The U.N. Security Council
is pressing Syria to establish diplomatic relations with Lebanon and
define their common border.
The Council
adopted a resolution strongly encouraging Syria to establish formal
diplomatic ties with Lebanon. The measure sponsored by France, Britain and
the United States also calls for the two neighbors to set their common
border.
Thirteen of the Council's 15 member states voted in
favor of the resolution. China and Russia abstained
.
Washington's U.N. Ambassador John Bolton said he
would have preferred a unanimous vote. But he called the resolution an
important step in implementing previous Council demands for the disarming
of militias and
the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Lebanon.
"It clearly says to Syria that it needs to do more to stop the flow of weapons
across the Syrian/Lebanese border, and it makes clear that further
disarming of all militias inside Lebanon is an important priority," he
said.
The resolution makes makes no specific mention of Iran, as did a recent report
to the Security Council by Secretary-General Kofi Annan. But Bolton said he
was satisfied with a clear implicit reference to Iran's role in Lebanon.
"Now the two states mentioned are Iran and Syria," he said. "So there
is no ambiguity what that phrase means. It could have named Iran in its
full four letters, but that reference makes it unambiguously clear that
Iran is referred to."
Syria had lobbied hard to have the resolution defeated. Deputy Syrian
Foreign Minister Fayssal Mekdad came to the U.N. last week arguing the
measure constituted interference in the relationship between Damascus and
Beirut.
Russia and China made clear that they thought the resolution was
unnecessary. But they chose to abstain rather than use their veto power.
Moscow's U.N. Ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, described the measure as
"unhelpful" in settling bilateral issues between Syria and Lebanon.
"We simply do not believe it's the best way to develop dialogue to get the two sides
into the habit of talking to each other through the Security Council," he
said. "We're in favor of dialogue. We just do not think it is right for
the Security Council to look over their shoulder at every particular
juncture and make comments and remarks about the particular nature of
their dialogue."
Syria's foreign ministry in a written statement called the Security
Council action provocative and biased.
Syria withdrew its troops from Lebanon last year, after 29 years of
military and political domination of its smaller neighbor.
But Secretary-General Kofi Annan's recent report noted that Hezbollah
guerrillas in Lebanon continue to maintain close ties with Syria and Iran.
The United States lists Hezbollah as a terrorist group. |