New York (dpa) – The Arab Spring will take center stage in the UN Security Council on Monday, one year after protesters took to the streets in North Africa and the Middle East to demand human rights and democracy. The debate in the 15-nation council in New York on “challenges and opportunities” resulting from the uprisings will also be attended by countries that do not equally share protesters' goals. The foreign ministers of Russia, France, Britain, Germany and the United States will be in New York apparently to deal with other matters as well, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will meet over breakfast Monday before attending the council meeting starting at 9:45 am (13:45 GMT). Clinton said Friday she spoke by telephone with Lavrov earlier this week “about our hope that Russia will play a constructive role in ending the bloodshed and working toward a political transition in Syria, and I will be following up in a meeting with him in New York on Monday.” “So we have an intense effort going on, and we are supporting the Arab League and their continuing leadership,” Clinton said. British Foreign Secretary William Hague will preside over the council meeting because his government holds the rotating presidency in March. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe and Germany's Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle will attend. Juppe said in Paris before coming to New York that the UN's “essential role is to support all solutions aiming at responding to the aspirations of the people for freedom, respect of human rights and democracy.” The Arab Spring has caused a severe split among the council's five permanent members, with the US, Britain and France on one side and Russia and China on the other. Russia and China strongly denounced the UN-authorized NATO airstrikes that helped armed Libyan rebels oust the regime of Muammar Gaddafi. Russia and China vetoed two resolutions in October and February, which were supported by the US, France, Britain, Germany and Portugal – the Western council members. Those members had sought to condemn the violence in Syria and demand a political transition to a democratic, multi-party system. The Russian and Chinese vetoes were denounced as a license for Damascus to continue the harsh military crackdown on the opposition. Damascus said terrorists were among the armed rebels and that the Syrian military has suffered hundreds of deaths. The UN said more than 7,500 people have been killed in Syria. Russia and China also do not totally support demands by people in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Syria for more freedom and democracy. The split has strained relations among council members and prevented the adoption of measures to alleviate suffering of Syrian civilians caught in the conflict. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/Yt2UZ Tags: Arab Spring, Meeting, United Nations Section: Latest News, Region
