‘RE-ENERGIZED DIPLOMATIC EFFORT’ NEEDED TO BREAK DEADLOCK OVER SYRIA – NEW SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT

From: UNNews <UNNews@un.org>
Date: 4 Sep 2013 18:00:01 -0400
Subject: 'RE-ENERGIZED DIPLOMATIC EFFORT' NEEDED TO BREAK DEADLOCK
OVER SYRIA – NEW SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT
To: news11@ny-mail-p-lb-028.ptc.un.org

'RE-ENERGIZED DIPLOMATIC EFFORT' NEEDED TO BREAK DEADLOCK OVER SYRIA –
NEW SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENTNew York, Sep 4 2013 6:00PMWith the
United Nations Security Council deadlocked over the crisis in Syria,
the world's focus will now shift away from New York to St. Petersburg,
Russia, where political leaders gathering for the G20 Summit are
expected to address the issue in the hopes of forward movement on the
diplomatic front, Australian Ambassador Gary Quinlan told reporters at
UN Headquarters today.

Briefing the press on the Security Council's programme of work for
September – Australia will hold the 15-member body's rotating
presidency for the month – Mr. Quinlan fielded numerous questions on
the situation in Syria and what action the Council might take to end
the bloodshed.

"Everybody is quite transfixed by what we are going to do about this.
People are concerned about the UN [chemical weapons] investigation;
how it will proceed and how quickly it can get its work done while
preserving scientific integrity," he said.

"But the stalemate among key members of the Council is obvious. The
discussion among the P-5 went nowhere," Mr. Quinlan said, referring to
talks UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon held late last week with
Ambassadors from China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the
United States – the Council's permanent members, or P-5 – regarding
the work of the UN team that had been collecting samples at sites in
the suburbs of Damascus where chemical weapons use has been alleged.

Mr. Quinlan said the Council members had discussed Syria earlier today
when they were briefed by Jeffery Feltman, Under Secretary-General for
Political Affairs on his recent trip to Egypt and the Middle East. The
UN political chief told the Council about ongoing efforts to reach a
political solution to the crisis in Syria, including the process
towards the holding of the so-called Geneva II conference.

Most of the non-permanent Council members, to the degree Mr. Quinlan
felt he could characterize their positions, were very concerned and
realized that efforts needed to be made to break the stalemate within
the P-5. "The reality is that with the statement, there needs to be a
re-energized diplomatic effort," he said.

As such, he said, the focus has shifted to the G20, particularly with
the Secretary-General in attendance, as well as the leadership of the
Council's P-5 membership and other countries. While Syria is not on
the G20's agenda, it was clear the issue would be discussed. "I think
most of us have concluded that just for the moment, it would be not be
productive or useful to have a Security Council meeting in a formal
way because it will go nowhere."

Continuing, Mr. Quinlan said: "It's clear that we have to address this
at a higher level ¬–¬¬¬ a leaders' level – at the G20. So to answer
the question: the council is not abrogating its role, at least not
yet, but the geopolitics have shifted" to hoped for talks at the G20.

So far Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is operating under tight
guidelines regarding the scientific process being followed by the
chemical weapons team, "but we're in a little bit of a holding pattern
until we see where the leaders take us in the next couple of days."

Mr. Quinlan said that during their earlier discussion nearly all
members of the Council had expressed concern about the humanitarian
situation in Syria, especially regarding refugees and internally
displaced persons. "Its no secret that a few countries, particularly
Luxemburg and Australia, have taken the lead on the matter within the
Council" and were pushing to get better and broader humanitarian
access.

Those and other countries were also looking for ways to overcome
bureaucratic obstacles such as delays for visas and clearances. While
the chemical weapons issue was now in the foreground, he said that the
Council needed to return to the humanitarian question as quickly as
possible "because it is getting worse every day."

Responding to questions on the situation in the Democratic Republic of
the Congo, he noted "the more forward role" the Council has given to
the UN Stabilization Mission in the country (MONUSCO) within the
framework of civilian protection.

There was now a "reasonable lull" on the military front, but as for
addressing such concerns as shelling by M23 rebels into areas of
neighbouring Rwanda, the focus has shifted to diplomacy as the
International Conference on the Great Lakes region (ICGLR), which
would meet on 5 September. He also noted that Special Envoy Mary
Robinson was also in the region pressing for progress on the framework
for peace and stability.

As for the Council's programme, he said the 15-nation body had
front-loaded much of its work in anticipation of the General
Assembly's annual general debate and high-level activities beginning
the week of September 16. The Council planned to hold consultations
on Sudan and South Sudan tomorrow. On 10 September it would be briefed
on the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL)

The centrepiece of the Australian presidency would be a
Presidential-level debate on small arms, set for 26 September during
the Assembly's general debate. The aim was to have the Council adopt,
as an outcome of the meeting, a first-ever resolution on the
deleterious impact of small arms and light weapons.Sep 4 2013 6:00PM
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