Upping the ante

Western nations are circulating a draft resolution among Security Council members that calls for the United Nations to impose sanctions on President Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria.

Britain, France, Germany and Portugal drafted the measure with strong backing from the United States. The draft resolution calls for the UNSC to freeze the assets of Assad and 22 members of his regime. Syria's General Intelligence Directorate and three companies that fund the government would also be subject to sanctions.

The draft also calls for an arms embargo that would forbid "the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer to Syria… of all arms and related material" as well as arms exports by Syria.

Russia, one of the five veto-wielding Security Council members, has reacted skeptically to the draft resolution. Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said that Moscow did not believe it was time for sanctions to be imposed against Damascus.

China said on Tuesday that the situation in Syria required more dialogue.

"The parties involved should seek to peacefully and properly resolve the issue through dialogue and consultations," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said. "The future of Syria should be decided by Syria itself."

The Security Council condemned the violence in Syria on August 3 in a statement, which carries less political weight than a resolution.

Pressure growing

The draft resolution comes after a flurry of international diplomacy aimed at addressing the bloody government crackdown on opposition protesters in Syria.

On Monday, the United Nations Human Rights Council called for an international investigation into alleged human rights violations in Syria. Thirty-three members of the 46 nation council voted in favor of that measure, including all four of the current Arab member states: Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said the body's previous fact-finding mission had detected a "pattern of systematic widespread human rights violations in Syria."

"There are indications that that the pattern of violations continues to this day," Pillay said. "It is our assessment that the scale and nature of these acts may amount to a crime against humanity."

On Thursday, US President Barack Obama publicly called on Assad to step down for the first time. Britain, France, Germany and Spain quickly followed suit.

The US subsequently tightened its sanctions regime by freezing Syrian assets and targeting Syrian oil companies. On Tuesday, the EU agreed to expand its sanctions to include 15 additional Assad associates and five more companies.

According UN rights chief Pillay, 2,200 people have been killed since the mass protests began last March.

Author: Spencer Kimball (AFP, dpa, Reuters)
Editor: Andy Valvur