Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad
warned Monday that Western military strikes
would risk igniting a “regional war” in the
“powder keg” of the Middle East, in an interview
with French newspaper Le Figaro. He also said France would face “repercussions” if
it took part in US-led plans for military action in
response to an alleged chemical weapons attack
by Assad’s regime last month. However in another report that French intel says
‘sophisticated’ Syria chemical attack came from
regime-held areas. French intelligence documents made public on
Monda said that the August 21 chemical weapons
attack on a Damascus suburb was carried out by
President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and that at
least 281 people were killed. A source said the toll figured in a document given
by Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault to lawmakers
during a meeting on the Syrian crisis, adding that
the attack was “massive.” This came as a former high-ranking UN officials
urged the United States and others Monday to
refrain from bombing Syria over a devastating
chemical attack, and instead work harder to
broker a political solution in the war-torn country. Former deputy chief of the United Nations Hans-
Christof von Sponeck launched the appeal in
Swiss daily Le Temps’ online edition, with support
from his former UN colleagues Denis Halliday, Said
Zulficar, Samir Radwan and Samir Basta. “True courage does not consist in sending in
cruise missiles, … it consists in radically breaking
from this murderous logic,” wrote von Sponeck,
who coordinated the UN’s humanitarian actions in
Iraq from 1998 to 2000. Much of the international community, including
the United States, Britain and France, has blamed
the Syrian regime for an August 21 chemical
attack near the capital Damascus that killed
hundreds. The British parliament vetoed Prime Minister David
Cameron’s plans for an intervention, but Paris and
Washington have said they are intent on
punishing Assad’s regime, even though US
President Barack Obama has deferred action
pending Congressional support. Even if Western governments provide proof that
the Syrian regime is to blame for the attack,
“there is reason to remain sceptical and to
remember all the questionable or fabricated
pretexts used to justify previous wars”, von
Sponeck wrote, referring implicitly to the 2003 US invasion of Iraq on the basis of false intelligence. “The time when the United States and the few
allies it still has acted as the world police is over.
The world has become more multifaceted and the
people of the world want more sovereignty, not
less,” he stressed. “The Syrian, Iranian and Russian governments
have made proposals to negotiate, which have
been treated with disdain by the West. “Those who say: ‘We cannot talk or negotiate
with Assad’ forget that people said the same
thing” about a range of regimes and revolutionary
movements like the Soviet Union, the Palestinian
PLO, Irish IRA and former South African president
Nelson Mandela and his ANC movement, among others,” he pointed out. Instead going into conflicts with bombs blazing,
Western powers should focus on helping the
parties settle their differences. “For Israel to negotiate in good faith with the
Palestinians, organise the Geneva 2 conference (to
end the conflict in) Syria, and talk with the
Iranians about their nuclear programme,” von
Sponeck suggested.
warned Monday that Western military strikes
would risk igniting a “regional war” in the
“powder keg” of the Middle East, in an interview
with French newspaper Le Figaro. He also said France would face “repercussions” if
it took part in US-led plans for military action in
response to an alleged chemical weapons attack
by Assad’s regime last month. However in another report that French intel says
‘sophisticated’ Syria chemical attack came from
regime-held areas. French intelligence documents made public on
Monda said that the August 21 chemical weapons
attack on a Damascus suburb was carried out by
President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and that at
least 281 people were killed. A source said the toll figured in a document given
by Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault to lawmakers
during a meeting on the Syrian crisis, adding that
the attack was “massive.” This came as a former high-ranking UN officials
urged the United States and others Monday to
refrain from bombing Syria over a devastating
chemical attack, and instead work harder to
broker a political solution in the war-torn country. Former deputy chief of the United Nations Hans-
Christof von Sponeck launched the appeal in
Swiss daily Le Temps’ online edition, with support
from his former UN colleagues Denis Halliday, Said
Zulficar, Samir Radwan and Samir Basta. “True courage does not consist in sending in
cruise missiles, … it consists in radically breaking
from this murderous logic,” wrote von Sponeck,
who coordinated the UN’s humanitarian actions in
Iraq from 1998 to 2000. Much of the international community, including
the United States, Britain and France, has blamed
the Syrian regime for an August 21 chemical
attack near the capital Damascus that killed
hundreds. The British parliament vetoed Prime Minister David
Cameron’s plans for an intervention, but Paris and
Washington have said they are intent on
punishing Assad’s regime, even though US
President Barack Obama has deferred action
pending Congressional support. Even if Western governments provide proof that
the Syrian regime is to blame for the attack,
“there is reason to remain sceptical and to
remember all the questionable or fabricated
pretexts used to justify previous wars”, von
Sponeck wrote, referring implicitly to the 2003 US invasion of Iraq on the basis of false intelligence. “The time when the United States and the few
allies it still has acted as the world police is over.
The world has become more multifaceted and the
people of the world want more sovereignty, not
less,” he stressed. “The Syrian, Iranian and Russian governments
have made proposals to negotiate, which have
been treated with disdain by the West. “Those who say: ‘We cannot talk or negotiate
with Assad’ forget that people said the same
thing” about a range of regimes and revolutionary
movements like the Soviet Union, the Palestinian
PLO, Irish IRA and former South African president
Nelson Mandela and his ANC movement, among others,” he pointed out. Instead going into conflicts with bombs blazing,
Western powers should focus on helping the
parties settle their differences. “For Israel to negotiate in good faith with the
Palestinians, organise the Geneva 2 conference (to
end the conflict in) Syria, and talk with the
Iranians about their nuclear programme,” von
Sponeck suggested.
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