BRUSSELS – NATO does not believe that military intervention in Syria would bring any improvement in the security situation there, a senior alliance official said Friday. Germany's Manfred Lange, Chief of Staff of Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), said the military was telling leaders that there was no good case for military action and the political process had to be pursued. “The military advice is (that) there are not sufficient visible signs at the moment that a military intervention could lead to an improvement of the security situation,” Lange said. “The political process has to be pushed forward, sanctions need to take effect. At the moment, this situation cannot be solved by the military in a responsible way,” he told a briefing. He added that with little prospect of action at the United Nations “it is clear that the Alliance doesn't have any military plans on Syria.” Meanwhile, A UN commission investigating the many serious rights violations in wartorn Syria should be allowed to continue its work and get more resources, according to a draft resolution presented in Geneva Friday. The resolution drawn up by half-a-dozen other Arab states, which will be voted on at the UN's Human Rights Council next week, calls for an extension of the mandate of the Commission of Inquiry on Syria. The commission's one-year mandate will end next Friday unless it is renewed. In its latest report, published last month, the commission headed by Brazilian Paulo Sergio Pinheiro accused the Syrian regime and, to a lesser extent, rebel forces of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. Its conclusions were based on more than 1,000 interviews with perpetrators and victims in the conflict, as it has so far been blocked from actually entering Syria to see the situation on the ground. Friday's draft resolution, which will likely be subject to significant debate among diplomats ahead of next week's vote, also requested that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon “provide additional resources, including staffing” to the commission. This was needed, the text argued, “in order to allow it to completely fulfil its mandate in light of the increasingly deteriorating human rights situation in the Syrian Arab Republic.” – Agencies
