rise of sectarian tensions in the region in Lebanon and some other countries.
"We cannot afford to see this, but it is a direct consequence of this war".
On the direct impact of the Syrian crisis in particular on Lebanon, Lord Williams cautioned that he has "very deep fears about the fragile situation there".
Turning to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Lord Williams praised the active diplomacy adopted by Secretary Kerry to restart the negotiations between the two sides, and wished him "every success".
However, he suggested that the present situation is "appalling, as, for more than two years now, there have been no direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian authority".
Furthermore, Lord Williams noted that now there is "a sterile diplomacy against a background of an appalling regional situation and with the continued Israeli settlements activity".
He said he was not optimistic about the prospects of reaching a just solution to the dispute, declaring it "will take almost a miracle to see at the moment any breakthrough, and this would have consequences for both sides and, of course, for the wider region".
On the importance of the GCC, Lord Williams told KUNA that this group has proved to be a key regional association which is playing a significant role in ensuring peace and security in Arab and international domains. (end) he.ibi KUNA 011438 Jul 13NNNN