UN hits back at Russian claims of bias US to retain military threat against Syria

The News 19 September 2013 WASHINGTON: The US military will maintain the threat of force against Syria in case the regime fails to abide by an agreement to relinquish control of its chemical weapons, Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Wednesday. “We should keep that military option exactly where it is. We have assured the president that our assets and force posture remain the same,” Hagel told a press conference. “We are prepared to exercise any option that he would select.” Hagel’s comments made clear the United States had no plans to withdraw destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean, which had been prepared to launch cruise missile attacks to punish Damascus over its alleged use of chemical weapons. He said it was clear “the credible threat of US force” helped to persuade Syria to agree to a US-Russia accord that calls for the regime to turn over its chemical arsenal to international control. US defence officials told AFP four destroyers equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles remained in place in the eastern Mediterranean, ready to launch a possible attack if diplomacy fails. Hagel and General Martin Dempsey, the military’s top-ranking officer, also said the administration was still considering whether to have the Pentagon take over the arming of Syria’s rebels from the Central Intelligence Agency, which would involve larger scale assistance. Despite agreeing to the deal on securing Syria’s chemical weapons, Washington and Moscow remain at odds over who carried out the August 21 chemical attack outside Damascus. Russia says the Syrian regime has handed over new evidence implicating rebel forces in the deadly incident. But US President Barack Obama has said it was “inconceivable” that anyone other than the Syrian regime could have carried out the attack. Meanwhile, The United Nations on Wednesday hit back at Russian claims that experts who reported on the use of chemical weapons in Syria were biased. “The terrible facts speak for themselves,” UN spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters, insisting that UN leader Ban Ki-moon has the “fullest confidence” in the team which reported this week. Nesirky said the United Nations was checking with Russia’s UN mission on comments made by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov about the UN inspectors. “On the face of it these reported remarks are an attempt to call into question the secretary general’s investigation team led by Professor Sellstrom and the credibility of its thoroughly objective report,” Nesirky said.

Ignoring US sanctions, Russia offers to build Pak-Iran gas pipeline

The News Thursday, September 19, 2013 ISLAMABAD: Russia is ready to execute the Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline project, ignoring the US sanctions on Iran, a Russian minister has revealed in a meeting with Pakistan’s petroleum minister in Islamabad. This will be done in view of the new Russian policy to look towards South Asia.To this effect, Gazprom, a state-owned Russian company or one of its subsidiaries will soon make a formal contact with the Government of Pakistan to execute the Pak-Iran gas pipeline project. This message has been clearly conveyed by a Russian delegation led by Yury Sentyurin, Deputy Minister of Energy, at a meeting with the Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, here on Wednesday, a top official who was part of the meeting told The News. The Russians have also decided to play a role in accomplishing the TAPI gas line project and want to become part of a consortium which is to execute the project.Apart from it, Moscow has also clearly indicated to Islamabad that it wants the electricity trade project (CASA-1,000) to be extended to Russia as it is rich in electricity and is currently exporting power to Mongolia, China and Europe. The official said that Russia has also sought a role in developing coal-based projects at Gadani, arguing that it has the best expertise in the world to make such coal based projects.Additionally, the Russian delegation also offered its services to install power projects based on the lignite coal of Thar. “In the meeting, the visiting team also expressed its willingness to install a 600MW coal based project at Jamshoro,” the official said, adding that both sides have decided to hold another meeting some time in November at the Joint Working Level to workout a roadmap for future cooperation in the energy sector. A press release says the Russian delegation led by Yury Sentyurin, Deputy Minister of Energy, expressed the Russian intentions to invest in the energy sector of Pakistan.Abbasi, while talking to the members of the delegation, said Pakistan has huge potential of investment in the energy sector, especially in the oil and gas sector. He welcomed the Russians’ desire for investment in oil and gas exploration and expressed the hope that this cooperation will help a great deal in coping with the energy shortages in the country. The Russian delegation also had a meeting with the Pakistani delegation led by the Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Resources, Jam Kamal Khan, who assured the Russian delegates that Pakistan encourages foreign investment on equality basis, and a level playing field will be provided to all companies whether public limited or private.

A Plea for Caution From Russia What Putin Has to Say to Americans About Syria By VLADIMIR V. PUTIN Published: September 11, 2013

MOSCOW — RECENT events surrounding Syria have prompted me to speak directly to the American people and their political leaders. It is important to do so at a time of insufficient communication between our societies. Relations between us have passed through different stages. We stood against each other during the cold war. But we were also allies once, and defeated the Nazis together. The universal international organization — the United Nations — was then established to prevent such devastation from ever happening again. The United Nations’ founders understood that decisions affecting war and peace should happen only by consensus, and with America’s consent the veto by Security Council permanent members was enshrined in the United Nations Charter. The profound wisdom of this has underpinned the stability of international relations for decades. No one wants the United Nations to suffer the fate of the League of Nations, which collapsed because it lacked real leverage. This is possible if influential countries bypass the United Nations and take military action without Security Council authorization. The potential strike by the United States against Syria, despite strong opposition from many countries and major political and religious leaders, including the pope, will result in more innocent victims and escalation, potentially spreading the conflict far beyond Syria’s borders. A strike would increase violence and unleash a new wave of terrorism. It could undermine multilateral efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear problem and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and further destabilize the Middle East and North Africa. It could throw the entire system of international law and order out of balance. Syria is not witnessing a battle for democracy, but an armed conflict between government and opposition in a multireligious country. There are few champions of democracy inSyria. But there are more than enough Qaeda fighters and extremists of all stripes battling the government. The United States State Department has designated Al Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, fighting with the opposition, as terrorist organizations. This internal conflict, fueled by foreign weapons supplied to the opposition, is one of the bloodiest in the world. Mercenaries from Arab countries fighting there, and hundreds of militants from Western countries and even Russia, are an issue of our deep concern. Might they not return to our countries with experience acquired in Syria? After all, after fighting in Libya, extremists moved on to Mali. This threatens us all. From the outset, Russia has advocated peaceful dialogue enabling Syrians to develop a compromise plan for their own future. We are not protecting the Syrian government, but international law. We need to use the United Nations Security Council and believe that preserving law and order in today’s complex and turbulent world is one of the few ways to keep international relations from sliding into chaos. The law is still the law, and we must follow it whether we like it or not. Under current international law, force is permitted only in self-defense or by the decision of the Security Council. Anything else is unacceptable under the United Nations Charter and would constitute an act of aggression. No one doubts that poison gas was used in Syria. But there is every reason to believe it was used not by the Syrian Army, but by opposition forces, to provoke intervention by their powerful foreign patrons, who would be siding with the fundamentalists. Reports that militants are preparing another attack — this time against Israel — cannot be ignored. It is alarming that military intervention in internal conflicts in foreign countries has become commonplace for the United States. Is it in America’s long-term interest? I doubt it. Millions around the world increasingly see America not as a model of democracy but as relying solely on brute force, cobbling coalitions together under the slogan “you’re either with us or against us.” But force has proved ineffective and pointless. Afghanistan is reeling, and no one can say what will happen after international forces withdraw. Libya is divided into tribes and clans. In Iraq the civil war continues, with dozens killed each day. In the United States, many draw an analogy between Iraq and Syria, and ask why their government would want to repeat recent mistakes. No matter how targeted the strikes or how sophisticated the weapons, civilian casualties are inevitable, including the elderly and children, whom the strikes are meant to protect. The world reacts by asking: if you cannot count on international law, then you must find other ways to ensure your security. Thus a growing number of countries seek to acquire weapons of mass destruction. This is logical: if you have the bomb, no one will touch you. We are left with talk of the need to strengthen nonproliferation, when in reality this is being eroded. We must stop using the language of force and return to the path of civilized diplomatic and political settlement. A new opportunity to avoid military action has emerged in the past few days. The United States, Russia and all members of the international community must take advantage of the Syrian government’s willingness to place its chemical arsenal under international control for subsequent destruction. Judging by the statements of President Obama, the United States sees this as an alternative to military action. I welcome the president’s interest in continuing the dialogue with Russia on Syria. We must work together to keep this hope alive, as we agreed to at the Group of 8 meeting in Lough Erne in Northern Ireland in June, and steer the discussion back toward negotiations. If we can avoid force against Syria, this will improve the atmosphere in international affairs and strengthen mutual trust. It will be our shared success and open the door to cooperation on other critical issues. My working and personal relationship with President Obama is marked by growing trust. I appreciate this. I carefully studied his address to the nation on Tuesday. And I would rather disagree with a case he made on American exceptionalism, stating that the United States’ policy is “what makes America different. It’s what makes us exceptional.” It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation. There are big countries and small countries, rich and poor, those with long democratic traditions and those still finding their way to democracy. Their policies differ, too. We are all different, but when we ask for the Lord’s blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal. Vladimir V. Putin is the president of Russia.

US arms experts going with Kerry to meet Russians

The News WASHINGTON: A team of US arms experts will accompany Secretary of State John Kerry to Geneva to meet with Russian counterparts for high-stakes talks on Syria's chemical weapons, a US official said Wednesday. Kerry is set to meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov first on Thursday, but officials said the talks could stretch into Saturday. Russia said Wednesday it had given the US its plan to put Syria's chemical weapons under international control amid hopes of a diplomatic solution to the crisis triggered by an alleged gas attack near Damascus last month. The move came a day after threatened US-led strikes against President Bashar al-Assad's regime were put on hold in response to Russia's offer to oversee Syria giving up its arsenal. Kerry and Lavrov are expected to closely examine the Russian proposal, but State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that so far Moscow had "put forward ideas" rather than a "lengthy package," adding there were still "components that need to be worked out." "We certainly know that there are challenges. There are potentially a large amount of chemical weapons in Syria's stockpile," Psaki said. So the United States and Russia would have to "figure out how to make the destruction effort logistically and technically possible." Kerry will also meet with the UN-Arab League special envoy on Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, during his visit to Geneva, Psaki added. President Barack Obama has dispatched Kerry to Geneva, after Syrian officials appeared to welcome the Russian proposal to rein in its chemical weapons. Acknowledging for the first time the existence of Syria's chemical weapons, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said Damascus would be prepared to join the international convention on banning such arms. "Over the last 48 hours... the credible threat of US military action has created a diplomatic opportunity to remove the threat of chemical weapons in Syria without the use of force," Psaki said. Kerry was to head to Geneva later Tuesday "not only to meet with Foreign Minister Lavrov, but we will also be bringing a team of experts to meet with their team of experts," she told reporters. Washington wanted to "hear from the Russians about the modalities of their ideas that they have put forward and to assess whether they meet our requirements" for the disposal of Syria's chemical weapons, she said. "Our goal here is to test the seriousness of this proposal, to talk about the specifics of how this would get done, what are the mechanics of identifying, verifying, securing and ultimately destroying the chemical weapons." But she stressed the path forward would require "willingness from both sides." There were currently no plans for Kerry to meet with Muallem, she added.(AFP)

Warship with 'special cargo' sent by Russia toward Syria: navy source

The News MOSCOW: A Russian warship carrying "special cargo" will be dispatched toward Syria, a navy source said on Friday, as the Kremlin beefs up its presence in the region ahead of possible US strikes against the Damascus regime. The large landing ship Nikolai Filchenkov will on Friday leave the Ukrainian port city of Sevastopol for the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiisk, from where it will head to Syria's coast, the Interfax news agency quoted a source from the Saint Petersburg-based central naval command as saying. "The ship will make call in Novorossiisk, where it will take on board special cargo and set off for the designated area of its combat duty in the eastern Mediterranean," the source said. The source did not specify the nature of the cargo. Russia has kept a constant presence in the eastern Mediterranean during the Syrian crisis. In recent days Russia has made steps to beef up its naval grouping in the region. The Russian destroyer Smetlivy will soon join the group in the region as well as the destroyer Nastoichivy, Interfax has said. The anti-submarine ship Admiral Panteleyev has already entered its zone of operation as the flagship of the current rotation of the Mediterranean grouping, a military source has told the news agency. Already in place in the eastern Mediterranean are the frigate Neustrashimy, as well as the landing ships Alexander Shabalin, the Admiral Nevelsky and the Peresvet. They are expected to be joined by the large landing ships Novocherkassk and Minsk and the missile cruiser Moskva. The reconnaissance ship Priazovye is also on its way to join the group. The US already has a strong naval presence in the region and any US military action against Syria is widely expected to be launched from the sea.