Thursday, June 30, 2011

U.S. Approves U.N. Tribunal's Indictments: When Will Ambassador to Damascus Be Recalled?

As reported by Yahoo News (http://uk.news.yahoo.com/u-urges-lebanon-act-hariri-indictments-193934338.html):

"The United States on Thursday welcomed a U.N.-backed tribunal's indictments in the 2005 assassination of Lebanese statesman Rafik al-Hariri and urged Lebanon's government to act on them.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the indictments and four arrest warrants marked 'an important step towards justice and ending impunity for political assassinations in Lebanon.'

. . . .

'It's important that the indictments now handed over to the special prosecutor now be acted upon. Obviously we want to see this chapter in Lebanon's history closed, and that closure involves taking the next steps,' Toner said.

'The sealed indictments have been handed over. We're now going to look to see what the Lebanese government does next. We're looking for it to take action,' he said."

The U.S. is looking for the Lebanese government "to take action"? When does the U.S. recall its ambassador to Damascus, Robert Ford, given Assad's involvement in the murder?

Bypassing Senate confirmation and seeking to avoid public scrutiny by acting while many were on holiday, Obama appointed Ford as ambassador to Syria at the end of December 2010 (see: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/29/AR2010122904168.html).

There had been no ambassador to Syria following the murder of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, a friend of the West, which was carried out at the behest of Damascus.

Sheer hypocrisy on the part of the Obama administration.

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