- Join the France 24 community here
- Log in
Latest update: 10/10/2011
- Bashar al-Assad - European Union - Syria
EU welcomes creation of Syrian opposition body
The EU welcomed the formation of Syria’s opposition council Monday as a “positive step forward”, urging other world powers to do the same, but stopping short of officially recognising the body.
By News Wires (text)
REUTERS - The European Union on Monday welcomed the creation of an opposition council in Syria, but stopped short of any call to recognise the body which is seeking international support for a six-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.
A statement agreed by EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg welcomed the moves by the political opposition in Syria to establish a united platform and called on the international community also to welcome these efforts.
"...The EU notes the creation of the Syrian National Council as a positive step forward," the statement said.
Syria threatened on Sunday to retaliate against any country that formally recognised the opposition council.
|
While formation of the council has already been welcomed by some of Assad's Western critics, including the United States and France, they have not embraced it diplomatically as they did the Libyan rebels who overthrew Muammar Gaddafi.
EU ministers and officials said any such moves, which would have to come from individual countries, were some way off.
"I think we will have to find out a bit more yet," EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said before the meeting. "We need to find out more and decide what we are going to do."
"I think we have been consistent in wanting to see significant change in Syria. The number of people who have died there is terrible. The continued approach of the government to repress people is awful. We've been working closely with our colleagues in the (United Nations) Security Council and with Turkey now in trying to put the pressure on."
The United Nations says 2,900 people have been killed in Assad's crackdown on mainly peaceful protests. The Syrian leadership blames armed groups backed by foreign powers for the violence, saying 1,100 members of the security forces have been killed since the unrest broke out in March.
Violence must stop
British Foreign Secretary William Hague did not directly reply when asked if EU states should recognise the council, but said he had met some opposition activists and continued to call on the government to end the violence.
"That is the immediate priority," he said. "The EU as a whole and member states will want to appeal for (an end to violence). Of course we can't directly intervene."
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said France wanted to have contacts with the opposition, adding: "We are pleased to see the opposition has organised."
|
Asked about recognising the council, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said: "We are talking to them, as we are talking to a lot of other people who have the ability to influence events in Syria. We will be discussing that further today."
Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal said the EU should do everything in terms of sanctions to force Assad to step down.
"We know that the sanctions up until now on the part of the European Union are working," he said. "We think that if that is the case we should look for more sanctions and especially for a rigorous implementation of the sanctions at hand."
Officials and diplomats said a committee was expected on Monday to endorse an agreement in principle to add the Commercial Bank of Syria to a sanctions list, which would bar Europeans from doing business with it and freeze its assets in Europe once the move is adopted later in the week.
EU officials say the aim, combined with already adopted sanctions on Syria's oil industry, is to block the government's access to funds, but the effect has been blunted by the decision by Russia and China to block a Western-backed U.N. Security Council resolution that could have led to broader sanctions.
Read more
‘Darth Vader’ demands free land from Ukrainian government
Browse all editions
React to the article
(1) Reaction
Just trust my source of knowledge because I have nothing to gain
Nothing will ever be perfect but 'Perfection' is in the acts of balancing (50%'s of opposing forces) and that's how everything about our humanly existence is programmed.
To be honest, I assume, Obama will exactly understand what I am trying to say because he surely knows that dishonesty always to be remained in the fabric of politics and the norm was up until now: there won't be enough honest supporters behind a honest leader, therefore, negatively powerful dishonest leader-ships will prevail.
A mistakenly believed word: "Unbold" may have the cosmic-power to modify the vulnerable by default: 'belief-system inside each human brain', therefore change the world (Each human, actually can see and feel own existence individually and the "Wealth and power greedy thugs have always been manipulating this secret and abused it and so far got away unchallenged after wrecklessy doing whatever whimsical evil things they had on their dumb or blind belief system") in a peaceful and non-violent way.
(Ridiculously, I won't talk about universal topics now.) But I feel a strong desire in me to say: 'Now, there is a short lasting opportunity to change the future course of global politics that is to be history of American recent Glory by as early as 2017'.
I just know that it won't be a lucky thing should we miss this chance and let the 'disguised new generation of old thugs' take control of world's trades and economy from as far as Dubai, India, China etc.!
For a better peaceful world, a fair and totally honest declaration of Amnesty will do the magic right now in regard to Assad, then only few dozens of thugs under veil: Emirs, Sheikhs and their Western business partners will take advantage of a new trend of 'non-violent changing process in 'Greed-money oriented global leader-ships', in a positive chain reaction.
Why not we unanimously elect one 'Not or less greedy' guy to accomplish the job of positive-global-change and encourage him to selflessly take the pain of selflessly leading the world for a noble cause and to show the World once again the unique humanitarian power of Great North-America. God created resources on Earth: e.g. Oil-Dollars, like billions of Gaddafi or Emirs or Kings of Middle East can be used for establishing one benevolent dictatorial type Authority (Doing its activities in a "No Secret" and transparently visible digital methods having random access to and from each member of the Global Public.) of impartial UN power to supervise on corporate capitalism in control of 'less tax-paying a small group of businessmen' and balance the world wide democracy. New UN (A few more Wise guys or at least "Some like me in the Think-tank") can only ensure 'Tax collection from each rich guy on Earth, regardless of the color of blood: Red or blue (?), including the so called spiritual leaders, hereditary owners of natural resources, kings' etc.
When even God-made (?) political policies e.g. Women's voting and driving etc. in a piece of Arab Lands can be changed, then, Man-made policies of all kinds in the West are easily changeable too for the benefit of our American public today and global Public tomorrow.
The source of the knowledge is so genuine, clear and strong that no one will believe it to be true now and I shall not divulge to anyone or second or third party!
Just watch how things unfold in an unprecedented way, one by one before the now digitally interconnected World. The days of old style politics are now history! The moment any of the heads of powers starts just one killing of own or foreign Country Citizens to remain in power, a crime against Humanity gets committed and such crime approving Head, just like a ordinary Citizen: Criminal, now have to face True Justice backed by the new Global Public.
Simultaneously, in pace with the natural or cosmic weakening of all the old political platforms in disguise of religions, the old autocratic days of Emirs, Shaikhs, Kings etc. are not too far from ending.
The land piece of Syria will be “King-Free’ soon and many other lands such as Nepal, Thailand, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi, Oman etc. will be among the next ones.
The evidences (noted and automatically saved by electronic Medias, therefore, by the collective Public minds on a ongoing basis) of extremely negative cruel acts or in other words, crimes against Humanity are now not destroy-able anymore.
Brutalities like the following fact in Arab-lands, for example, now, will have great negative impacts on the future generation of declining pilgrimages in all parts of the World.
Demand of the time: Smart non-violent politics.
The Greatness of the West: 1 Pre-meditated murderer of 80 lives still alive in the West and 8 needy thieves, earning not enough as foreign workers in a richest Country to became accidental killers and die in unimaginable brutal ways in the East.
Recently, one Norwegian killer in a pre-planned way killed 80 and probably won’t receive even suspended death penalty in the World Class generous atmosphere of the Western Justice System and in Super rich: Saudi Arabia, 8 poor foreign workers from Bangladesh (with insufficient wages (e.g. US$ 5 to $10 a day for 12 hours of hard laboring job) have been murdered openly by autocratic order of a non-benevolent king in this modern, globally awakened time: in a primitive, brutal, barbarian style as a punishment for accidental killing of one!
If, it is not for sharing profiteering fortune of artificially raised oil-price money, then, non-violent removal of only a few guys in business of politics of the West would also force the brutal ruler-ships to change their inhuman policies of the old or expedite the removals of the ‘Out of date’: opportunist guys’ or king’s businesses of terrorism for it’s own comfort to remain in the power vacuum, historically unnoticed by the majority of the then old-world and not ever claimed by wise guys like evolved most intelligent men of this 21st Century Generation.
The evidences of these types of heinous acts (Just like Assad’s of Syria; for personal enjoyment of hereditary power, in old styled form of politics, to suppress awareness of true justice by brutal treatments for creating fear in isolated portion of the collective global Public) that are currently taking place in this rapidly growing digital communication technology and time are now invincible and not subject to procedural destruction anymore, therefore, to the surprise of the perpetrators, the painful memories shall never be wiped out! (All the credits, eternally go to the neutral wise-understanding of the region-less Creator of Cosmos).
The Bangladeshi heads in power, just like money hungry mongers of Pakistan, India, Syria, Bahrain, Nigeria, Somalia, Iran, North Korea, Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela etc. neither have enough intelligence (because they are elected to represent ignorance of majority) nor any idea about how to join the emerging new body of honest politicians in the West for help create a one standard Global justice system for aiding Humanity’s positive side for a possible new peaceful world where.............
Shahislam