European Union: No strikes on Syria before UN report - MSNBC
The EU wants diplomacy, not more violence.
http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/09/07/european-union-to-await-un-report-before-any-strikes/
While acknowledging the evidence that Syria’s regime mounted a chemical weapon attack on its own people, the European Union Saturday declined to sign onboard any potential military action in the region before the United Nations inspectors submit a preliminary report on the attack.
EU officials announced their decision after meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Lithuania, who is working to gin up international support behind launching strikes on Syria.
The senior official for foreign policy affairs to the EU, Catherine Ashton, strongly condemned the Aug. 21 chemical attack that killed more than 1,400 people as a “blatant violation of international law, a war crime and a crime against humanity.” She said member states believe Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was behind the attack on his own people, and that it was crucial for the international community to take punitive action against the Assad regime.
However the scope of action the EU is willing to take relies heavily on the UN process, she said. The international community is awaiting the results of a UN investigation into the chemical attacks to determine whether the Security Council will approve intervention in Syria. Though Ashton pointedly did not say the EU would await UN approval before potentially taking up military action, she did endorse French President François Hollande’s refusal to act before the preliminary report was released.
Ashton emphasized the urgent need for diplomacy through political settlements and providing aid. “Only a political solution can end this terrible bloodshed, grave violation of human rights and the far reaching destruction of Syria,” she said.