UN Security Council sends balanced message to Syrian parties

UN Security Council on Wednesday spoke with one voice on the year-long Syrian crisis by sending a balanced message to all the parties concerned in Syria, asking both the Syrian government and opposition to “work in good faith with” Kofi Annan, the UN and Arab League joint special envoy, “towards a peaceful settlement of the crisis and to implement fully and immediately his initial six-point proposal.”The message was contained in a presidential statement adopted by consensus among the 15 members of the UN body, which, under the UNCharter, has the primary responsibility for maintaining peace and security in the world at large.The presidential statement, which is not legally binding, remains a far cry from the two draft resolutions, jointly drafted by European and Arab states and vetoed by Russia and China, the two permanent members of the Security Council, in October 2011 and February 2012.Unlike the two blocked draft resolutions, the new presidential statement does not contain any words implying the forced regime change in Syria, the one-sided pressure on the Syrian government, and sanctions or the threat of sanctions on Damascus.Instead, the presidential statement reaffirmed the Security Council’s “strong commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Syria, and to the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter.”