• UN, UK and France say Turkish push for Syria intervention requires careful consideration
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[TABLE][TR][TD][url]http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/08/2012830185024834513.html[/url] [quote=AJE]Britain and France have said they are not ruling out any options in Syria, including a military-enforced no-fly zone to protect thousands of civilians fleeing the escalating civil war. William Hague, Britain's foreign secretary, told a joint news conference in New York with Laurent Fabius, the French foreign minister, that a Turkish proposal for a safe zone would require military intervention. "We're ruling nothing out and we have contingency planning for a wide range of scenarios," he said, speaking on Thursday ahead of a UN Security Council now under way to discuss how to ease Syria's humanitarian crisis. Asked whether the options included a NATO-enforced no-fly zone without security council authorisation, he repeated: "We are not ruling out any options." "We also have to be clear that anything like a safe zone requires military intervention and that of course is something that has to be weighed very carefully." Fabius said Paris and London were in "complete unity ... on this point". Following the news conference, the UN said any proposals to set up to secure safe zones raised "serious questions" and would need to be studied carefully. "Such proposals raise serious questions and require careful and critical consideration," said UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson. [B]Humanitarian aid[/B] France, which is president of the Security Council for August, convened Thursday's meeting, which is also being attended by ministers from Syria's neighbours Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. "If Assad falls quickly, then the reconstruction can take place, but if sadly the conflict continues then we have to examine various solutions," said Fabius. "We have to be realistic." The two countries announced an increase in their humanitarian aid - $4.74m from London and $6.25m from Paris - and called on other states to boost their commitments. Fabius said Paris was channeling some of its aid to areas of Syria no longer under government control so that local communities can self-govern, encouraging people not to flee to neighbouring countries. More than 200,000 Syrians, and as many as 300,000 according to some aid groups, have poured out of Syria since the uprising against Assad's rule began last year, while up to 3 million are displaced. Turkey, which has seen the highest refugee influx, wants a quick solution to the problem. Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish foreign minister, who is attending the meeting, urged the UN on Wednesday to protect displaced Syrians inside their country, but Assad has dismissed talk of a buffer zone. [B]'Assad a criminal'[/B] While Thursday's meeting will focus on the humanitarian crisis, Fabius and Hague urged members of Assad's government and military to defect and renewed their call for the Syrian president to be held accountable before the International Criminal Court. "Assad is a criminal and a criminal must be judged and punished," Fabius said. However, the 15-member council is deadlocked over taking strong action after Russia and China blocked three resolutions that criticised Assad and threatened sanctions. Less than half the council members are sending their foreign ministers, and of the permanent members - the US, China, Russia, Britain and France - only the latter two are attending. Algerian diplomat Lakhdar Brahimi, who will replace Kofi Annan as the UN-Arab League Syria mediator on Saturday, will also attend but will not brief members. Annan blamed the Security Council impasse for hampering his six-month-old bid to broker peace and leading to his decision to step down.[/quote][/TD][TD][url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19430757[/url] [quote=BBC News][B]The UN Security Council is meeting to discuss the crisis in Syria, with Turkey demanding the creation of refugee camps inside Syria.[/B] Turkey told the UN to step in "without delay", but the UN deputy head said the issue raised "serious questions". The opposition Syrian National Council has again demanded a no-fly zone. Earlier, Egypt's president prompted a walkout by Syrian delegates at a summit in Tehran, when he called Syria an "oppressive regime" without legitimacy. Fighting continued in Syria on Thursday, with rebels saying they had shot down an air force fighter jet in the north-western province of Idlib. Activists said government forces had responded with shelling in the province, killing 20 people, including eight children. [B]'Critical consideration'[/B] Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu called on the United Nations to act "without delay" to set up refugee camps inside Syria. "Needless to say these camps should have full protection," he said. Mr Davutoglu said more than 80,000 Syrians were housed inside Turkey, with another 4,000 crossing each day, and 10,000 more waiting at the frontier. He has said Turkey will not be able to cope when the number reaches 100,000. However, ahead of the UN meeting, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said there would be "considerable difficulties" with the idea. "We have to be clear that anything like a safe zone requires military intervention and that of course is something that has to be weighed very carefully." But Mr Hague added: "We are excluding no option for the future." France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said "large-scale" military resources would be needed to protect refugees but if the conflict worsened "we will have to look at the different solutions". Going into the UN meeting, the organisation's Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson said of the camps issue: "Such proposals raise serious questions." The Security Council remains deeply divided on Syria, with both Russia and China staunchly opposed to any external intervention. They are unlikely to back any military element to the creation of refugee camps. The difficulties were highlighted by the fact that of the 15 council members, only France, Britain, Colombia, Morocco and Togo sent ministers to the current meeting. On Wednesday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad dismissed as "unrealistic" the idea of creating humanitarian buffer zones within Syria. The Syrian National Council again called for a no-fly zone, to cancel the government's air power monopoly. In their joint press conference, Mr Hague and Mr Fabius also announced new financial help for the UN's refugee work in Syria. France will add 5m euros ($6.2m) to its current 20m euro pledge and the UK will add £3m ($4.75m) to its £27.5m commitment. Both called on other nations to increase their pledges. Earlier, Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi, making the first visit to Iran by an Egyptian leader since 1979, told the Non-Aligned Movement (Nam) summit in Tehran that the Syrian uprising was a "revolution against an oppressive regime". He told delegates of the 120-member body: "Our solidarity with the struggle of the Syrian people against an oppressive regime that has lost its legitimacy is an ethical duty, as it is a political and strategic necessity." His comments sparked a walkout by the Syrian delegation. Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said Mr Mursi's speech "incites continued bloodshed in Syria". The US, which questioned Mr Mursi's attendance at the summit, praised his "very clear and very strong" remarks. The BBC's Iran correspondent, James Reynolds, says Tehran's hope for the summit was to show the West the Islamic Republic had plenty of friends elsewhere, but Mr Mursi's comments would certainly have upset the hosts. Iran has been solid in its support for the Assad government. Our correspondent says that for many years both countries have seen themselves as the natural leader of the Middle East and this fight is being played out at the summit. Separately on Thursday, in an interview with BBC Arabic, the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Martin Dempsey warned that Syria might turn into "a failed state" as there was no end in sight to the conflict. "It will be a terrible outcome, especially for the Syrian people, but also for the region," he said. [B]Parachutes[/B] In Thursday's fighting in Syria, Free Syrian Army chief for Idlib province, Col Afif Mahmoud Suleiman, told Agence France-Presse: "A MiG [fighter] was shot down this morning by our men using automatic weapons, shortly after taking off from Abu al-Zohur military airport." Amateur footage broadcast by Arabic satellite TV stations of the purported incident showed smoke billowing and two figures parachuting to the ground. The UK-based opposition activist group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said that 20 people, including eight children and nine women, were killed in bombardments by security forces in Abu al-Zohur that were carried out in response to the rebel attacks. Clashes were said to be continuing elsewhere in the country on Thursday, with activists reporting pre-dawn fighting in the eastern suburbs of Damascus. Activists also said fierce fighting was continuing in the bitterly contested commercial city of Aleppo.[/quote][/TD][/TR][/TABLE] Headline disclaimer: The UN's statement was separate, but I thought "weighed very carefully" and "careful consideration" are pretty much the same thing
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