MOSCOW, August 2 (Itar-Tass) —— The UN Security Council’ s approval of tough sanctions on the Syrian government will be quite natural, Chairman of the Federation Council International Affairs Committee Mikhail Margelov told Itar-Tass.
“The international community is extremely concerned about violence in that Arab country. That is proven with the urgent meeting of the UN Security Council convened by request of Germany,” he said.
In Margelov’s words, ”patience of Security Council members is stretched too thin. They will hardly discuss the soonest military interference of the Libya type, but harsh condemnations may be followed with stricter sanctions.”
The Syrian administration “has reached a limit in the bloodshed accompanying the suppression of the opposition,” he said. “Tank attacks on compatriots and people of the same belief, which are impermissible any time, look particularly outraging in the time of Ramadan, one of the five pillars of Islam.”
Margelov noted that the opposition was not homogeneous and included radical political forces amongst others. The protesters “wanted democratic transformations, at least in the beginning,” he said, adding that the Syrian administration preferred a war against civilian population to long needed reforms. “That is an obvious sign of the weakness of the regime, its fear of change and an open dialog of the opposition,” he said.
Such actions of Damascus “stir up tensions, and hopes for political settlement vanish with every new attack of governmental tanks and infantry,” Margelov said. “With the armed reprisals, President Bashar al-Asad has caused the founded indignation about the regime and himself inside and outside the country.”
In the modern times, such regimes “are doomed, either tomorrow or in the foreseeable prospect,” he said.
Meanwhile, Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department for the Middle East and North Africa Sergei Vershinin said that Russia opposed measures, which did not help peace settlement in Syria.
“We strongly oppose everything that does not help the peace process. Any unbalanced steps – sanctions or pressure – are bad for the attainment of our goal of the prevention of bloodshed and the broadening of democracy,” he said.
“The UN Security Council started consultations on Syria yesterday. The consultations will continue tomorrow. The question is how the Security Council will react to the events in that country; it could be either a statement or a resolution. The most important is to prevent steps that may exacerbate the situation,” he said.
“We have plenty of like-minded partners at the UN Security Council, among them BRICS members. The Libyan experience should be taken into account,” he said. “The Syrian president and government retain a serious potential for holding the reforms. Laws are being drafted. From this point of view and with due account of the prospective inter-Syrian dialog, it is possible to ensure normal and democratic development of the country,” he said.