UNITED NATIONS // The UN Security Council unanimously approved a resolution yesterday expanding the number of UN ceasefire observers in Syria from 30 to 300 and demanded an immediate halt to the violence that has escalated since the government and opposition agreed to end hostilities more than a week ago.
The resolution merged rival Russian and European texts and dropped a European threat of non-military sanctions against Syria if it fails to withdraw troops and heavy weapons from towns and cities. Instead, it uses language from the resolution adopted last week authorising deployment of the 30-member team which expresses the council's intentions to assess implementation "and to consider further steps."
Moscow had wanted to deploy the observers immediately, while western powers had demanded that Syrian government forces withdraw from populated areas first, a key element of the UN's six-point peace plan negotiated by Kofi Annan, the UN-Arab League special envoy.
The resolution establishes a United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria, to be known as UNSMIS, "comprising an initial deployment of up to 300 unarmed military observers as well as an appropriate civilian component" for an initial period of 90 days.
The monitors will be deployed as soon as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon determines that the ceasefire has been "consolidated".
Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the UN, warned the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad that if the violence doesn't stop soon, the US would push for a stronger response.
"For the United States, our patience is exhausted," she said. "No one should assume that the United States will agree to renew this mission at the end of 90 days. If there is not a sustained cessation of violence and freedom of movement for UN personnel ... then we must all conclude that this mission has run its course.
"We are sober about the risks, all the more so given the long record of the Assad regime's broken promises and disregard for the most basic
standards of humanity," Ms Rice said.
Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin responded: "Some would like to see the strategy fail because, as we heard, they have other plans. This
is very unhelpful."
Syrian Ambassador Bashar Ja'afri blamed the West and its Arab partners for interfering in Syria's affairs. "Syrians well know these external forces and ... do not want any Wahhabi or Salafist factions to penetrate its ranks through some terrorists propagated by Saudi Arabia and Qatar."
The opposition Syrian National Council hailed the vote, saying it responds to the demands of the people of Syria. But the addition of 300 monitors may not be enough "where the revolution is affecting every town and village", said SNC spokesman George Sabra.
The new mission "represents the last opportunity to secure a solution to the crisis in Syria," said British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant.
The Russians had called for a limited civilian component, while the Europeans wanted to spell out the skills required of the civilians, including political, human rights, civil affairs and public security. The key difference in the original texts was whether there should be any conditions for deployment of the expanded force.
The Europeans wanted the secretary-general to determine "to his satisfaction" that Syria has implemented its pledge to send troops and heavy weapons back to their barracks. The Russian draft had no conditions. The compromise language says the expanded mission "shall be deployed expeditiously subject to assessment by the secretary-general of relevant developments on the ground, including the consolidation of the cessation of violence."
The resolution asks Damascus to give the observers unhindered movement and freedom to interview any Syrian without a threat of reprisal. The government is to provide security for the observers, the resolution says. The UN and the government also were urged to agree "rapidly" on the monitors' use of helicopters and planes. Mr Ban has said the UN would find its own aircraft if Syria fails to provide them.
"It is an unprecedented step to deploy unarmed UN personnel into such a dangerous environment. It is fraught with risk," Mr Grant said. "The mission will fail in its task if the regime continues to violate its commitments and obstruct the work of the mission."
Unlike most resolutions that call for reports to the Security Council in 30 days, the resolution adopted yesterday calls for reports every 15 days.
France's UN Ambassador Gerard Araud said this will enable the council to react "if things are going bad," not only politically and on the ground, but "we are also in charge of the lives of our observers."
Seven of the advance observers are already on the ground, another two will arrive Monday, and the UN hopes to have rest of the advance team of 30 in Syria next week, Mr Annan's spokesman Ahmad Fawzi told The Associated Press in Geneva.
Members of the advance team are being borrowed from UN missions in the region so they can deploy quickly, he said. The UN said the observers already in Syria come from Morocco, Brazil, Belgium, Switzerland, Russia and Norway.
foreign.desk@thenational.ae
* With additional reporting by the Associated Press and Agence-France Presse
