As European countries distance themselves from Damascus, the UN Security Council may take measures to isolate the country further, reports Bassel Oudat from Damascus French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé said last week that Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad had "lost his legitimacy", the first time French officials had used this kind of language in reference to Damascus and indicating that further moves are afoot to isolate the Syrian regime. Following talks with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Juppé said that the situation in Syria was at an impasse and that the UN Security Council should now act. France, along with other European nations, is urging the Security Council to pass a resolution condemning the violence in Syria, with Russia looking likely to veto any such move. For his part, British Foreign Secretary William Hague told parliament last week that Al-Assad was losing his legitimacy and that he should either introduce reforms or step down. This is the strongest language that London has used since the protests in Syria began more than three months ago. Hague said that Britain and its EU partners also intended to impose further sanctions on Syria if the violence continued. The US seems to agree with the European moves, with Clinton saying that the US would no longer tolerate the actions of Bashar Al-Assad's regime, also saying that he should either introduce reforms or step down. US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that the legitimacy of Al-Assad's rule was in doubt following the killing of innocent people, and the White House has accused the Syrian regime of using excessive force against unarmed civilians, thereby causing a humanitarian crisis in the country. The French position in particular will come as a disappointment to Damascus. Over the past five years, France has helped the Syrian regime to exit the international isolation it has faced since the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Al-Hariri in 2005. The Syrian Foreign Ministry voiced its frustration with the statements of the French foreign minister this week, saying that they "resonated with imperialism". Syria would not accept foreign intervention in its affairs and would introduce reforms at its own pace, officials said. A draft UN Security Council Resolution prepared by France, Britain, Germany and Portugal has blamed the Syrian government for the deaths of more than 1,300 people since the protests began in the Syrian city of Deraa on 16 March. The resolution calls on Damascus to open the country up to humanitarian teams and fact-finding missions and is due to be put to a vote this week. In response, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al-Muallim has warned the Security Council against "taking any action that may constitute intervention in Syrian affairs." The UN must not "allow the terrorists to continue their crimes," the minister said, reiterating the official Syrian claim that the protesters have been infiltrated by Islamist extremists. For his part, Al-Assad himself has been refusing to meet with UN officials. A few days ago, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said that the Syrian president was not returning calls from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who had tried to call him more than once to discuss the crisis. Over the past few weeks, international pressure on Syria has been growing, with the US imposing sanctions on Syrian officials, including Al-Assad, and the EU imposing sanctions on the Syrian government, freezing the assets and denying entry visas to 32 Syrian officials including the president. Switzerland, Australia and Canada have also taken similar measures. The US and its European allies in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have decided to refer the Syrian nuclear issue to the UN Security Council, claiming that Syria has broken its commitments to the IAEA by refusing entry to international inspectors. This is another sequel to a long story that began with Israel's 2007 bombing of what it described as a nuclear reactor under construction in northern Syria. According to the IAEA, Syria has not yet fully cooperated with the inspection teams looking into the matter, though Syrian officials have pledged their full cooperation with the IAEA. Valerie Amos, deputy UN secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, has called on Syria to allow humanitarian teams into the country to assess the situation, and Navi Pillay, UN high commissioner for human rights, has called on the Syrian government to discontinue attacks on civilians, saying that it is unacceptable for governments to use violence against their own people. Marco Perduca, deputy speaker of the Italian senate, has said that the UN Security Council should refer Syria to the International Criminal Court in connection with possible crimes against humanity committed by the Al-Assad regime. Urging Damascus to respect human dignity, Pope Benedict XVI has also called on the Syrian government to recognise the aspirations of civil society, as well as the demands of the international community. In Jordan, the Muslim Brotherhood, whose relations with the Syrian regime have been good for the past decade or so, condemned the actions of the Syrian government as "a crime disgraceful to humanity." The Brotherhood also said that the Syrian president had lost his legitimacy. In Israel, Defence Minister Ehud Barak said that Al-Assad's days "were numbered". Barak blamed Al-Assad for the recent "turbulence" on the Syrian-Israeli border, when 23 demonstrators were killed by the Israelis while trying to cross the ceasefire line in the Golan Heights on 5 June. Even Syria's closest ally, Turkey, has been incensed by the clampdown on the demonstrators in the country. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Syria's reaction to the protests was indefensible and accused Maher Al-Assad, head of the country's republican guard and the president's brother, of committing atrocities. Turkish President Abdullah Gul said that Turkey was following the situation in Syria closely. Turkey has also opened its borders to Syrian refugees, more than 4,000 of whom have crossed into the country from Syria so far. The Syrian protesters themselves have taken heart from the foreign pressures on their government, though the country's opposition says that it does not need outside help in turning the country into a democratic state.
