Syria keutamaan diplomasi,
walaupun senjata undi EU
by YongKyrol | Suara Rakyat @1WORLDCommunity
May 29, 2013
WORLDNews
‘BEIRUT (AP) - Rusia pada Selasa keras mengkritik keputusan Eropah untuk
membenarkan melengkapkan pemberontak Syria, berkata ia melemahkan usaha-usaha
antarabangsa untuk berunding menamatkan perang saudara, dan umum pemberontak
berkata dia "Sangat Kecewa" senjata tidak akan datang cukup cepat
untuk membantu pejuang pembangkang mempertahankan bandar strategik Syria.'
Keputusan
Kesatuan Eropah, diikuti dengan ikrar Rusia diperbaharui untuk membekalkan
rejim Presiden Syria Bashar Assad dengan peluru berpandu canggih, boleh
mengubah perang sivil yang sudah kejam melawan proksi Timur-Barat.
Israel,
Sementara itu, mengancam untuk menyerang pertahanan udara seperti sistem peluru
berpandu jika dihantar ke Syria, menggambarkan mereka sebagai ancaman kepada
negara Yahudi dan meningkatkan risiko kebakaran serantau.
Kemungkinan
perlumbaan senjata di Syria dibayangi percubaan oleh Amerika Syarikat dan Rusia
untuk membawa wakil-wakil rejim Assad dan pembangkang Syria untuk rundingan
damai di sebuah persidangan antarabangsa di Geneva, mungkin bulan depan.
Rundingan,
walaupun dilihat sebagai pukulan yang panjang, membentuk pelan sahaja
masyarakat antarabangsa bagi menamatkan konflik yang bermula lebih daripada 2
tahun lalu dan telah membunuh lebih daripada 70,000 orang.
Di
Syria, komander kumpulan payung yang disokong Barat briged pemberontak utama memberitahu
The Associated Press dia amat memerlukan anti-kereta kebal Barat dan
anti-pesawat peluru berpandu untuk mengelakkan kekuatan rejim lagi di medan
perang. Senjata pemberontak 'adalah tidak setanding dengan kereta kebal moden
dan pesawat pejuang rejim Syria, beliau berkata.
"Kami
amat kecewa," Kejadian Salim Idris, ketua tentera Free Syria Army, berkata
keputusan jelas Kesatuan Eropah untuk tidak menghantar senjata, jika pada
semua, sehingga selepas persidangan Geneva. "Kami tidak mempunyai apa-apa
kesabaran (sebarang) lagi."
Dalam
mana-mana kes, Eropah mungkin berfikir 2 kali untuk menghantar senjata itu ke
dalam zon perang huru-hara di mana mereka cepat boleh disita oleh pemberontak
militan Islam, sesetengah daripada mereka telah berikrar setia kepada rangkaian
pengganas al ‘Qaeda.
Britain,
yang bersama-sama dengan Perancis telah menolak untuk menamatkan sekatan
senjata EU, mahu menggunakan ancaman mempersenjatai pemberontak sebagai
pengaruh untuk memastikan bahawa Assad berunding dengan niat yang baik.
Pembangkang
Syria, yang belum komited kepada rundingan Geneva, juga boleh terjebak ke meja
jika kehadiran dikaitkan dengan menerima senjata sekiranya rundingan gagal.
Para pemimpin parti pembangkang telah berkata mereka hanya akan mengambil
bahagian dalam perbincangan jika Assad lepaskan dari kuasa mendahului agenda,
permintaan Assad dan penyokong Rusia beliau telah menolak.
Setiausaha
Luar British William Hague berkata rundingan damai adalah keutamaan dan bahawa
"kita bekerja untuk persidangan Geneva, kami tidak mengambil apa-apa
keputusan untuk menghantar senjata kepada sesiapa pun." Walau
bagaimanapun, Menteri Luar Rusia Sergey Lavrov memberi amaran bahawa tindakan
baru-baru ini oleh Barat "dengan sukarela atau terpaksa akan melemahkan
idea persidangan itu."
Beliau
mengecam mengangkat senjata sekatan EU sebagai "Keputusan yang tidak
sah," mengatakan bahawa membekalkan senjata kepada kumpulan-kumpulan bukan
kerajaan "Bertentangan dengan norma-norma undang-undang
antarabangsa."
Pada
masa yang sama, Timbalan Lavrov itu mengesahkan Selasa bahawa Rusia tidak akan
meninggalkan rancangan untuk menghantar jarak jauh S-300 sistem pertahanan udara
peluru berpandu ke Syria, walaupun kritikan Barat dan Israel yang kuat.
Ianya
tidak jelas jika Rusia telah menghantar beberapa peluru berpandu, yang akan
menjadi rangsangan utama untuk keupayaan Syria pertahanan udara, termasuk
terhadap negara-negara jiran yang menentang rejim Assad.
Duta
PBB Rusia Vitaly Churkin berkata bahawa "Setakat sistem tersebut, jika
ditempatkan di Syria, boleh menghalang campur tangan tentera asing, saya fikir
ia akan membantu minda memberi tumpuan kepada penyelesaian politik."
Churkin,
bercakap kepada CNN, Assad berkata telah memberi jaminan bahawa Rusia delegasi
kerajaan akan menghadiri persidangan damai Rusia dan Amerika Syarikat telah
dipanggil. Masalah yang paling sukar, beliau berkata, "akan menganjurkan
pembangkang."
"Kami
berpendapat bahawa terdapat peluang dengan usaha bersepadu kami bahawa
persidangan itu mungkin mula dan mungkin menghasilkan akhirnya keputusan untuk
menamatkan konflik itu," kata Churkin. jurucakap Jabatan Negara Amerika Syarikat
Patrick Ventrell berkata Washington mengalu-alukan keputusan EU sebagai tanda
sokongan untuk pembangkang Syria dan sebagai mesej kepada rejim Assad bahawa
sokongan itu hanya akan berkembang.
Beliau
berkata pentadbiran Obama akan terus memberi bantuan bukan maut kepada
pemberontak dan belum membuat keputusan sama ada untuk melengkapkan mereka.
Ventrell
mengutuk keputusan Moscow untuk tidak menggugurkan rancangan untuk menjual peluru
berpandu S-300 ke Syria. "Kami bercakap tentang rejim yang sanggup pergi berpanjangan
untuk menggunakan kekerasan terhadap orang awam secara besar-besaran, termasuk
peluru berpandu Scud dan jenis lain," katanya. "Kami mengutuk semua
sokongan senjata kepada rejim."
Lagi
meningkatkan risiko perang serantau, Israel memberi amaran bahawa ia akan
bersedia untuk menyerang mana-mana penghantaran peluru berpandu itu. Pertahanan
Israel Moshe Yaalon berkata Israel percaya peluru berpandu Rusia belum
dihantar, tetapi tentera Israel "akan tahu apa yang perlu dilakukan"
jika ianya dihantar.
Awal
bulan ini, serangan udara Israel yang disyaki memukul penghantaran peluru
berpandu Iran maju berhampiran ibu kota Damsyik Syria yang panggilnya bertujuan
untuk Assad sekutu Hizbullah, militia Lubnan yang berjuang di samping tentera
rejim Syria.
Israel
telah berkata ia tidak akan teragak-agak untuk menyerang sekali lagi untuk
mengganggu aliran senjata permainan berubah mengancam keselamatan. Perancis dan
Britain setakat ini telah tidak dinyatakan apa senjata mereka yang mungkin dihantar.
Tetapi strategi mengancam untuk melengkapkan pemberontak sebagai satu cara
mengukuhkan diplomasi dengan mudah boleh jadi gagal.
Rejim
Assad telah disediakan tanda-tanda apa-apa niat untuk menyerahkan kuasa di
Syria, permintaan pembangkang penting sebelum memasuki mana-mana perbincangan.
Sementara
itu, pihak pembangkang boleh cuba untuk membuat persembahan awam kesediaan
untuk menghadiri perbincangan, hanya untuk menuntut penghantaran senjata dari
Eropah memulakan segera jika berharap untuk proses Geneva rosak.
Rejim
dan pembangkang kedua-duanya masih cuba untuk memenangi ketenteraan. Kedua-dua
pihak kekal sebahagian besarnya buntu, tetapi dalam beberapa minggu
kebelakangan ini rejim telah menjaringkan beberapa kejayaan medan perang yang
mungkin menjadikan ia kurang cenderung untuk berunding.
Kementerian
Luar Syria berkata keputusan EU mendedahkan "Penghinaan" tuntutan
Eropah akan menyokong penyelesaian politik untuk krisis berdasarkan dialog
kebangsaan, manakala "Pengganas menggalakkan dan memperluaskan senjata mereka."
Sebaliknya,
Idris, komander pemberontak, berkata pejuang itu boleh hilang kawalan ke atas
sebuah bandar strategik di barat Syria pada hari-hari akan datang jika dia
mendapat senjata dengan cepat. Beliau berkata, beribu-ribu pejuang Hezbollah
menyertai serangan terhadap Qusair yang bermula 19 Mei, dan pejuang beliau
mengatasi lebih daripada 3-kepada-1.
"Masa
adalah faktor yang sangat penting kini pertempuran dalam Qusair," katanya.
"Apabila mereka menunggu selama seminggu (untuk menghantar senjata),
mungkin Qusair akan berada di bawah kawalan Hizbullah. Kemudian kita tidak
memerlukan mereka bantuan (Barat), kita tidak memerlukan sokongan mereka."
Jika
Assad mengambil kembali bandar, beliau akan menyokong beliau memegang darat di
koridor yang menghubungkan kubu kuat beliau di Damsyik dengan kawasan setia di
sepanjang pantai Mediterranean. Bagi pemberontak, kehilangan Qusair bermakna
kehilangan talian bekalan berdekatan Lebanon.
Pada
Isnin, Idris disertai Senator Amerika Syarikat John McCain ke kawasan
pemberontak-diadakan di utara Syria untuk mengadakan pertemuan dengan kira-kira
sedozen komander tempatan. Dalam komen di Twitter, Republikan Arizona pada hari
Selasa memuji "Pejuang berani" Assad berjuang dan diperbaharui
panggilan bagi pentadbiran Obama untuk bergerak secara agresif ketenteraan
untuk membantu pembangkang.
Michael
Clarke, pengarah pemikir Royal United Services Institute di London, berkata
keputusan EU akan bermakna sedikit di atas darat buat masa sekarang. Beliau
berkata ia adalah satu mesej kepada Assad bahawa "Proses Geneva adalah
peluang terakhir yang baik pernah anda perlu untuk keluar daripada keadaan ini
tanpa perang saudara jauh lebih teruk - dan dalam satu bahagian."
Beliau
berkata, ia juga memberitahu Rusia bahawa "kita tidak akan takut dengan
banyak kepenatan Rusia pada masa ini."
Keaten
dilaporkan dari Brussels. Associated Press penulis Matthew Lee di Washington
dan Edith M. Lederer di PBB menyumbang kepada laporan ini.
Photo:
image kewartawanan APCitizen disediakan oleh Aleppo Media Center AMC yang telah
disahkan berdasarkan kandungannya dan laporan AP lain, penunjuk perasaan
anti-rejim Syria memegang poster dalam bahasa Arab yang berbunyi, "Untuk
rakyat Lubnan yang besar menyelamatkan kanak-kanak daripada kumpulan Hezbollah
, mereka membunuh di Syria, "Semasa demonstrasi, di Aleppo, Syria, Selasa
28 Mei 2013. Lelaki bersenjata membunuh beberapa tentera Lubnan ketika memandu
dengan menembak di pusat pemeriksaan kerajaan berhampiran sempadan Syria Selasa,
tentera Lebanon berkata, ketegangan yang semakin meningkat di negara dibahagikan
oleh perang saudara bersebelahan dan takut yang menyelubungi oleh konflik.
Photo:
APCitizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Media Center AMC which has been
authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, an anti-Syrian
regime protester holds a poster in Arabic that reads, "to the great
Lebanese people save your children from Hezbollah gangs, they kill in
Syria," during a demonstration, in Aleppo, Syria, Tuesday May 28, 2013. Gunmen
killed several Lebanese soldiers in a drive-by shooting on a government
checkpoint near the Syrian border Tuesday, Lebanon's military said, escalating
tensions in a country deeply divided by the civil war next door and fearful of
being engulfed by the conflict.
Syria
diplomacy a priority, despite EU arms vote
WORLDNews
'BEIRUT (AP) - Russia on Tuesday harshly criticized Europe's decision to allow
the arming of Syrian rebels, saying it undercuts international efforts to
negotiate an end to the civil war, and a rebel general said he's "very
disappointed" weapons won't come fast enough to help opposition fighters
defend a strategic Syrian town.'
The
European Union decision, coupled with a Russia's renewed pledge to supply
Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime with advanced missiles, could transform
an already brutal civil war into an East-West proxy fight. Israel, meanwhile,
threatened to strike such air defense missiles systems if delivered to Syria,
portraying them as a threat to the Jewish state and raising the risk of
regional conflagration.
The
possibility of an arms race in Syria overshadowed attempts by the U.S. and
Russia to bring representatives of the Assad regime and Syria's political
opposition to peace talks at an international conference in Geneva, possibly
next month.
The
talks, though seen as a long shot, constitute the international community's
only plan for ending the conflict that began more than two years ago and has
killed more than 70,000 people. In Syria, the commander of the main
Western-backed umbrella group of rebel brigades told The Associated Press he
urgently needs Western anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles to prevent further
regime gains on the battlefield. The rebels' weapons are no match for the
Syrian regime's modern tanks and warplanes, he said.
"We
are very disappointed," Gen. Salim Idris, military chief of the Free
Syrian Army, said of the European Union's apparent decision not to send
weapons, if at all, until after the Geneva conference. "We don't have any
patience (any) more."
In
any case, Europe might think twice about sending such weapons into a chaotic
war zone where they could quickly be seized by Islamic militant rebels, some of
whom have pledged allegiance to the al-Qaida terror network.
Britain,
which along with France had pushed for ending the EU arms embargo, wants to use
the threat of arming the rebels as leverage to ensure that Assad negotiates in
good faith.
Syria's
fractured opposition, which has not yet committed to the Geneva talks, could
also be lured to the table if attendance is linked to receiving weapons in the
event that talks fail. Opposition leaders have said they will only participate
in talks if Assad's departure from power tops the agenda, a demand Assad and
his Russian backers have rejected.
British
Foreign Secretary William Hague said peace talks are a priority and that
"as we work for the Geneva conference, we are not taking any decision to
send arms to anyone." However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
warned that recent actions by the West "willingly or unwillingly are
undermining the idea of the conference."
He
denounced the lifting of the EU arms embargo as an "illegitimate
decision," saying that supplying weapons to non-governmental groups
"goes against all norms of international law."
At
the same time, Lavrov's deputy affirmed Tuesday that Russia won't abandon plans
to send long-range S-300 air defense missile systems to Syria, despite strong
Western and Israeli criticism. It is not clear if Russia has already sent some
of the missiles, which would be a major boost for Syria's air defense
capabilities, including against neighboring countries that oppose Assad's
regime.
Russia's
U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said that "to the extent those systems, if
deployed in Syria, can deter foreign military intervention, I think it will
help focus minds on a political settlement."
Churkin,
speaking to CNN, said Assad has assured Russia that a government delegation
will attend the peace conference that Russia and the U.S. have called. The most
difficult problem, he said, "is organizing the opposition."
"We
think that there is a chance with our concerted effort that the conference might
start and might produce eventually results to end the conflict," Churkin
said. U.S. State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said Washington welcomes
the EU decision as a show of support for the Syrian opposition and as a message
to the Assad regime that such support will only grow.
He
said the Obama administration will continue to provide non-lethal assistance to
the rebels and hasn't made a decision on whether to arm them.
Ventrell
condemned Moscow's decision not to drop plans to sell S-300 missiles to Syria.
"We're talking about a regime that's willing to go to enormous lengths to
use massive force against civilians, including Scud missiles and other
types," he said. "We condemn all support of arms to the regime."
Further
raising the risk of a regional war, Israel warned that it would be prepared to
attack any such missile shipments. Israeli Defense Moshe Yaalon said Israel
believes the Russian missiles have not yet been shipped, but that the Israeli
military "will know what to do" if they are delivered.
Earlier
this month, Israeli airstrikes hit suspected shipments of advanced Iranian
missiles near the Syrian capital of Damascus that were purportedly intended for
Assad ally Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia that is fighting alongside Syrian
regime forces.
Israel
has said it would not hesitate to attack again to disrupt the flow of
game-changing weapons threatening its security. France and Britain so far have
not specified what weapons they might send. But the strategy of threatening to
arm the rebels as a way of bolstering diplomacy could easily fail.
Assad's
regime has provided no sign of any intent to cede power in Syria, a key
opposition demand before entering any talks.
Meanwhile,
the opposition could try to make a public show of willingness to attend the
talks, only to demand that weapons deliveries from Europe start right away if
the hoped-for Geneva process breaks down.
The
regime and the opposition are both still trying to win militarily. The two
sides remain largely deadlocked, but in recent weeks the regime has scored a
number of battlefield successes that might make it less inclined to negotiate.
Syria's
Foreign Ministry said the EU decision exposes the "mockery" of
European claims to be supporting a political solution to the crisis based on
national dialogue, while "encouraging terrorists and extending them
arms."
On
the other hand, Idris, the rebel commander, said his fighters could lose
control of a strategic town in western Syrian in the coming days unless he gets
weapons quickly. He said thousands of Hezbollah fighters are participating in
an offensive against Qusair that began May 19, and that his fighters are
outnumbered by more than 3-to-1.
"Time
is a very important factor now in the battle in Qusair," he said.
"When they wait for a week (to send weapons), maybe Qusair will be under
the control of Hezbollah. Then we don't need their (the West's) help, we don't
need their support."
If
Assad retakes the town, he would shore up his hold on the land corridor linking
his stronghold in Damascus with loyalist areas along the Mediterranean coast.
For the rebels, losing Qusair would mean losing a supply line to nearby
Lebanon.
On
Monday, Idris accompanied U.S. Sen. John McCain into a rebel-held area in
northern Syria for a meeting with about a dozen local commanders. In a comment
on Twitter, the Arizona Republican on Tuesday praised the "brave
fighters" battling Assad and renewed his call for the Obama administration
to move aggressively militarily to aid the opposition.
Michael
Clarke, director of London's Royal United Services Institute think tank, said
the EU decision will mean little on the ground for now. He said it is a message
to Assad that "the Geneva process is the last good chance you're ever
going to have of getting out of this situation without the civil war getting
considerably worse - and in one piece."
He
said it's also telling the Russians that "we are not going to be
intimidated by a lot of Russian huffing and puffing at the moment."
Keaten
reported from Brussels. Associated Press writers Matthew Lee in Washington and
Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

