Continued violence in Syria will have to have consequences

“If the Syrian authorities fail to stop the violence and comply with Kofi Annan’s peace plan, there will have to be consequences,” said Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. 

The UN Security Council is expected to vote this week on a resolution condemning the violence in Syria and calling on the Syrian authorities to comply with Kofi Annan’s six-point peace plan. Norway reiterates that it is high time that the Security Council agrees that if the regime in Damascus fails to comply with the plan, this will have consequences. 

“It is therefore important that the Security Council agrees to impose sanctions on the regime in Damascus if the Annan plan is not implemented,” said Mr Støre. 

The Security Council is also expected to adjust and extend the mandate of the UN Supervisory Mission in Syria (UNSMIS).

 The fighting in Syria continues to rage and the violence in Damascus has escalated during the past few days. The death toll has passed 17 000, tens of thousands have been tortured or abused, or have disappeared, and hundreds of thousands have been forced to flee their homes since the unrest broke out in March 2011.