31 October 2005
Security Council Demands Syria Cooperate in Hariri Investigation
Secretary of State Rice says United Nations vote demonstrates Syria's isolation
By Judy Aita
Washington File United Nations Correspondent
United Nations -- The Security Council increased pressure on Syria to cooperate with the international investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, unanimously adopting a tough resolution October 31 that requires unconditional cooperation from Damascus with the inquiry.
Foreign ministers from 11 of the 15 nations represented on the Security Council -- Algeria, Brazil, China, Denmark, France, Greece, the Philippines, Romania, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States -- attended the meeting in what is widely viewed as a show of international solidarity with Lebanon's search for the perpetrators of the February 14 bombing that claimed the life of Hariri and 20 others.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that the resolution "is the only way to compel the Syrian government to accept the just demands of the United Nations and to cooperate fully with the … investigation.
"With our decision today, we show that Syria has isolated itself from the international community through its false statements, its support for terrorism, its interference in the affairs of its neighbors, and its destabilizing behavior in the Middle East," Rice said.
Syria needs to make "a strategic decision" to change fundamentally its behavior, the secretary of state said. "Until that day comes, however, we in the international community must remain united."
RESOLUTIONS SENDS UNEQUIVOCAL MESSAGE TO SYRIA
The council voted to send an unequivocal message to Syria about the importance of cooperating seriously and completely with the International Independent Investigation Commission, headed by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis.
In its October report to the council, the commission implicated both Lebanese and Syrian high-ranking officials and said that Syria's failure to cooperate has hampered its work. It added that Syrian authorities cooperated in form but not in substance and that several officials tried to mislead the commission with false or inaccurate information.
Following submission of the report, Secretary-General Kofi Annan extended the mandate of the commission to December 15. (See related article.)
The resolution, which was co-sponsored by France, the United Kingdom and the United States, requires Syria to take into custody Syrian officials or individuals the commission suspects of planning, sponsoring, organizing or perpetrating the bombing, which it classifies as a "terrorist act," and make them available to the commission. It also requires Syria to allow the commission to interview Syrians at a place and in a manner determined by the commission.
Even though the resolution does not mention Article 41 of the U.N. Charter in connection with sanctions if Syria does not comply, the council said that if the Mehlis commission determines – in its December 15 report or at any time prior to that -- that Syria does not meet the resolution's requirements "the council, if necessary, could consider further action."
"It is incumbent upon the Syrian authorities to clarify a considerable part of the questions which remain unresolved," the Security Council said.
Adopted under Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter, the resolution also requires all nations to ban the entry or transit of suspects named by the commission and to freeze the financial assets and economic resources of the suspects. It sets up a committee to identify individuals who will be subject to the sanctions and decide if any travel or financial exemptions might be allowed.
In the resolution, the Security Council welcomed the extension of the Mehlis investigation into December and said that it will extend the mandate further if recommended by the commission and requested by Lebanon.
French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said that "Syria's leaders must understand that the Security Council, and through it the international community as a whole, will not tolerate anything less than immediate and complete cooperation and that it will draw consequences of any failure by the Syrian authorities to meet their obligations."
The resolution, Douste-Blazy said, sends "a message of solidarity with the Lebanese people and government who have shown unwavering courage and determination these past months; we also send an important message of support to the independent commission of inquiry and its commission who must be able to continue their work alongside Lebanon's judicial officials under the best possible circumstances.
“Our council makes a clear, firm and urgent appeal to Syria," the foreign minister said. "The Syrian authorities must today cooperate fully with the commission so that full light is shed as quickly as possible on the attack that took the life of Rafiq Hariri."
Syria has said that it will undertake its own investigation and the resolution stated that the Security Council "expects the Syrian government to implement in full the commitments it is now making."
Rice told journalists after the council meeting that the resolution "allows the council to come back to consider further action should that be necessary should Syria not comply."
In his angry remarks to the Security Council after the vote, Syria's foreign minister showed "that the Syrians were intent on going to some lengths to try and discredit the Mehlis investigation," Rice said.
"This is a very clear signal to the Syrian government that their activities are being noted and that they really must now give full cooperation to the Mehlis commission," the secretary said.
The full report of the Mehlis commission is available on the U.N. Web site.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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