The UN General Assembly has approved a resolution backing an Arab League plan that calls for Syria’s president to step down and strongly condemns human rights violations by his regime. The vote in the 193-member world body was 137-12 with 17 abstentions.
According to the foreign media reports, Russia and China, who vetoed a similar resolution in the Security Council, voted against the resolution.
“Today, the U.N. General Assembly sent a clear message of the people of Syria: the world is with you,” U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said in a statement. Assad “has never been more isolated. A rapid transition to democracy in Syria has garnered the resounding support of the international community. Change must now come.”
Earlier on Thursday, senior Russian diplomat Gennady Gatilov was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying that the draft is very close to the U.N. Security Council resolution that Russia and China vetoed on Feb. 4.
At the time, Russia had expressed concerns about the draft text, saying it feared the resolution would lead to the kind of military intervention and regime change seen in Libya after last year’s council action intended to protect civilians from attacks by forces loyal to long-time leader Moammar Gadhafi.
Meanwhile, sharing the concerns of the international community on the situation in Syria, Permanent Representative of Pakistan, Ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon voted for the Arab-sponsored resolution of Syria.
“We strongly condemn the use of force against peaceful protesters and the human rights violations committed by all sides”, he said.
The Ambassador told the delegates that all out efforts have to be geared towards breaking the spiral of violence in Syria, and to enable the legitimate aspirations of the people to be heard and channeled for peace, prosperity and stability of the country. Haste, he added often leads towards waste and is historically contrary to the principles of tried and tested diplomacy.
Ambassador Haroon reiterated his country’s call for the Syrian people to be respected, and said they must be allowed to resolve their crisis.
Pakistan position in the Security Council, the Ambassador said was based on principles of non interference in internal affairs of States and non use of foreign military intervention and my country, he added stands by those principles.
“We call on both sides to shun violence, pursue the path of dialogue and reconciliation, and engage in result oriented and inclusive political process, leading to a peaceful resolution of the problem. We have always urged that any discussion on Syria at the UN should be with full cognizance of and respect for the principles of independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Syria”, the Pakistani envoy told the Assembly.
In his speech, Ambassador Haroon said Pakistan has acquiesced to the collective wisdom of its brothers in the Arab world and voted in favour of their resolution.
He said, “The objectives of peace and security can best be served by pursuing a cooperative approach with the country concerned. We therefore reiterate our earlier calls to respect the will of the Syrian people, and for a Syrian-led solution to the ongoing unrest.”
Moreover he added, “We have been stressing on the importance of consensus approach on the issue, including in the Security Council, for only a unified message could help promote our common objectives.”
He underscored the need for more efforts to bridge the gaps through accommodation of proposed amendments by Russia, supported by China, for the sake of world peace and to achieve greater consensus in the Assembly.
“All remonstrations aside, there is a growing apprehension and anxiety in the Islamic world as another Muslim country faces ingress at the United Nations,” Ambassador Haroon pointed out.
