The US on Thursday accused Syria of stonewalling a UN probe of the murder of Lebanon's former prime minister and condemned an "appalling" speech by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Assad, in a fiery hour-long speech to the nation in Damascus, lashed out at the Lebanese government and accused its prime minister of kowtowing to Western countries.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Syria was still failing to cooperate fully with the UN probe of the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri.
Speaking in Shannon, Ireland, en route to the Middle East, Rice criticized Syria for its response to the investigation conducted by German magistrate Detlev Mehlis for the UN.
"I don't think this constitutes cooperation," she said. "The [UN] resolution couldn't have been clearer and in fact more detailed about what was expected of the Syrians. They're expected to answer affirmatively, positively, yes, to whatever Mehlis needs to complete his investigation."
Rice was commenting on Syria's announcement on Wednesday that it had invited Mehlis to sign a cooperation accord on the probe into the Feb. 14 assassination of Hariri in a massive bomb blast in Beirut.
The UN Security Council adopted three resolutions concerning Syria, the most recent of them (Resolution 1636) calling for Damascus's complete cooperation with the Mehlis assassination probe.
Meanwhile, the US State Department slammed as "appalling" Assad's speech at Damascus University in which he defended his country's innocence in the Hariri case.
"We saw the speech. We think it's appalling," said State Department spokesman Adam Ereli. "Assad's remarks today can only be seen as a defiance of those [UN] resolutions."
"Let's remember, first of all, that the international community has made it clear to Syria that it must first fully cooperate with the Mehlis investigation and, second, cease all interference in Lebanese domestic affairs," Ereli said.
In his speech, Assad declared: "I always said Syria is innocent. ... Syria is not implicated."
But he added: "Whatever we do or say to cooperate, the response is just going to be in a month that Syria is not cooperating. We have to be realistic. Syria is being targeted."
Assad vowed, however, that Damascus, despite its distrust of the process, would fully cooperate with the UN probe.
He lashed out at the Lebanese government which swept to power to replace their pro-Syrian predecessors in the aftermath of the murder, calling Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora a "slave of his masters."
"We asked Siniora to work to preserve good relations with Lebanon but some of those who are in power are hostile to Syria and accept that their country serves as a passage point for plots," Assad said.
Assad's speech prompted a walkout from a Lebanese Cabinet meeting of five Shiite ministers in protest of Siniora's insistence on discussing Assad's speech.
Separately, the US called for the unconditional release of a Syrian opposition figure as well as other critics of Assad's regime.
A humanoid robot that won a half-marathon race for robots in Beijing on Sunday ran faster than the human world record in a show of China’s technological leaps. The winner from Honor, a Chinese smartphone maker, completed the 21km race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, said a WeChat post by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, where the race began. That was faster than the human world record holder, Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, who finished the same distance in about 57 minutes in March at the Lisbon road race. The performance by the robot marked a significant step forward
Four contenders are squaring up to succeed Antonio Guterres as secretary-general of the UN, which faces unprecedented global instability, wars and its own crushing budget crisis. Chile’s Michelle Bachelet, Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan and Senegal’s Macky Sall are each to face grillings by 193 member states and non-governmental organizations for three hours today and tomorrow. It is only the second time the UN has held a public question-and-answer, a format created in 2016 to boost transparency. Ultimately the five permanent members of the UN’s top body, the Security Council, hold the power, wielding vetoes over who leads the
South Korea’s air force yesterday apologized for a 2021 midair collision involving two fighter jets, a day after auditors said the pilots were taking selfies and filming during the flight and held them responsible for the accident. “We sincerely apologize to the public for the concern caused by the accident that occurred in 2021,” an air force spokesman told a news conference, adding that one of the pilots involved had been suspended from flying duties, received severe disciplinary action and has since left the military. The apology followed a report released on Wednesday by the South Korean Board of Audit and Inspection,
An earthquake registering a preliminary magnitude of 7.7 off northern Japan on Monday prompted a short-lived tsunami alert and the advisory of a higher risk of a possible mega-quake for coastal areas there. The Cabinet Office and the Japan Meteorological Agency said there was a 1% chance for a mega-quake, compared to a 0.1% chance during normal times, in the next week or so following the powerful quake near the Chishima and Japan trenches. Officials said the advisory was not a quake prediction but urged residents in 182 towns along the northeastern coasts to raise their preparedness while continuing their daily lives. Prime
RSS