Washington — U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Susan Rice has urged the U.N. Security Council to support the Arab League’s plan to mediate a political transition in Syria that would pave the way for the departure of President Bashar al-Assad from power.
“We welcome the Arab League’s … efforts to facilitate a transition and broker a political solution to the more than 10 months of brutality by the Assad regime,” Rice said in remarks to the Security Council in New York January 24.
The Arab League, consisting of 22 member states, has sent monitors to Syria to assess the turmoil in which thousands have died in a government crackdown on protesters since March 2011. The league has formulated a plan for al-Assad to hand over power to his vice president, Farouk al-Shara, who would be tasked with forming a unity government with the opposition. The head of the Arab League, Nabil al-Arabi, and Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani intend to go to New York in the coming days to seek the Security Council’s support for their plan.
“It is long past time that this Council pass a strong resolution that supports the Arab League’s efforts to end the crisis and restore peace to Syria,” Rice said.
The U.S. envoy also voiced support for efforts by Jordan’s King Abdullah to restart a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians in coordination with the Quartet, a diplomatic group consisting of the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia that promotes peace between the two sides.
“We are now at a critical juncture. The government of Jordan deserves our gratitude for facilitating reengagement by the parties,” Rice said. “It is imperative that we do everything we can to contribute to the success of this pathway.”
Rice condemned incitements to violence and terrorist attacks on civilians in Israel, including rocket attacks from Gaza, and urged Israel to step up its efforts to “deter, confront and prosecute anti-Palestinian violence and extremist hate crimes.” She repeated the U.S. policy that it does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity.
With regard to Lebanon, Rice again called for the disarming of Hezbollah in keeping with previous U.N. Security Council resolutions and expressed support for the Lebanese Armed Forces for their role in maintaining stability in Lebanon.