06 October 2003

Security Council Takes No Action on Syrian Resolution, October 6, 2003

(U.S. says resolution defective)

By Judy Aita
Washington File United Nations Correspondent

United Nations -- The Security Council did not act October 6 on a Syrian proposed resolution that would have condemned Israel for its attacks on alleged terrorist camps near Damascus.

U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte, president of the Security Council for October, said that there is no specific action scheduled on the draft resolution which was presented to the council on October 5 during an emergency session on the Israeli bombing raid.

Speaking as the U.S. representative to the United Nations, Negroponte said that the resolution "is deficient in many respects."

"Most importantly," he said, "it fails to condemn terrorism on the one hand and it makes no reference whatsoever to the suicide bombing attack that took place in Haifa on Saturday night."

"We think these are two enormous gaps in the Syrian proposal," Negroponte said.

Other nations have expressed their disapproval of the Syrian draft, diplomats said, and Syria has referred suggested changes back to Damascus.

In his remarks at the emergency council session, Negroponte said that "Syria is on the wrong side of the war on terrorism."

"We believe it is in Syria's interest and in the broader interest of Middle East peace for Syria to stop harboring and supporting the groups that perpetrate terrorist acts such as the one that occurred in Haifa yesterday," the U.S. ambassador said.