Russia and the West on Friday sparred over the reconstruction of Syria as its military forces continue to capture opposition-held territory and Syrians express hope that the country’s seven-year civil war is nearing an end.
French Ambassador to the UN Francois Delattre told a UN Security Council meeting that the EU would not participate in rebuilding Syria “unless a political transition is effectively carried out — with constitutional and electoral processes carried out in a sincere and meaningful way.”
Russian Deputy Ambassador to the UN Dmitry Polyansky, whose country is militarily backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said that reconstruction should not be linked to politics and the international community should join the recovery effort now.
Photo: AP
However, Western nations are adamant about withholding reconstruction money to maximize pressure for a political transition.
Major powers, including the five veto-wielding Security Council nations — the US, Russia, China, Britain and France — agreed on a roadmap for a Syrian political transition at a meeting in Geneva on June 30, 2012, about 16 months after the Syrian conflict began.
The roadmap starts with the establishment of a transitional governing body vested with full executive powers, includes drafting a new constitution, and ends with elections.
Successive UN envoys have tried to get the government and opposition to the negotiating table, so far unsuccessfully.
UN envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura is working to establish on a committee to draft a new constitution.
After seven years of war, the country has suffered catastrophic damage and massive rebuilding is needed. Ground warfare, airstrikes and barrel bombs have left entire cities and infrastructure a landscape of rubble. In some places, like Aleppo, the destruction is reminiscent of World War II devastation.
Earlier this year, the government estimated that reconstruction would cost about US$200 billion dollars and last 15 years. However, like neighboring Iraq, which also needs massive reconstruction after the war against the Islamic State, no one is offering much to help fund the process.
Polyansky told the council meeting on the humanitarian situation in Syria that “a critical challenge” to the al-Assad government’s call this month for the return of more than 5.6 million refugees “is the revival of the Syrian national economy — the generation of new jobs.”
“The country is experiencing an acute shortage of construction materials and heavy equipment for which fuel is necessary,” he said, adding that the education and health systems need to be revived.
“It would be wise for all international partners to join assistance in the Syrian recovery effort, to eschew artificial linkages to political momentum,” Polyansky said.
More broadly, he called for Syria to be reintegrated into the regional trade and economic system, which “will best advance the objective of overall normalization of relations among states in the Middle East.”
“And, of course, stabilization will help to advance the UN-led political settlement process, which is unanimously supported by all members of the Security Council,” Polyansky said.
Delattre said a political transition with a new constitution and credible elections is “the essential condition for the country’s stability, and for our contribution to the financing of reconstruction.”
“Without that, nothing can justify having France and the European Union engage in financing reconstruction,” Delattre said.
Without “a breakthrough” in the political process, the humanitarian situation will never be fully resolved, he said.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
‘DELUSIONAL’: Targeting the families of Hamas’ leaders would not push the group to change its position or to give up its demands for Palestinians, Ismail Haniyeh said Israeli aircraft on Wednesday killed three sons of Hamas’ top political leader in the Gaza Strip, striking high-stakes targets at a time when Israel is holding delicate ceasefire negotiations with the militant group. Hamas said four of the leader’s grandchildren were also killed. Ismail Haniyeh’s sons are among the highest-profile figures to be killed in the war so far. Israel said they were Hamas operatives, and Haniyeh accused Israel of acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder.” The deaths threatened to strain the internationally mediated ceasefire talks, which appeared to gain steam in recent days even as the sides remain far
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of