Russia Says UN Chemical Attack Report Biased

Findings called "one-sided" by minister who says Syria has provided new proof implicating rebels in August 21 attack.

Is War Biggest Crime Committed in Syria against Syrians?

As the UN Independent Commission on Syria releases yet another report, one thing is painfully clear: both sides have committed countless war crimes and atrocities, with no end in sight to the hostilities. How independent and impartial can the Commission be, with so much at stake? Vitit Muntarbhorn, one of the authors of the report, joins Oksana in this special edition of Worlds Apart.

Syria Crisis: UN to Confirm Sarin Gas Used in Damascus

BBC: There is "convincing evidence" that sarin gas was used in a rocket attack in the Syrian capital, Damascus, last month, a UN report is to confirm.

Text seen in a photograph of the front page of the report - to be released later - does not apportion blame.

US allegations that the government was responsible led to threats of military action and then a US-Russia deal for Syria to make safe its chemical arms.

World powers will now try to hammer out a UN Security Council resolution. » | Monday, September 16, 2013

Assad Guilty of Crimes against Humanity, Says UN Chief Ban Ki-Moon

Ban Ki-Moon, the United Nations secretary-general, has accused Bashar al-Assad of committing crimes against humanity as he said a UN report next week would provide “overwhelming” confirmation that chemical weapons had been used in Syria.

Read the article here | Damien McElroy in Geneva and Alex Spillius | Friday, September 13, 2013

Vladimir Putin Threatens UN Syria Vote over US Threat of Force

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: Washington: An emergency meeting of the UN Security Council has been cancelled and the diplomatic initiative to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons is under threat after Russian President Vladimir Putin said the US and other nations must renounce the use of force against Bashar al-Assad's regime.

A lot of people say nothing focuses the mind like the prospect of a hanging. Well, it's the credible threat of force that has ... brought this regime to even acknowledge that they have a chemical weapons arsenal.

Putin's remarks complicate the outlook for the Russian proposal a day after it was presented by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who seized on comments in London by US Secretary of State John Kerry about the possibility of Syria turning over its chemical-weapons stockpile.

Kerry and Lavrov plan to meet in Geneva on September 12 to discuss Syria, according to a State Department official who asked not to be identified in advance of an announcement. » | Bloomberg, AFP | Wednesday, September 11, 2013

USA – Bemühen uns nicht mehr um UN-Zustimmung in Syrien-Krise

Das System der Vereinten Nationen habe im Falle Syrien versagt, sagte die US-Botschafterin bei den Vereinten Nationen. Auch beim G20-Gipfel in St. Petersburg verhärteten sich die Fronten zwischen den Weltmächten.

Arab League: Only UN Can Stop Syria Crimes

Secretary general insists military action "is out of the question" unless United Nations gives green light.

Syrien: Assad erlaubt Untersuchung von mutmaßlichem Giftgaseinsatz

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: UN-Kontrolleure dürfen die bombardierten Dörfer in Syrien untersuchen, in denen Giftgas eingesetzt worden sein soll. Das hat das syrische Außenministerium bekanntgegeben. Das Pentagon hatte zuvor erklärt, für eine mögliche militärische Intervention gerüstet zu sein.

Nach dem mutmaßlichen Einsatz von Giftgas in Syrien hat die syrische Regierung den Chemiewaffenkontrolleuren der UN Zugang zu den bombardierten Dörfern versprochen. Das meldete die staatliche syrische Nachrichtenagentur Sana am Sonntag. Wie das syrische Außenministerium mitteilte, erzielten die Regierung in Damaskus und UN-Vertreter eine entsprechende Vereinbarung. Nach Angaben der syrischen Opposition waren am Mittwoch bei Angriffen der Regierungstruppen mit Chemiewaffen nahe der Hauptstadt mehr als tausend Menschen getötet worden. » | Sonntag, 25. August 2013

Syria Civil War Death Toll Passes 100,000 People

Syria’s civil war has claimed over 100,000 lives, the UN announced on Thursday, after the number of deaths rose by more than 7,000 in just over a month.

Read the Telegraph article here | Barney Henderson | Thursday, July 25, 2013

Military Intervention in Syria Will Lead to Catastrophe – Lavrov

Iran gegen Antrag der Palästinenser auf UN-Aufnahme

Pastor Who Burned Koran Demands Retribution
THE NEW YORK TIMES: GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Before a Koran was burned at his modest church here on March 20, the pastor Terry Jones held a self-styled mock trial of the holy book in which he presided from the pulpit as judge. The prosecutor was a Christian who had converted from Islam. An imam from Dallas defended the Koran.

Sitting in judgment was a jury of 12 members of Mr. Jones’s church, the Dove World Outreach Center. After listening to arguments from both sides, the jury pronounced the Koran guilty of five “crimes against humanity,” including the promotion of terrorist acts and “the death, rape and torture of people worldwide whose only crime is not being of the Islamic faith.”

Punishment was determined by the results of an online poll. Besides burning, the options included shredding, drowning and facing a firing squad. Mr. Jones, a nondenominational evangelical pastor, said voters had chosen to set fire to the book, according to a video of the proceedings.

Mr. Jones said in an interview with Agence France-Presse on Friday that he was “devastated” by the killings of 12 people in a violent protest in Afghanistan when a mob, enraged by the burning of a Koran by Mr. Jones’s church, attacked the United Nations compound in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif. “We don’t feel responsible for that,” he told the news service. » | Lizette Alvarez and Don Van Natta Jr. | Friday, April 01, 2011

Afghan Protesters Kill UN Workers over Qur'an Burning

Sporadic Gunfire in Libya
Mar 21 - Gunfire rings out in Benghazi as UN chief Ban Ki-Moon urges an end to violence. Marie-Claire Fennessy reports

Prestige of EU and Nato Will Be Lost If Gaddafi Clings to Power, Says Sir John Major
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The “prestige” of the international community will be lost if Colonel Gaddafi is allowed to cling to power in Libya, Sir John Major has warned.

Unless Gaddafi is toppled, he will inflict “bloody reprisals” on the Libyan people, the former prime minister said. Other Middle Eastern leaders would also be encouraged to continue to repress their people.

He spoke as Western leaders continued to debate their response to the growing violence in Libya, where Col Gaddafi’s forces were yesterday making significant gains against opposition groups.

Sir John also backed William Hague as a “superb” foreign secretary, amid continued Conservative criticisms of his performance in the job.

Sir John speaks frequently to David Cameron, advising the Prime Minister on issues including the Middle East, where he travels frequently on business.

European Union and Nato leaders will meet today to continue discussing their response to the Libyan crisis, but there is still no sign of an international consensus on military action. >>> James Kirkup, Political Correspondent | Thursday, March 10, 2011

If something isn’t done about Gaddafi soon, it will be too late. The opportunity to topple this despicable dictator will have been lost. President Barack Hussein Obama is showing no leadership in this thorny issue. Isn't he a typical academic? Quite unable to make up his mind because he is able to see the problem from each and every angle. So, he ends up dithering instead of taking decisive action. This, of course, is a very dangerous strategy (or lack of one). If Gaddafi is allowed to cling to power, and it looks as though he probably will cling to power given today’s advances, he will terrorize his own people and, as retribution, will probably resume terrorizing the world, too. We only have to think of Lockerbie for a graphic example of such a nightmare scenario. – © Mark

Danish Immigration Minister Hornbech Fired over Scandal
BBC: Denmark's Immigration Minister Birthe Roenn Hornbech has been sacked after 36 stateless Palestinians were wrongly refused citizenship.

Ms Hornbech, 67, admitted that she knew her department had broken a UN convention in 2008 but failed to report the matter to MPs until 2010.

Shortly after PM Lars Loekke Rasmussen announced his decision, a second minister announced she was resigning.

Education Minister Tina Nedergaard said she was going for personal reasons.

Since it came to power in 2001, Denmark's Liberal-Conservative coalition government has tightened immigration and citizenship laws and has relied on the support of Pia Kjaersgaard's right-wing Danish People's Party to stay in power.

In a statement, the prime minister said he had decided to set up an independent inquiry into the handling of stateless people by the immigration ministry.

The scandal surrounding Ms Hornbech began in January when it emerged that her ministry had denied Palestinian youths citizenship. Under the 1961 UN convention on stateless persons, to which Denmark is a signatory, stateless children born in a country have the right to citizenship there before their 21st birthday.

Mr Loekke Rasmussen said that 36 stateless persons had "mistakenly been denied Danish nationality and that parliament should have been informed at an earlier point". >>> | Tuesday, March 08, 2011

Libya: UN Warns of Crisis On Tunisia Border
The UN humanitarian agency has warned of a "crisis" on the Tunisian border as up to 12,000 people a day flee the violence in Libya

SKY NEWS: There is an increasing large field of tents here. Yesterday, there were about 500 and now there are about 1,500 - enough for about 12,000 people. >>> Tim Marshall on the Tunisia-Libya border, and David Connolly, Sky News Online | Wednesday, March 02, 2011

Libya Crisis Sparks Spat at UN between US and Venezuela
The UN general assembly unanimously suspended Libya's membership of the UN Human Rights Council because of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's violence against his own people

U.N. Suspends Libya From Human Rights Council
Mar 1 - The United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday unanimously suspended Libya's membership in the U.N. Human Rights Council, following a deadly crackdown by Libya on anti-government protesters. Jon Decker reports

Libyan Rebels Said to Debate Seeking U.N. Airstrikes
THE NEW YORK TIMES: BENGHAZI, Libya — In a sign of mounting frustration among rebel leaders over Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s diminished but unyielding grip on power, rebel leaders here are debating whether to ask for Western airstrikes under the United Nations banner, according to four people with knowledge of the deliberations.

By invoking the United Nations, a council of opposition leaders made up of lawyers, academics, judges and other prominent figures is seeking to draw a distinction between such airstrikes and foreign intervention, which the rebels said they emphatically opposed.

“He destroyed the army; we have two or three planes,” said a spokesman for the council, Abdel-Hafidh Ghoga. He refused to say if there would be any imminent announcement about such strikes, but he wanted to make it clear: “If it is with the United Nations, it is not a foreign intervention.”

That distinction is lost on many people, and any call for foreign military help carries great risks. >>> Kareem Fahim and David Kirkpatrick | Tuesday, March 01, 2011

NEW YORK TIMES PHOTO GALLERY: Rebels Continue to Move Against Qaddafi >>>