Brussels, 01/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - International intervention is already beginning in Syria: China, Russia and Iran are clearly helping the regime. The Syrian National Council (SNC) is calling for a different intervention, one to help the people defend themselves, said SNC spokesman George Sabra in Brussels on Thursday 31 May. He spelt out what he would like European governments to do. “We are calling on them to support a people wanting regime change, to offer aid for the people to bring down the regime that is causing them suffering, that is committing atrocities”, he said. “We cannot wait indefinitely for the Annan plan to succeed. We want swift resolution, we want intervention to help the revolution”, he added. When asked if this aid could come through the supply of weapons, he replied: “Yes, that is one of the requests, clearly”.
Sabra said that the Free Syrian Army was at the ready and was “just waiting for Annan's response to resume its activities and its fight against the regular army”. “Its efforts need the material, political and media support of the international and Arab communities to back the Syrian people in their demands”, he went on. The SNC is also looking for more from the European nations in the UN Security Council so that “resolutions can be voted through on the basis of Chapter 7 (Ed: of the United Nations Charter which speaks of possible military intervention) to help us end this regime and its massacres”, and “careful and closely monitored application of the sanctions announced in order to isolate the regime and force it to submit to the international community”.
Political solution still preferred. On Thursday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin said a “political solution” had to be found to the crisis, the Annan plan being the “starting point”. “Russia, Germany and all their partners” want “to avoid any escalation in the violence and to help Mr Annan achieve positive results”, Putin said.
Syria will be one of the items on the agenda for the EU-Russia summit on 3-4 June. “For the moment, not enough is being done to find a political solution to the crisis. We know the extent to which Russia has influence and can bring pressure to bear on the Syrian regime”, said a high-ranking European official, making clear that the EU would not put pressure on Moscow. “There is joint responsibility to ensure that the country does not fall into civil war. … We have to act together now”, he added.
Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja said it was too soon for a military operation. “There are no clear fronts. We want to prevent a civil war, not cause one”, he told the daily Aamulehti. He would like the sanctions already put in place to be toughened, but wondered if the decision to expel Syrian ambassadors from the EU was wise. “If we want European states to have a credible common foreign and security policy, we have to reach decisions together on these issues. Once again, everyone has acted alone”, he regretted. (CG/transl.rt)