UN Security Council to Discuss Syria After Assad’s Ouster
By Juliet Vincent
The U.N. Security Council is set to hold closed-door talks Monday on the situation in Syria, following the lightning advance by rebels that ousted President Bashar al-Assad.
Russia, which provided military assistance to Assad during the nearly 14-year Syrian civil war, requested the Security Council session to discuss the developments, including the potential implications on the U.N.’s peacekeeping mission in the Golan Heights.
Israeli troops deployed Sunday to the U.N.-monitored buffer zone in the Golan Heights, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying the move was necessary to protect Israelis after Syrian forces abandoned their positions.
Many questions remained Monday about who will lead Syria and how the country will try to recover after years of war and more than five decades under the rule of the Assad family.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters Monday that President Vladimir Putin decided to grant asylum to Assad. Peskov said there were no plans for Putin to meet with Assad, and he declined to comment on Assad’s location.
Russian news agencies said Sunday that Assad and his family had arrived in Moscow.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said his country hopes for a “new Syria” that has good relations with its neighbors and helps bring regional stability.
“We expect international actors, especially the United Nations, to reach out to the Syrian people and support the establishment of an inclusive administration,” Fidan said in a speech to ambassadors.
A spokeswoman for China’s foreign ministry said Monday that China was watching the developments in Syria and that the “future and destiny of Syria should be decided by the Syrian people.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement late Sunday that the United States will be “closely monitoring developments as they unfold and engaging with our partners in the region.”
“The United States strongly supports a peaceful transition of power to an accountable Syrian government through an inclusive Syrian-led process,” Blinken said. “During this transitional period, the Syrian people have every right to demand the preservation of state institutions, the resumption of key services, and the protection of vulnerable communities.”
Blinken said the United States will support international efforts to hold Assad and others accountable for abuses against the Syrian people and detention of civilians such as U.S. journalist Austin Tice.
Assad was accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the country’s civil war, including a 2013 chemical weapons attack on the outskirts of Damascus. (VOA)
