Syria wins Security Council seat; Israel: 'sheer absurdity'
By The Associated Press
UNITED NATIONS - Syria won a seat on the UN Security Council on Monday with overwhelming support from the nations of the world, despite being on the U.S. list of countries sponsoring terrorism. The General Assembly elected Syria to the powerful UN body for a two-year term on the first ballot. It received 160 yes votes from the 177 nations voting.
Israel protested on Monday the UN General Assembly's decision to include Syria on the Security Council, saying it contradicted world efforts to eradicate terror groups.
Israel accuses Syria of harboring 11 terror organizations, including the Hezbollah group, which has led fighting in Lebanon against Israel, including several attacks in the past year.
"Maybe it's about time that the world wake up and judge countries not according to the number of votes they gain in the United Nations but according to the policies they conduct in regards to terrorism," said Raanan Gissin, a spokesman for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Some of the organizations supported by Syria were involved in some way in planning the attacks against the United States on Sept. 11, Gissin said. He called for the United States to pressure Syria to crack down on the terror groups.
Cabinet Minister Tzipi Livni said the approval was a cynical step. "Just two weeks ago (Syrian President) Bashar Assad called on the Arab world not to join the coalition against terrorism," Livni said.
In addition, Syria prevents Lebanon from implementing a UN Security Council resolution that calls for the deployment of the Lebanese army on the border with Israel, Livni said.
The General Assembly elected Syria to the Security Council for a two-year term, with 160 out of 177 nations giving yes votes. Syria is one of the nations included on the U.S. list of countries that support terrorism.
Syria was the unanimous choice of Arab and Asian nations for the Asian seat on the council being vacated by Bangladesh on Jan. 1. Candidates that have unanimous regional support are almost always elected. Last year, the United States led a successful campaign to keep Sudan, also on the U.S. list of terrorism sponsors, off the council.
But this year, despite opposition from Israel and a last-minute appeal from 38 members of the U.S. Congress to President George W. Bush to oppose Syria's candidacy, the U.S. administration has remained silent.
Israel's UN Ambassador Yehuda Lancry said Syria's election went against the spirit and letter of the UN Charter which stipulates that every candidate for the Security Council should prove its adequacy in terms of its contribution to international peace and security. "Syria indeed backs terrorist groups inside Syria and outside Syria," Lancry said. "It is really a sheer absurdity and a sheer nonsense to have Syria as a member of the Security Council."
But Saudi Arabia's UN ambassador, Fawzi Shobokshi, countered Monday that Syria "deserves to be a member of the Security Council ... because they represent a responsible government and the world's people, and play an important role in our part of the world." One major difference between last year's election and this year's is that Syria was running unopposed while Sudan was running against Mauritius in a hotly contested race.
The United States has been trying to enlist Syria's help in its global anti-terrorism campaign, and Syrian President Bashar Assad has condemned the attacks. But Rep. Eliot L. Engel, a New York Democrat who collected 38 congressional signatures Friday on a letter to Bush, said allowing Syria to join the council would send precisely the wrong signal to the international community at this critical time and would be counterproductive to America's efforts to put a halt to global terror.
The Security Council, the top UN decision-making body, is made up of 15 members. Russia, China, France, Britain and the United States hold permanent seats. Ten nonpermanent members are elected to two-year terms - five every year. Guinea, Cameroon and Bulgaria were also elected on the first ballot. Mexico defeated the Dominican Republic for a Latin American seat. |
