US envoy calls UN Council 'colossal failure' on Syria

The United States said Monday that the UN Security Council has been a "colossal failure" in protecting Syrian civilians and made a new demand for sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad. The council, which is divided on how to end the conflict, "continues to stand by, rather than to stand up," Susan Rice, US envoy to the United Nations, told the 15-nation body. The Security Council is to get an update on the UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) on Tuesday from Nasser al-Kudwa, deputy to UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan. "The situation in Syria represents a colossal failure by the Security Council to protect civilians," Rice told a council debate on civilians in conflict. "For over a year, this council has not been willing to protect the Syrian people from the brutal actions of their government," she added, saying the Assad government's crackdown "has grown ever more reprehensible and ever more dangerous to international peace and security." "It is a shame that this Council continues to stand by rather than to stand up," Rice said. "We must take meaningful steps, including by imposing binding sanctions under Chapter VII, to pressure" Assad to comply with Annan's six point peace plan and work toward a political transition, the US envoy added. Britain's UN ambassador Mark Lyall Grant also called for "robust action" to press the Syrian government. While the United States, Britain, France and Germany have called for sanctions against Assad, Russia and China have twice used their powers as permanent members of the council to veto resolutions which hinted at sanctions. Two other resolutions have been passed though setting up UNSMIS and calling for the withdrawal of Syrian troops and heavy weapons from cities. Britain, France and the United States are working on a new resolution which would call for sanctions on Syria, where activists say more than 15,000 people have died in the past 15 months of conflict.