UN: United States ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton calls on Syria to fully recognize Lebanese independence, and denies U.S. is funneling arms to Somali warlords

Record ID: 336604

  • Title: UN: United States ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton calls on Syria to fully recognize Lebanese independence, and denies U.S. is funneling arms to Somali warlords
  • Date: 13th May 2006
  • Summary: (W1) UNITED NATIONS (FILE) (REUTERS) REPORTERS HOLDING AUDIO RECORDING DEVICES
  • Embargoed: 28th May 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA1ALCJ4V3RHDLUPVGQ1Q11BM8O
  • Story Text: A draft resolution circulated at the United Nations on Friday (May 12), that would press Syria to respond to Lebanese requests to help fully mark out their shared border and establish formal diplomatic relations.
    The resolution, first introduced on Thursday by Britain, France and the United States, would also increase pressure on Syria to prevent arms from crossing its border to militias in neighbouring Lebanon.
    The draft text, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters, states that responding to Lebanon's requests "would constitute a significant step towards asserting Lebanon's sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence and improving the relations between the two countries, thus contributing positively to the stability in the region."
    On Friday U.S. Ambassador John Bolton spoke about the importance of the resolution.
    "The border and the diplomatic relations are critical to force Syria to come out of denial that Lebanon is an independent country. If you're not willing to recognize another country, if you're not willing to delineate the border between two countries that are neighbours, it's a way of saying, which we think Syria is doing, it's a way of saying that Lebanon is not an independent country," said Bolton.
    The draft's goal is to push for full implementation of council Resolution 1559 of September 2004, which called for an end to outside interference in Lebanon. At the time, Beirut had been under Syrian domination for 29 years.
    The 2004 resolution sought the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Lebanon, free and fair presidential elections, and the disarming of all militias so the government could extend its control to all of its territory.
    Syria withdrew from Lebanon in April 2005, responding to international outrage and Lebanese protests sparked by the assassination a few months earlier of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. A U.N. investigation, still under way, has reported evidence that high-ranking Syrian officials and their Lebanese allies were involved in the killing.
    "We just remind Syria again, that the Security Council has said there would be serious consequences if Syria does not fully comply with the demands of the commission and cooperate with the investigation," said Bolton.
    Despite Resolution 1559, Hizbollah fighters, with Syrian and Iranian backing, remain active in southern Lebanon, regularly skirmishing with Israeli forces in the Shebaa Farms area.
    Syria has been lobbying council members to oppose any new resolution, denying any role in arms flows and arguing that setting borders and diplomatic ties were none of the council's business.
    Reporters also asked Bolton about the status of resolution calling on Sudan's government to allow a U.N. peacekeeping force into Darfur later this year.
    A reluctant Khartoum had said it would consider letting U.N. troops take over from the smaller, ill-equipped African Union force now in war-torn Darfur only after a peace accord.
    But the government has given mixed signals since a peace deal was signed in the Nigerian capital Abuja last week.
    U.N. diplomats said the 15-nation Security Council, which authorizes peacekeeping operations, was near consensus on a U.S. draft resolution calling for U.N. military planners to be in Darfur within a week of the measure's approval.
    The Khartoum government has so far declined to invite the U.N. military planners to Darfur -- as part of a joint mission with AU planners -- or give them visas.
    "I think we are very close to bringing that before the council," added U.S. Ambassador John Bolton. "I hope it will be unanimous, but again, we are prepared to go whether it is unanimous or not."
    Bolton also denied charges that the U.S. was funnelling arms to Somali warlords battling Islamic fighters in the capital of Mogadishu.
    "I can assure you we are not violating the arms embargo and that's clear and I just don't think there's any real question about that," said Bolton.
    Inhabitants of the battered city said at least 12 more people had died overnight and into Friday, pushing the death toll from six days of fighting to at least 133.
    Close-quarter street battles spread beyond Mogadishu's northern shanty town of Siisii into the neighbouring district of Yaqshid, in the worst violence in the lawless capital for more than a decade.
    Somalia's interim President Abdullahi Yusuf accused Washington of backing the warlords' "Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism", in violation of the embargo.
    The fighting in Mogadishu shows how little control Somalia's fledging government -- the 14th attempt to restore rule in 15 years -- has over the nation of 10 million.
    Washington has long viewed Somalia, without an effective central government since the 1991 ousting of former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre, as a terrorist haven.
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