China hinted that it would veto any move to strike Syria

[Vikrant]

BEIJING: China has warned the United States against air strikes on Syria and hinted that it would veto any such move at the Security Council.


"External military intervention contravenes the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and the basic norms of international relations, and will add to the turmoil in the Middle East," said foreign minister Wang Yi on Thursday.

In a statement published in the foreign ministry's website, Wang said, "China calls on all parties concerned to exercise restraint and calmness, adhering to the right track of political solution."

Chinese government experts suggested that the Syrian government may not have used chemical weapons as alleged by the US. They pointed at errors made by US intelligence when it said Iraq possessed nuclear weapons in 2003 before invading it, and later found there was none.

"Who used the chemical weapons in Syria isn't clear," said Li Wei, director of the Beijing-based Institute of Security and Arms Control Studies on Thursday.

The Chinese official media also drummed up support for the government's stand and suggested that the Syrian government was being wrongly targeted by the US.

"Turning Syria into another Libya or even Iraq is the last thing people around the world want to see," commented Beijing-based China Daily. "Before the crisis takes a turn for the worse, it is time the US learned from its past mistakes."

China warns against US air strikes on Syria - The Times of India

 

[waltky]

Syrian refugees would welcome strike against Assad...

Refugees in Jordan welcome possible US strike against Syrian regime
August 30, 2013 > Many residents of this sprawling refugee camp in the desert just south of the Syrian border said they welcomed possible U.S. airstrikes against the forces of President Bashar Assad, hoping the attacks would target the Syrian leader.

Several refugees interviewed on Friday said they hoped the strikes would help create a battlefield alliance between the United States and Islamic radicals fighting the secular government, which would result in the ouster of the regime. Others predicted that Assad would immediately flee to Iraq or Russia. The sprawling camp less than five miles from the Syrian-Jordanian border was set up just a year ago. With nearly 140,000 people, the collection of trailers, prefabricated homes and tents is already the fourth-largest town in Jordan, and its population is continuing to grow, as refugees keep flooding across the border.

The residents of Zaatari are just a small fraction of the Syrian refugees who have flooded into Jordan. International aid groups say more 550,000 have fled to Jordan to escape the fighting. Most live with relatives or friends in Jordan’s largest cities. The influx has placed a huge strain on Jordan’s fragile economy — draining its water and energy resources, driving up the cost of food and housing for its citizens, and increasing competition for jobs. The Zaatari camp contains four hospitals, dozens of food stalls, and a large commercial district with hundreds of shops. Jordanian police maintain a strong presence inside the camp, and closely monitor people going in or out.

U.N. officials, who together with the Jordanians run the camp, say almost all the residents are members of Syria’s Sunni majority, which has supported the 2 1/2-year uprising. There are virtually no Allawites, Christians, Druze, or Kurds — Syrian minorities, which have largely sided with the government in the escalating war. During more than a dozen interviews conducted within the camp, all respondents said they expected the United States and its allies to hit Assad’s forces hard and to turn the tide of the war. But they all opposed sending U.S. troops to Syria, saying the job of removing Assad should be left to the opposition forces. “We want airstrikes to hit the main military bases, but we don’t want foreign soldiers here,” said Rahed Muhammed el Soleh, 22, a refugee from the village of Abu Khanadek, near the central city of Homs. “We would be very happy, we would be with the United States [if it attacks]. If they help us finish with the ruling regime, we will be very happy.”

Ziad Ibrahim, 20, said he wished the aerial attacks strike at the heart of the regime. “Everyone I know thinks Bashar al-Assad will flee from Syria after the first night of attacks,” he said. Ibrahim said he was from Homs, which Assad’s forces have largely recaptured from the insurgents who held much of the city for almost a year. Christian groups accuse the opposition of carrying out “ethnic cleansing” of the city, saying that during that period about 50,000 members of the religious minority were expelled from Homs by members of the Western-backed Free Syrian Army and allied jihadist groups such as Jabhat al-Nusra — the al-Qaida-affiliated group that emerged as the most effective and capable of the rebel forces. Ibrahim said that if the attacks were limited to only a day or two, “then Bashar will just kill more people.”

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See also:

US finds itself with only 1 Syria partner: France
August 30, 2013 — The United States found itself with only one major partner - France - in its plans to strike Syria over its alleged use of chemical weapons, after its staunchest ally Britain had to beg off following a stunning rejection of military force by Parliament.

The collapse of support puts pressure on President Barack Obama as resistance to the mission grows at home - and comes with the irony that Paris was the most vocal critic of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. French President Francois Hollande pledged backing Friday for Obama's plans to hit the Damascus regime. "The chemical massacre of Damascus cannot and must not remain unpunished," Hollande said in an interview with the newspaper Le Monde, published Friday, as U.N. experts in Damascus began what is expected to be the last day of their probe into the alleged attack.

Amid the turmoil of a British `no' and mounting American skepticism, Obama appeared undeterred in his determination to punish Syrian leader Bashar Assad, and advisers said he would be willing to retaliate against Syria on his own. U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, speaking from Manila, Philippines, issued an impassioned defense of the principles behind the planned strike. "I don't know of any responsible government around the world ... that has not spoken out in violent opposition to the use of chemical weapons on innocent people," said Hagel, adding that such attacks violate basic standards of decency.

He said that Washington would continue to seek partners in its Syria mission: "Our approach is to continue to find an international coalition that will act together." The U.S. administration shared intelligence with lawmakers Thursday aimed at convincing them the Syrian government used chemical weapons against its people and must be punished. "The president of the United States is elected with the duty to protect the national security interests in the United States of America," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.

Meanwhile, in Damascus, shops and supermarkets filled with Syrians stocking up on bread, canned food and other necessities ahead of the expected U.S. strikes, although there appeared to be no signs of panic or food shortages. Prices have shot up because of the high demand, residents complained. Kheireddine Nahleh, a 53-year-old government employee, said he was not particularly worried about the U.S. threats. "We got used to the sound of shelling ... Death is the same be it with a mortar or with an American missile," he said. "I'm not afraid." On the last expected day of chemical weapons inspections, three U.N. vehicles headed out for more on-site visits, following an early morning delay.

More US finds itself with only 1 Syria partner: France - U.S. - Stripes

 

[Circe]

BEIJING: China has warned the United States against air strikes on Syria and hinted that it would veto any such move at the Security Council.


"External military intervention contravenes the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and the basic norms of international relations, and will add to the turmoil in the Middle East," said foreign minister Wang Yi on Thursday.

In a statement published in the foreign ministry's website, Wang said, "China calls on all parties concerned to exercise restraint and calmness, adhering to the right track of political solution."

Chinese government experts suggested that the Syrian government may not have used chemical weapons as alleged by the US. They pointed at errors made by US intelligence when it said Iraq possessed nuclear weapons in 2003 before invading it, and later found there was none.

"Who used the chemical weapons in Syria isn't clear," said Li Wei, director of the Beijing-based Institute of Security and Arms Control Studies on Thursday.

The Chinese official media also drummed up support for the government's stand and suggested that the Syrian government was being wrongly targeted by the US.

"Turning Syria into another Libya or even Iraq is the last thing people around the world want to see," commented Beijing-based China Daily. "Before the crisis takes a turn for the worse, it is time the US learned from its past mistakes."

China warns against US air strikes on Syria - The Times of India

This is seen as a good opportunity to weaken the US, so China is piling on.

 

[Vikrant]

India on Saturday asked all its citizens to leave Syria amid escalation of violence there and the US moving closer to military intervention in the war-torn country.

Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs said the earlier advisory for citizens asking them not to travel to Syria remained in effect.

“We are in touch with our Mission in Damascus who are also in contact with approximately 25—30 Indian citizens in Syria.

All Indian citizens are safe. Previously, we had advised all Indian citizens in Syria to return to India. They have once again been advised to leave Syria,” Spokesperson in MEA Syed Akbaruddin said.

The crisis in the country was evolving rapidly.

The U.S. on Saturday moved closer to military intervention in Syria with President Barack Obama saying he was considering a “limited, narrow” strike with “no boots on the ground” even as UN experts probing the alleged use of chemical weapons left the war-torn country.

The U.N. weapons inspectors have left Syria for Lebanon after completing their probe into a suspected chemical weapons attack near Damascus.



India asks its nationals in Syria to move out - The Hindu