UN leader calls for 'enforceable' resolution on Syria

Mr Ban called on the Security Council to adopt an “enforceable” resolution on a US-Russian agreement to put Syria’s chemical weapons under international control for destruction and bring to justice the perpetrators of the August 21 chemical weapons attack outside Damascus “either through referral to the International Criminal Court or by other means consistent with international law”.

UN diplomats say differences between the US and Russia on how a resolution should be enforced have held up action in the Security Council.

Russia is opposed to any mention of Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which includes military and non-military actions to promote peace and security.

Russia and China have vetoed three Western-backed resolutions that would have pressured Syrian president Bashar Assad to end the two-and-a-half year war that has killed more than 100,000 people.

US president Barack Obama noted the Iranian and Russian support for the Syrian regime.

“It’s time for Russia and Iran to realise that insisting on Assad’s rule will lead directly to the outcome they fear: an increasingly violent space for extremists to operate,” Mr Obama said.

“In turn, those of us who continue to support the moderate opposition must persuade them that the Syrian people cannot afford a collapse of state institutions, and that a political settlement cannot be reached without addressing the legitimate fears of Alawites and other minorities.”

Turkish president Abdullah Gul welcomed the US-Russian agreement to destroy Syria’s chemical weapons but said that should not allow those who perpetrated a “crime against humanity” by using the weapons against civilians to escape justice.

Mr Gul, whose nation borders Syria to the north and hosts refugees from the conflict, also lamented that “geopolitical considerations” had stymied Security Council action to stop the fighting.

“It is a disgrace that the United Nations Security Council has failed to uphold its primary responsibility in this case,” he said, predicting that if the international community fails to act, the death toll would double by next year.

Jordanian King Abdullah II said Syrian refugees have overwhelmed his nation and now amount to one-tenth the size of his country’s population. He said that could grow to 20% next year and called on the international community to “fast-track a political transition in Syria”.

Mr Ban decried the plight of the more than seven million Syrians forced to flee their homes and called on the Syrian government and opposition to “lift all obstacles” to access for humanitarian workers and release “the thousands of men, women and children whose detention has no basis in international law”.

Beyond Syria, the secretary-general said “we can see tremendous stress and upheaval across the region”.

“Historic transitions have stumbled or slowed. Springs of inspiration are giving way to winters of disillusionment,” Mr Ban said, without naming any countries.

“The challenges are immense: building democracy and pluralistic dialogue; dousing the flames of sectarianism; filling the security vacuum after the iron grip of dictators is gone.”

Mr Ban welcomed the revival of direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians and urged both sides to show leadership, warning that the window for achieving a two-state solution “is closing fast”.

King Abdullah called the Israeli-Palestinian conflict the Middle East’s “core crisis” and said it “feeds the flames of extremism around the world”.

“It is time to put this fire out,” he said.

Mr Ban also announced that the UN will hold a climate summit next September in New York and challenged leaders to bring “bold pledges” to close the emissions gap.

On another issue that has had worldwide repercussions, Brazil’s president Dilma Rousseff lashed out at the United States for its electronic spying programme.

Brazil is an important hub for transatlantic fibre optic cables, and the National Security Agency has reportedly intercepted her communications with aides, hacked into the computer network of a state-run oil company and scooped up data from billions of emails and telephone calls flowing through the country.

Ms Rousseff last week shelved an upcoming state trip to Washington in a show of anger over the NSA surveillance programme.

“Tampering in such a manner in the affairs of other countries is a breach of international law and is an affront to the principles that must guide the relations among them, especially among friendly nations,” she said.

“A sovereign nation can never establish itself to the detriment of another sovereign nation.”