NEW YORK: French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe accused the Syrian regime Monday of "crimes against humanity" and slammed the UN Security Council for failing to take a strong stand on the unrest.
| So you want to do another Libya? Or is it that you want someone else to take on the expense and risk of doing another Libya for you? |
"Crimes against humanity are committed in Syria. The silence of the Security Council is unacceptable," Juppe told the Council on Foreign Relations,
| Ah. They just want an official statement, not action. |
at a talk held on the sidelines of a week of UN summits.
| Yeah, yeah, tell the Russians and the Chinese... |
Since the anti-regime protests erupted in mid-March, several opposition groups have emerged united in their call for the ouster of Assad's autocratic regime but have been divided about how to go about achieving it.
The latest group, the Syrian Coalition of Secular and Democratic Forces (CSDF), is meeting in Paris where it issued a statement on Monday urging the international community to protect civilians against the repression.
| Sure, just like the international community did in Libya, Bosnia and Rwanda... |
The appeal -- an implicit call for foreign intervention -- conflicted with other pleas by opposition groups for an end to the bloodshed in Syria and the launch of political, economic and social reforms.
"We call on the international community to adopt a United Nations resolution to protect civilians," said a statement modeled on UN Security Council Resolution 1973 that authorized international action in Libya. |