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U.N. pressures Syria to scrap weapons

cnn — Sat, 28 Sep 2013 16:28:38 +0000

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The U.N. Security Council votes to approve a resolution that will require Syria to give up its chemical weapons during a meeting on Friday, September 27, at the United Nations. The vote comes after assertions by the United States and other Western nations that the Syrian government used chemical weapons in an August 21 attack outside Damascus that U.S. officials estimate killed 1,400 people.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the world community was imposing a binding obligation on the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to get rid of its chemical weapons stockpile.

A man mourns over the bodies of those killed in a suspected chemical weapon attack in a suburb of Damascus, Syria, on Wednesday, August 21. Syrian rebels said poisonous gas rained down from rockets, but authorities have denied the allegations that they used chemical weapons and accused the opposition of staging the attacks. U.S. officials, however, said there were “strong indications” that there was a chemical weapons attack by the government.

People attend to the victims of the attack on August 21 in Damascus. British intelligence said at least 350 people died, while rebel leaders have put the death toll at more than 1,300.

Constricted pupils was listed as a symptom in victims of the alleged attack on August 21.

Victims of the attack are laid in the back of a truck in the Hamoria area of Damascus on August 21.

A young survivor takes shelter in a mosque in the Duma neighborhood of Damascus on August 21.

Victims are buried in a suburb of Damascus on August 21.

People search for the dead to collect samples to check for chemical weapon use in the Zamalka area of Syria on Thursday, August 22.

A group of young Salafists chants and waves black flags during a protest against the Egyptian and Syria regimes in the southern Gaza Strip on August 22.

A young woman holds a Syrian revolution flag and a candle during a protest of President Bashar al-Assad in front of the U.N. headquarters in Gaza City on Friday, August 23. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon intends to conduct a “thorough, impartial and prompt investigation” into the alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria.

Pigeons’ bodies litter the ground in the Damascus suburbs of Arbeen on Saturday, August 24.

Syrian soldiers are deployed in the Jobar neighborhood of Damascus on August 24.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad speaks with the Russian newspaper Izvestia in Damascus, Syria, on Monday, August 26. He told the newspaper that Western accusations that the Syrian government used chemical weapons are an insult to common sense.

Representatives of Arab countries discuss Syria at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, on Tuesday, August 27. President al-Assad vowed to defend his country against any outside attack. “The threats of launching an aggression against Syria will increase its commitments,” and “Syria will defend itself against any aggression,” he said, according to Syrian state TV.

United Nations (CNN) — The U.N. Security Council, capping a dramatic month of diplomacy, voted unanimously late Friday to require Syria to eliminate its arsenal of chemical weapons — or face consequences.

“Today’s resolution will ensure that the elimination of the Syrian chemical weapons program happens as soon as possible and with the utmost transparency and accountability,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said.

The U.N. resolution was based on a deal struck this month between the United States and Russia that averted an American military strike over allegations the Syrian government used sarin nerve gas in an August 21 attack on a Damascus suburb that U.S. officials said left at least 1,400 people dead.

The resolution did not authorize the automatic use of force if Syria is said to be in violation, as was previously sought by the United States.

The 15-member Security Council met shortly after the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, or OPCW, voted to fast-track Syria’s addition to the Chemical Weapons Convention, which bans such weapons.

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For nearly two years, the U.N. Security Council had been unable to reach a consensus over what to do to bring about an end to Syria’s civil war. Russia and China repeatedly vetoed resolutions dating back to October 2011 that condemned President Bashar al-Assad’s government and called for him to step down.

The turnaround came this month, when Russia called for Syria to divest itself of its chemical weapons arsenal after U.S. President Barack Obama accused Syria of crossing a “red line” with the use of nerve gas and threatened a strike.

Syria announced this month that it was willing to join the agreement.

A binding obligation

Both the United States and Russia warned that if Syria failed to adhere to the terms of the U.N. resolution, it would face consequences.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the world community was imposing a binding obligation on the government of al-Assad to get rid of its stockpile.

“This resolution makes clear that those responsible for this heinous act must be held accountable,” said Kerry.

If the resolution succeeds, the world “will have eliminated one of the largest chemical weapon arsenals on Earth, eliminating it from one of the most volatile places on Earth,” Kerry said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the council that his country, long an ally of the Syrian government, “will stand ready to take action” if the resolution needs enforcement.

By agreeing to dismantle its chemical weapons program and provide documentation of its arsenal, “Damascus has shown its readiness to cooperate,” said Lavrov.

Syrian U.N. Ambassador Bashar Jaafari said the resolution holds all parties in Syria accountable for the use of chemical weapons.

Inspectors return to Syria

U.N. weapons inspectors returned to Syria this week to look into at least a half-dozen claims of chemical weapons use — some allegedly by the government, others allegedly by rebels.

U.N. inspectors have already confirmed the use of chemical warfare in the rural Damascus suburb of Ateibeh in August, but have not explicitly said who was responsible.

The al-Assad government has repeatedly accused rebels of using chemical weapons, an assertion that has been widely dismissed by most Western leaders.

The United Nations estimates more than 100,000 people have died since March 2011 when a brutal government crackdown against protesters devolved into an all-out civil war.

The Security Council vote followed action by the executive council of the OPCW, meeting in the Netherlands. That group adopted its measure by consensus in about 10 minutes.

“We now have a legal mandate to start a verification mission in Syria,” OPCW spokesman Michael Luhan.

The OPCW agreed to an “accelerated program for achieving the complete elimination of Syria’s chemical weapons by mid-2014,” it said in a statement. Inspections in Syria will begin Tuesday.

“The decision also calls for ambitious milestones for destruction, which will be set by the council by 15 November,” the organization said.

Obama: ‘Very hopeful’

Obama, speaking before the votes, said he was “very hopeful” about the developments, but warned much work remains to be done.

“I think, rightly, people have been concerned about whether Syria will follow through on the commitments that have been laid forth and I think there are legitimate concerns as to how technically we are going to be getting those chemical weapons out while there’s still fighting going on the ground,” Obama said.

Obama said the threat of U.S. military power pushed Syrian leaders to agree to destroy their chemical weapons and said the resolution “not only deters and prevents additional chemical use but actually goes beyond what could have been accomplished through any military action.”

The OPCW plans to send an advance team of inspectors to Damascus, an official with the organization, who declined to be identified while discussing delicate operations, told CNN on Friday.

The official said that in order to meet international deadlines for destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons, the group may opt for a “quick and dirty” program that would render the weapons unusable but wouldn’t destroy them, the official said.

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‘Not a license to kill’

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has said his country is willing to transport and destroy Syrian chemical weapons, although only as part of an international coalition.

Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier in September took to The New York Times to argue against military intervention in Syria.

Striking Syria would have many negative ramifications, Putin argued in the piece, including the killing of innocent people, spreading violence around the Middle East, clouding diplomatic efforts to address Iran’s nuclear crisis and resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and “unleash(ing) a new wave of terrorism.”

In his remarks Friday night, Ban called on both the Syrian government and rebels to stop the fighting.

“As we mark this important step, we must never forget that the catalog of horrors in Syria continues with bombs and tanks, grenades and guns,” he said. “A red light for one form of weapons does not mean a green light for others. This is not a license to kill with conventional weapons.”

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‘No meaningful enforcement mechanisms’

Two Republican U.S. senators criticized the Security Council vote, saying it will do little to end the civil war.

“This resolution is another triumph of hope over reality,” John McCain and Lindsey Graham said in a statement. “It contains no meaningful or immediate enforcement mechanisms, let alone a threat of the use of force for the Assad regime’s noncompliance.”

The pair said al-Assad’s forces will continue to “use every weapon in their arsenal short of chemical weapons” on the Syrian people while receiving outside assistance from Russia, Iran and Hezbollah while doing so.

CNN’s Phil Gast, Chelsea J. Carter, Dana Ford, Andrew Carey and Jim Sciutto contributed to this report.

Syria team to probe nearly 50 sites

cnn — Sat, 28 Sep 2013 16:27:54 +0000

(CNN) — When inspectors from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons arrive in Damascus on Monday they’ll face a daunting task. They’ll need to visit nearly 50 different sites as part of the effort to rid Syria of its chemical weapons.

That news comes from an official with the OPCW who says some of the locations are near contested areas, and that to access some of the locations will require travel through rebel held areas.

These details highlight the continued security questions surrounding the plan, which just won backing from the U.N. Security Council.

Even with the go-ahead from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the conditions, including active combat, raise logistical concerns.

The OPCW says it may “potentially” need to seek third party troops (not Syrian, or OPCW), to assist with security during the mission. The official went on to say that the team will initially consist of 20 people based in Damascus.

CNN’s Emma Lacey-Bordeaux contributed to this report.

Official: Detained Americans discussed

cnn — Sat, 28 Sep 2013 16:27:48 +0000

(CNN) — The fate of three U.S. citizens who have disappeared or been imprisoned in Iran was discussed during Friday’s historic conversation between the two nations’ presidents, a senior U.S. administration official said.

U.S. President Barack Obama, during his phone call with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, “noted our concern about three American citizens who have been held within Iran — Robert Levinson, Saeed Abedini, and Amir Hekmati — and noted our interest in seeing those Americans reunited with their families,” the official said.

Two of the Americans have been tried and convicted in Iranian courts, and the whereabouts of another have been unknown for more than six years.

Here are the most recent developments in the stories of the detained U.S. citizens:

Bob Levinson
The family of Levinson, a retired FBI agent, has been anxiously waiting for news, any news, about his fate since he vanished during a business trip to Iran in March 2007.

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When Rouhani, Iran’s new president, arrived in New York, Levinson’s wife and children were watching closely for a sign that efforts to find Levinson might move forward.

During an exclusive interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Rouhani offered little when asked what he can tell Levinson’s family.

“We don’t know where he is, who he is,” Rouhani said. “He is an American who has disappeared. We have no news of him.”

Yet, like former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Rouhani spoke of cooperation.

“We are willing to help, and all the intelligence services in the region can come together to gather information about him to find his whereabouts,” Rouhani told Amanpour.

“And we’re willing to cooperate on that.”

The State Department has said Levinson is believed to be held in southwest Asia.

“We have every reason to believe that he’s alive and that the Iranians control his fate,” a source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN, a departure from last year when the same source described Levinson as “alive and well.”

Questions about his health also remain unanswered. Levinson suffers from diabetes.

Levinson’s family said Rouhani’s comments, while not directly acknowledging information about Levinson, “are consistent with the commitments made in the past, and [they hope] those promises turn into results.”

Spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the State Department said Rouhani’s comments about cooperation were welcome.

“We look forward to hearing more specifics on how Iran can help in reuniting Mr. Levinson with his family in the United States as soon as possible.”

Both the State Department and Levinson’s family deny he was working for the government when he disappeared. The family says Levinson was there on private business investigating cigarette smuggling.

In January, the family released so-called “proof of life photos” they received a few years ago. The photos show him with long, unkempt hair and wearing an orange shirt. He is holding signs written in poor English, including one that reads. ” Why you can not help me?”

An FBI task force meets regularly to assess Levinson’s case.

“The FBI remains committed to doing all we can to bring Bob Levinson home safely to his family,” a statement reads.

This summer, the FBI began publishing ads in Farsi publications in Los Angeles and Washington, which have large Iranian-American populations, requesting any information about Levinson, to raise awareness, and advertising a $1 million reward announced by former FBI Director Robert Mueller in 2012.

In November, Levinson will become one of the longest-held Americans in history passing the 2,454 days Terry Anderson spent in captivity before being freed by Islamic militants in Lebanon in 1991.

Saeed Abedini

In a news release Friday from the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), Abedini’s wife, Naghmeh, was quoted as saying she was “very grateful to President Obama for standing up for Saeed and for the other Americans who are held captive in Iran.”

“I urge President Rouhani, as I have done throughout this week, to release Saeed so he can return to our home and our family in the United States.”

The ACLJ is a conservative Christian law firm and advocacy group founded by television evangelist Pat Robertson. It has campaigned widely for Abedini’s release.

Abedini, a Christian pastor, was sentenced to eight years in prison earlier this year, accused of attempting to undermine the Iranian government.

At the time he was convicted, his wife said Abedini had been arrested by Iranian authorities nearly 10 times before, and had agreed during one detention to stop supporting Christian home churches, and had subsequently taken nine trips to the Islamic republic before he was arrested again in July 2012.

Amir Hekmati

Hekmati, a 29-year-old former U.S. Marine, has been jailed in Iran since 2011 and accused of being a CIA spy. Earlier this month, he said in a letter to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry that a confession he made nearly two years ago came under duress.

Born in Arizona and raised in Nebraska before settling with his family in Flint, Michigan, Hekmati joined the Marines in 2001 out of high school. He finished his service four years later as a decorated combat veteran with tours in Iraq.

Afterward, he translated Arabic as a contractor and helped train troops in cultural sensitivity.

Hekmati’s family said he had gone to Iran to visit his grandmother but was arrested in August 2011, accused by Iran’s Intelligence Ministry of working as a CIA agent.

In December 2011, Hekmati appeared on Iranian state television maintaining that he had been sent to Iran by the CIA, but in his letter to Kerry, published on September 11 in the Guardian, he said he had been held “on false charges based solely on confessions obtained by force, threats, miserable prison conditions, and prolonged periods of solitary confinement.”

“This is part of a propaganda and hostage taking effort by Iranian intelligence to secure the release of Iranians abroad being held on security-related charges,” Hekmati’s letter stated.

The Guardian reported that the letter had been smuggled out of jail. Hekmati’s family vouched for the letter’s authenticity to CNN.

CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Elise Labott, Tom Watkins, Azadeh Ansari and Kristi Ramsay contributed to this report.

Obama in historic call to Iran

cnn — Sat, 28 Sep 2013 16:27:16 +0000

(CNN) — U.S. President Barack Obama spoke by telephone Friday with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani — the first direct conversation between leaders in Washington and Tehran since 1979 — raising the possibility a deal can be reached over Iran’s controversial nuclear program.

Describing the conversation as a starting point, Obama said he believes an agreement is possible regarding Iran’s nuclear ambitions that could lead to better relations.

“While there will surely be important obstacles to moving forward and success is by no means guaranteed, I believe we can reach a comprehensive solution,” Obama told reporters during a White House briefing.

Western leaders have expressed cautious optimism about Iran’s more moderate tone under Rouhani, whose recent comments have raised hopes that a deal could be struck over the Middle Eastern nation’s nuclear program.

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Obama said he reiterated to Rouhani statements he made earlier in the week during the United Nations General Assembly, where he signaled the United States was open to negotiations with Iran provided real action is taken.

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“So the test will be meaningful, transparent, and verifiable actions, which can also bring relief from the comprehensive international sanctions that are currently in place,” he said Friday.

The conversation between the two men came at the end of the General Assembly, where conjecture abounded over whether Obama and Rouhani would meet in person and what that might mean for U.S.-Iranian relations.

Rouhani told reporters Friday that there wasn’t enough time to plan such a face-to-face meeting.

The last time a U.S. president spoke with an Iranian leader was in 1979, when Jimmy Carter talked by telephone with Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi before Pahlavi was overthrown.

National Security Advisor Susan Rice told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria that the administration was contacted by the Iranian delegation.

“Today, somewhat surprisingly, we were contacted by them to say that President Rouhani would like to speak to President Obama on the telephone on his way out of town, and we were able to make that call come together and it was a constructive conversation,” she said.

The call lasted about 15 minutes, with translation, Rice said.

Rice characterized the call as “cordial and constructive.”

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The news of the conversation played out on Twitter in posts by Rouhani, who recounted his conversation with Obama just minutes before the American president spoke with reporters at a White House briefing.

A senior Obama administration official said Rouhani’s tweets reflected the tone of the telepone conversation between the two leaders. “We’ll continue to watch his Twitter feed,” the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said.

According to Rouhani’s posts, Obama told the Iranian president that he was “convinced relations between Iran and US will greatly affect the region.”

“@BarackObama to @HassanRouhani If we can make progress on #nuclear file, other issues such as #Syria will certainly be positively affected,” the president said in a follow-up message.

Rouhani responded, according to his tweet: “In regards to #nuclear issue, with political #will, there is a way to rapidly solve the matter.”

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He also told Obama, according to his Twitter post, he was hopeful about upcoming meetings on the issue between representatives of Iran and the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council — the U.S., China, Russia, Britain and France — as well as Germany.

“@HassanRouhani to @BarackObama: I express my gratitude for your #hospitality and your phone call. Have a good day Mr President,” Rouhani said in post on Twitter.

Earlier, Rouhani told reporters he was heartened by Thursday’s meeting between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif as part of a meeting between Iran and the six countries trying to tackle international concerns about Iran’s nuclear program.

It was the first face-to-face meeting between such high-level officials of the two countries in more than 30 years.

Obama and Rouhani both indicated that the talks between Kerry and Zarif will continue at the so-called P5+1 meeting, which brings together representatives of the five permanent member states of the United Nations and Germany with emissaries from Iran over Tehran’s nuclear program.

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“Throughout this process, we will stay in close touch with our friends and allies in the region, including Israel,” Obama told reporters, acknowledging concerns such talks are likely to raise with Israeli leaders.

Obama acknowledged that after 35 years of mistrust, “a path to a meaningful agreement will be difficult and at this point both sides have significant concerns that will have to be overcome.”

“But I believe we have a responsibility to pursue diplomacy, and that we have a unique opportunity to make progress with the new leadership in Tehran,” he said.

Western leaders have said Iran seems to sound different under the leadership of Rouhani, who replaced Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president this summer. On Friday, it was Rouhani’s turn to return the compliment, saying European Union officials and Obama sound “different compared to the past.”

Rouhani told reporters Friday his election helped pave the way for better relations between the Iran and the West, which has imposed heavy sanctions on the country. He also said Iran wants quick resolution to the nuclear issue. Western leaders believe the country’s nuclear program is designed to produce weapons. Iranian leaders have said it is purely peaceful.

“I assure you that on the Iranian side, this will is there fully, 100%, that within a very short period of time, there will be a settlement on the nuclear issue,” he told reporters.

CNN’s Brianna Keilar contributed to this report.

Rival welcomes greet Iran’s President Rouhani in Tehran

cnn — Sat, 28 Sep 2013 16:27:10 +0000

(CNN) — Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s arrival in Tehran Saturday was marked by an incident during which a shoe was thrown by a protester in his direction, Iran’s semi-official Fararu news agency said.

A group of Iranian protesters, opposed to dialog with the United States, were at Tehran’s airport where Rouhani supporters had also gathered to welcome the president home, Fararu said.

Rouhani left the airport with his entourage without any further incident, and was accompanied by his supporters shouting, “Rouhani, Rouhani we support you,” according to Fararu.

Rouhani, who was in New York for the U.N. General Assembly, spoke by telephone Friday with U.S. President Barack Obama — the first direct conversation between leaders in Washington and Tehran since 1979.

Rouhani’s recent comments have raised hopes that a deal could be struck over the Iran’s controversial nuclear program.

Western leaders believe the country’s nuclear program is designed to produce weapons. Iranian leaders have said it is purely peaceful.

Shoe throwing is seen as highly offensive in the Middle East for cultural and religious reasons.

Official: Detained Americans discussed

cnn — Sat, 28 Sep 2013 10:28:35 +0000