UNSC should not respond to media reports: Syrian envoy
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Syrian UN Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari said on Tuesday that the UN Security Council, as a major UN body in charge of maintaining international peace and security, "should not respond to media reports" on the current situation in Syria, adding that "it is too early to decide" to send an international envoy to his country as his government has set up a national commission to look into the deaths of people.
Ja'afari made the statement to reporters here as the UN Security Council adjourned its closed-door consultations on Syria and decided to meet again on Wednesday on the situation of the Middle East country.
"The Security Council should not respond to media reports, but it should respond to the official reports," the Syrian ambassador said, referring to what is reported by his government.
The Security Council met behind closed doors on Tuesday to discuss how to respond to the deaths of protesters in Syria, with diplomats saying that a draft presidential statement is being considered.
UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday said that he is following the situation in Syria with "increasing concerns," and he condemned "the continuing violence against peaceful demonstrators."
Earlier on Tuesday, Nestor Osorio, the Colombian UN ambassador who holds the rotating Security Council presidency for April, told reporters that the 15-nation Council is to meet again on Wednesday on Syria and it would not take any action on Tuesday.
Also on Tuesday, Lebanese Foreign Minister Ali Shami instructed the Lebanese permanent representative to the UN, Nawaf Salam, not to approve a draft statement meant to criticize Syria for its crackdown on anti-government protesters, the Lebanese state-run National News Agency reported.
Lebanon is one of the 10 non-permanent members of the Security Council, but it has no veto power. Lebanon is also the only Arab member on the Security Council to represent the Arab countries.
Syria is witnessing unprecedented protests that erupted five weeks ago in Daraa, 100 kilometers from the capital Damascus. The protests had spread to other parts of the Middle East country, causing the deaths of some 340 people so far, reports said.
Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad made the biggest reforms yet last Thursday by lifting the 48-year-old emergency law, abolishing the state security court and bringing in a law allowing peaceful protest, but has failed to rein in the unrest.
Ja'afari argued only peaceful demonstrators can be protected by the Syrian government.
Meanwhile, Ja'afari, in response to a press question, said that "it is too early to decide" to send an international envoy as his government is conducting a probe into the civilian and military deaths.
"(Assad) instructed the government to establish a National Commission of Inquiry and investigation about all the casualties among civilians, either deaths or wounded -- among civilians and among the military," he said.
On the question of sending an international envoy to his country, he said: "This is too early to decide on receiving anybody. We have our national investigation commission that has already undertaken a full investigation about what happened."
"So we are doing our homework. We don't need help from anybody," he said.
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