Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkol Karman of Yemen says her country could be pushed into a civil war unless the West stops supporting the current transition and takes strong legal and financial action against President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Karman met with Britain’s foreign secretary and other senior officials on Thursday. Karman says she told Foreign [...]
Tag: Council
December 16, 2011
December 16, 2011
Hopes Rise for UN Action on Syria
Russia Thursday proposed a new draft resolution condemning the violence in Syria, giving rise to hopes the U.N. Security Council will end its relative silence on the nine month crackdown on protestors. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the United States is ready to work with Moscow on the proposal. Officials here say the Russian [...]
December 14, 2011
Diplomats Distressed About Syrian Unrest
Several U.N. Security Council members say they are distressed by information presented at a meeting by the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights that the death toll from unrest in Syria has surpassed 5,000. The U.S. Deputy Permanent Representative, Rosemary DiCarlo, said the human rights crisis in Syria is a threat to international peace and [...]
December 14, 2011
Syrian Defectors Kill 7 Security Force Members in Revenge Attack
Rights activists say Syrian army defectors killed seven government security force members while ambushing a patrol following an army raid that cost 11 civilian lives earlier Tuesday. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says both incidents took place in Idlib province, a restive area that borders Turkey. The observatory and other groups report that [...]
December 13, 2011
Voter Turnout Low in Syria Municipal Elections Amid Protests
Despite violence that continues to roil the country, Syria’s government is holding local council elections Monday as it downplays anti-government unrest as the work of a small group of foreign-backed terrorists. In Syria’s northern, heavily Kurdish province of Hasaka a crowd chants slogans against local council elections taking place across the country Monday. Witnesses say [...]
December 9, 2011
NATO, Russia Remain at Odds Over Missile Shield
There were no breakthroughs in NATO and Russia’s long-standing disagreement over European missile defense Thursday during the NATO-Russia Council meeting in Brussels. Speaking to the press after the NATO-Russia Council meeting, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the missile defense shield is about protecting the alliance from a potential threat posed by Iran. She [...]
December 8, 2011
Analysts Hope Eritrea Sanctions Will End Somali Conflict
In East Africa, hopes are high that the long-running Somali conflict will soon abate with the United Nations Security Council’s approval Monday of tougher sanctions against Eritrea. The nation is accused of supporting Somali militants, including al-Shabab. For its part, Eritrea denies the allegations and calls the sanctions “illegal and unjust.” Analysts and some of [...]
December 7, 2011
Clinton Meets with Syrian Opposition
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with senior Syrian National Council members in Geneva to discuss their specific ideas for transitioning toward democracy, especially any ideas that include reaching out to minorities. It was Clinton’s first meeting with the seven individuals, which included the Syrian National Council’s president and its human rights and civil [...]
December 4, 2011
Arab League Confirms Sanctions on Syria as Unrest Intensifies
The Arab League on Saturday froze assets of 19 top Syrian officials and banned them from traveling to Arab states. After a meeting in Doha, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheik Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani who chairs the Arab League’s peace process committee, said the panel also gave Damascus until Sunday to come to Doha and [...]
December 3, 2011
December 2, 2011
French-Based Syrian Opposition Threatened
France is upping security for members of Syrian opposition groups who live or work in France. French Interior Minister Claude Gueant told reporters in Paris Friday that new security measures have been put in place for members of the Syrian National Council, including Paris-based leader Burhan Ghalioun. Gueant did not share any details of the [...]
November 30, 2011
Pressure Mounts on Syria, Government Raids Continue
Syria is facing increased pressure from world powers to end its crackdown on dissent, but activists say violence in the country continues to escalate. An activist with the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says that Syrian forces have publicly executed 22 activists in a Damascus suburb, Rankus, and arrested about 600 people. The opposition group [...]
November 30, 2011
US, UN Condemn Attack on British Embassy in Tehran
The United States and the U.N. Security Council have joined Britain in condemning Tuesday’s mob attack on the British embassy in Tehran. U.S. officials say the incident may mean that nuclear-related sanctions on Iran are beginning to have a serious impact. The attack on the British diplomatic complex in Tehran, by what were described as [...]
November 25, 2011
White House calls for Egyptian military to hand power to civilian regime
Protests spread across Egypt as former PM agrees to form new government. Link to this video The White House has called for the Egyptian military to surrender all power immediately to a new civilian government that is due to be elected within the next few days. In a marked increase of pressure on the ruling [...]