Australia Open to Syria Military Intervention

Sydney (ANTARA/AFP) - Australia said Wednesday it was open to discussions about military intervention in Syria as threatened by France, but warned of significant challenges getting it off the ground. Canberra led Western powers in ejecting Syrian diplomats Tuesday in protest at the Houla massacre which claimed at least 108 lives, and Foreign Minister Bob Carr said Australia "would talk about" the French proposal for force. "But you would need unanimity in the Security Council for that to take place, and you've got to take account of the criticisms of China and Russia --as is their right -- of the way intervention was managed in Libya," he told reporters. He said arming the Syrian opposition involved real difficulties and President Bashar al-Assad's government "will interpret this as a licence to slaughter even more vigorously than they've been doing their political opponents". Carr pointed to logistical issues in arming the divided opposition and establishing a Libya-style no-fly zone in a country with "very considerable" ground-to-air defences and a "hugely more powerful" army. He also noted that the United States had been reluctant to commit ground forces to Libya as it counts the cost of the war in Iraq and grapples with a drawdown in Afghanistan -- two countries where Australia contributed troops. "I'm not ruling out discussions on the subject (of a Syrian intervention), I just think in a spirit of candour I ought to share with you the reservations that are going to be expressed," he said. France has labelled the UN-backed peace plan for Syria "seriously compromised" and held out the threat of seeking military action. However, it has acknowledged such a resolution was unlikely to overcome opposition in the Security Council from China and Russia. Carr said Canberra was instead pushing for a ceasefire and political compromise and would consider ramping up sanctions and increasing aid to Syria's refugees. "A ceasefire and a political dialogue, a political settlement, are the things that we want most," he said.(*)