Posted on 05/22/2003 1:53:08 PM PDT by kattracks
May 22— UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Syria, the U.N. Security Council's only Arab member and a neighbor of Iraq, left its seat empty on Thursday as the council overwhelmingly adopted a U.S.-drafted resolution ending sanctions on Iraq.
It was the second time Syria sat out a vote since beginning a two-year term on the council in January 2002.
The 15-nation council, which gave Iraq war victors the United States and Britain broad powers to run Iraq and sell its oil to fund reconstruction, was approved 14-0.
Council members typically are given 24 hours to consult their capitals before being called on to vote, a procedure that was followed in this case. But Syria asked for more time.
"The issue of time was the basic element behind not participating in the vote," Syrian envoy Fayssal Mekdad said in New York.
Diplomats said Damascus was hesitant to cast either a "yes" vote legitimizing the occupation of Iraq or a "no" vote irritating Washington, although normally a government in that position would abstain rather than simply stay away.
Syria previously shunned a March 2002 Security Council vote calling for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Palestinian cities. Syrian U.N. Ambassador Mikhail Wehbe said he stayed away at that time because the resolution condemned suicide bombings against Israeli civilians without mentioning Israeli attacks on Palestinians.
Mekdad said he had discussed Thursday's vote with delegates from other Arab states at the United Nations, but the group had not pressured Syria to vote one way or the other.
Wehbe, who was summoned to Damascus a day before the vote to help his government "crystallize a position," said the consultations were still going on when the vote was taken.
Syria believed the Iraqi people should be given the chance to elect a government "with their free will" and could manage their country and resources themselves, Wehbe said, calling for the U.S.-British occupation to end as soon as possible.
A very perceptive observation... and well said! Now, if they'll only listen to themselves talk and move in that direction there would be much less trouble in that part of the world.
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