EU to look at further sanctions if Syria fails to cease violence

Abu Dhabi: The European Union will consider further sanctions against Syria, should the peace envoy Kofi Annan’s plan does not work and Damascus fails to honour the UN deadline for regime forces to cease fire, said Maurizio Massari, Special Envoy of the Italian Foreign Minister for the Mediterranean and the Middle East in Abu Dhabi Monday.

“Annan’s plan, including immediate halt to the violence, access to humanitarian relief and political dialogue, should be honoured without preconditions on the part of the Syrian regime … And if Damascus failed to meet the [April 10] deadline, the EU would consider further sanctions to pressure the Sywrian wregwime into a political solution, ” said Massari, who is on a Gulf tour that will also take him to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain.

He was answering a question on how the EU should react to Damascus stand that its troops will not withdraw from protest hubs without written guarantees.

Massari had talks with Dr Anwar Mohammad Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs on Syria, Iran and Libya as well as the Middle East peace process.

Stressing that Italy along with the EU support a peaceful political solution to the crisis that ensures fundamental rights and fundamental democratic aspirations of the Syrian people, Massari said Italy was working with Friends of Syria to unify the Syrian opposition groups around a political platform, which can be an alternative for the present regime.

“Italy, the EU and Friends of Syria are putting more efforts to help all factions of Syria’s opposition unite under the umbrella of the Syrian National Council, to show the world that they are a genuine alternative to the [Bashar] Al Assad regime,” Massari said.

Around 300 members of the Syrian opposition, representing almost all Syrian opposition parties at home and abroad, met in Istanbul last month to try and reach and agreement on forming a united front to confront the “illegitimate” Al Assad regime.

On the Middle East peace, Massari said the international community should keep the peace process high on the agenda. “We are very determined that the year 2012 should not be a loss for the Middle East peace process. We don’t think that we should wait until after the US elections to move with the process. We should find a way for reviving the currently stalled peace talks and keep the negotiations alive,” Italy’s envoy said.