International Crisis Group

Deadly Syrian stalemate spurs new diplomacy, little hope | Los Angeles Times

By Carol J. Williams

Galvanized by a Syrian death toll that has doubled to 36,000 in little more than a month, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has called for a new rebel hierarchy to direct the fighting against President Bashar Assad and steer Syria back to peaceful ethnic and religious coexistence.

The latest proposal for halting Syria’s 19-month-old civil war brings little new strategy to the crisis. Rather, it vents frustration with the international community’s own “divisions, dysfunctionality and powerlessness,” as the International Crisis Group recently noted, that have prevented brokering an end to the bloodshed.

Like European leaders before her, Clinton acknowledged this week that the West’s reliance on out-of-touch exiles within the Paris-based Syrian National Council has done more harm than good in the effort to have opposition forces speak with one voice on their plans for a post-Assad future.

FULL ARTICLE (Los Angeles Times)

Photo: James Gordon/Flickr

As Clinton preps for Asia-Pacific tour, is North Korea capable of reform? | NBC News

By Eric Baculinao

Change in North Korea, and its potential impact on American interests in the Asia-Pacific, is likely to be on the agenda when US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets Chinese leaders next month on her region-wide tour.

FULL ARTICLE (NBC)

Photo: UN

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Vietnam Law on Contested Islands Draws China’s Ire | Jakarta Globe

By Jane Perlez

In a show of its resolve in a dispute over the South China Sea, China sharply criticized Vietnam on Thursday for passing a law that claims sovereignty over the Paracel and Spratly Islands, saying they are the “indisputable” territory of China.

The Foreign Ministry in Beijing summoned the Vietnamese ambassador, Nguyen Van Tho, to strongly protest the new law, said a spokesman, Hong Lei.

“Vietnam’s Maritime Law, declaring sovereignty and jurisdiction over the Paracel and Spratly Islands, is a serious violation of China’s territorial sovereignty,” a ministry statement said. “China expresses its resolute and vehement opposition.”

Photo: Reuters

Hillary Clinton meets with Palestinian and Israeli. Is something cooking? | Christian Science Monitor

By Howard LaFranchi

The dormant Israeli-Palestinian peace process is showing signs of stirring – prompted by renewed Palestinian threats of a unilateral declaration of statehood, Israeli worries over the long-term implications of abandoning the two-state solution, and a recent series of quiet contacts between the two sides.

And then there’s the desire on the part of the Obama White House – which was scorched by its decision to make Middle East peace a top priority as of Inauguration Day 2009 – to avoid having the Israeli-Palestinian conflict rear up as a time-consuming distraction as it enters the fall presidential campaign.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met separately Wednesday with chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat and Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz, the latest signs of a renewed US interest in demonstrating that the peace process is not dead.

FULL ARTICLE (Christian Science Monitor)

Photo: Shahar Azran (IsraelinUSA)/Flickr

US, EU urge peaceful resolution | Myanmar Times

By Zaw Win Than

BOTH the United States and European Union expressed deep concern over violence in Rakhine State and urged a peaceful resolution to the crisis, which has seen a state of emergency declared in the region.

“The United States continues to be deeply concerned about reports of ongoing ethnic and sectarian violence in western Burma’s Rakhine State and urges all parties to exercise restraint and immediately halt all attacks. The Burmese government has announced a State of Emergency and curfews in Rakhine State, but reports of violence continue,” US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a statement on June 11.

READ ARTICLE (Myanmar Times)

Photo: Boothee

State’s human rights bureau turns 35 | Foreign Policy

By Josh Rogin

It’s not every day you see Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sharing a stage with neocon Bush administration official Elliott Abrams and liberal Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA), but they all joined together this morning to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the establishment of State’s bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL).

“It is amazing to think how far DRL has come in 35 years,” Clinton said, after being introduced by Assistant Secretary of State for DRL Michael Posner. “It did have a rocky childhood, plenty of critics at post and in this building who said we have no business pestering people about human rights, that it would only get in the way of real diplomacy.”

When DRL got an office on the elite 7th floor of the State Department, there were “howls of protest,” she said, but “no one questions the value of the human rights bureau anymore.”

Clinton said that standing up for human rights gives the United States greater moral weight in the world and makes America more secure because countries that treat people with dignity are inherently more stable. She also alluded to the case of Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng to explain how human rights advocacy can cause diplomatic strife.

“Words do matter and when activists are harassed by their own governments, they turn to us for help. And I don’t have to tell any of you what kinds of complications that can occasionally cause. But that’s who we are and that’s who we want to be,” she said.

“Oh, to be 35 again,” Clinton said with a sigh.

FULL ARTICLE (Foreign Policy)

Photo: Foreign Policy

Annan, Clinton Meet on Syria as Violence Escalates | Voice of America

By Edward Yeranian, Scott Stearns, and Lisa Schlein

Syrian activists say violence nationwide killed 17 people Friday as international envoy Kofi Annan called for additional pressure on the Syrian government as he met with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington. 

Speaking tersely while standing next to Clinton, Annan said the two diplomats are looking how to move his stalled peace plan forward.

“Everyone is looking for a solution,” Annan said. “Some say the plan may be dead. Is the problem the plan or the problem the implementation? If it’s implementation, how do we get action on that?”

The Annan-brokered cease-fire has failed to deter attacks by the Syrian government and clashes with opposition rebels that have left hundreds dead.

Clinton said the pair want to figure out how to “engender a greater response” by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government to Annan’s overtures.

The talks come as Rami Abdelrahman, the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, told VOA on Friday that a blast in front of a police station in the northwestern city of Idlib killed two security forces and three civilians. Another explosion that shook a Damascus suburb killed two more security force members.

The Observatory said demonstrators protested after Friday prayers across Syria, including in Aleppo, Damascus and Dara’a. Two civilians died in that southern city, including one shot by a sniper.

Government troops shelled Homs while heavy fighting left two killed in Latakia. The activist group also reported deaths in Deir Ezzor.

Russia savours its chance to play superpower | National Post

By: Araminta Wordsworth

That would mean Russian support at the UN Security Council for effective action, something that has been in short supply, despite the international handwringing. Russia claims it is neutral on Syria, despite arms shipments, investments and diplomatic obfuscation.

Nonetheless, Hillary Clinton, the U.S. Secretary of State, discerned signs of movement Friday when she said comments by Putin might imply Russia could be open to a “political transition” in Syria — code for negotiating an end to the blood-stained rule of Bashar al-Assad.

For Russia, one of Syria’s attractions remains the Mediterranean port of Tartus, which Damascus allows Moscow to use. This gives it a warm-water base for its navy. Moscow also enjoys the cachet of being Assad’s most powerful friend, propping up his discredited regime.

FULL ARTICLE (National Post)

Photo: Antoine Antoniol / Getty

Iran, big powers agree to hold more nuclear talks in June | Reuters

By Andrew Quinn and Justyna Pawlak

Iran and world powers agreed to meet again in Moscow next month for more talks to try to end the long-running dispute over Tehran’s nuclear programme, but there was scant progress to resolve the main sticking points between the two sides.

At the heart of the dispute is Iran’s insistence that it has the right to enrich uranium and that economic sanctions should be lifted before it stops activities that could lead to its achieving the capability to make nuclear weapons.

Western powers insist Tehran must first shut down enrichment activities before sanctions can be eased.

But both sides have powerful reasons not to abandon diplomacy. The powers want to avert the danger of a new Middle East war raised by Israeli threats to bomb Iran, while Tehran also wants to avoid a looming Western ban on its oil exports.

After discussions in Baghdad extended late into an unscheduled second day on Thursday between envoys from Iran and the six powers, European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said it was clear both sides wanted progress and had some common ground, but significant differences remained.

“We will maintain intensive contacts with our Iranian counterparts to prepare a further meeting in Moscow,” she told a news conference in Baghdad.

The next meeting, the third in the latest round of talks that began in Istanbul last month, will be held in Moscow on June 18-19.

FULL ARTICLE (Reuters)

Photo: Freddy Moris/Wikimedia Commons

The Washington Times | Clinton urges Sri Lanka to prosecute war criminals

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Sri Lankan Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris on Friday apprised Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton of the steps his government is taking to hold accountable those responsible for committing war crimes during a three decade-long war with Tamil rebels.

“We did discuss accountability and informed them of the machinery that has been set up to deal with that,” Mr. Peiris told reporters on Friday evening.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa in 2010 appointed a Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission to examine the conflict and post-conflict efforts. The commission’s report, which lists almost 300 recommendations, does not name any officials – military or civilian – against whom allegations of war crimes have been made.

Mr. Peiris said Sri Lanka’s attorney general has been tasked with examining the commission’s report to determine whether there is any evidence that would justify the institution of criminal proceedings and stand up in a court of law.

The Obama administration has urged the Sri Lankan government to develop a comprehensive action plan for implementing steps on reconciliation and accountability for the alleged war crimes.

FULL ARTICLE (Washington Times)