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"We see the failure of the U.N. Security Council to respond to the slaughter in Syria a disgrace that history will judge harshly," the former National Security Council staffer said at her confirmation hearing. The Security Council, of which the United States is a member, has been stymied by Russian and Chinese vetoes for more robust action in Syria. A former academic on the issue of genocide, Power said it was incumbent on the United States to continue working with the Russians to try to stop one of the "worst cases of mass brutality" she has seen.
Samantha Power testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Pressed by Republican Sen. John McCain, she told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that a resolution by the Security Council to authorize military action in Syria was unlikely in the near term. Power, who has been criticized for past comments on Israel, told the committee she would continue strong U.S. support for Israel in the global body in the face of resolutions condemning the Jewish state. "Israel's legitimacy should be beyond dispute, and it's security must be beyond doubt," she said. "I will stand up for Israel and work tirelessly to defend it."
The former journalist and human rights advocate also told the committee that tightening national budgets mandate an examination of programs across the U.N. system and the closure of those deemed wasteful or inefficient. "As both the U.N.'s principal founding member and its largest contributor, the United States has the right and duty to insist on reform," Power said. "I will aggressively pursue this cause." Power's nomination is expected to receive Senate approval in the coming days.
Power: UN response on Syria a "disgrace" ? CNN Security Clearance - CNN.com Blogs
Egyptian security forces shot dead dozens of supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi on Saturday, witnesses said, days after the army chief called for a popular mandate to wipe out "violence and terrorism". Men in helmets and black police fatigues fired on crowds gathered before dawn on the fringes of a round-the-clock sit-in near a mosque in northeast Cairo, Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood movement said. "They are not shooting to wound, they are shooting to kill," said Brotherhood spokesman Gehad El-Haddad. "The bullet wounds are in the head and chest."
The bloodshed, near the military parade ground where President Anwar Sadat was assassinated in 1981, has rocked a country already struggling with the transition to democracy two years after Hosni Mubarak was swept from power. A Muslim Brotherhood website said 120 people had been killed and some 4,500 injured. A Reuters reporter counted 36 bodies at one morgue, while health officials said there were a further 21 corpses in two nearby hospitals. Activists rushed blood-spattered casualties into a makeshift hospital. Some were carried in on planks or blankets. One ashen teenager was laid out on the floor, a bullet hole in his head.
Egypt's Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim accused the Brotherhood of exaggerating the death toll for political ends. He said only 21 people had died and denied police opened fire. Ibrahim said local residents living close to the Rabaa al-Adawia mosque vigil had clashed with protesters in the early hours after they had blocked off a major bridge road. He said that police had used teargas to try to break up the fighting. Well over 200 people have been killed in violence since the army toppled Mursi on July 3, following huge protests against his year in power. The army denies accusations it staged a coup, saying it intervened to prevent national chaos.
SISI'S CHALLENGE
Here are some key events from more than two years of turmoil and transition in Egypt:
Jan. 25-Feb. 11, 2011 - Egyptians stage nationwide demonstrations against the rule of President Hosni Mubarak. Hundreds of protesters are killed as Mubarak and his allies try to crush the uprising.
Feb. 11 - Mubarak steps down and turns power over to the military. The military dissolves parliament and suspends the constitution, meeting two key demands of protesters.
Nov. 28, 2011-Feb 15, 2012 - Egypt holds multistage, weekslong parliamentary elections. In the lawmaking lower house, the Muslim Brotherhood wins nearly half the seats, and ultraconservative Salafis take another quarter. The remainder goes to liberal, independent and secular politicians. In the largely powerless upper house, Islamists take nearly 90 percent of the seats.
May 23-24, 2012 - The first round of voting in presidential elections has a field of 13 candidates. Morsi and Ahmed Shafiq, the last prime minister under Mubarak, emerge as the top two finishers, to face each other in a runoff.
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Paulo Pinheiro told the U.N. General Assembly Monday that "massacres and other unlawful killings are perpetrated with impunity" — most by pro-government forces and some by anti-government armed groups.
He demanded that the government stop using imprecise weapons such as unguided missiles on civilian areas, and said both sides must stop laying siege to cities and towns, cutting off vital supplies of food, water, medicine and electricity.
Pinheiro said the international community must demand a diplomatic solution to the 2 1/2-year conflict that has killed over 100,000 people.
- See more at: UN rights expert says Syria is in 'free fall' | CNS News
UN officials have said the agreement is tenuous inasmuch as inspectors may not be allowed into parts of the country they need to inspect. Two UN envoys have held talks with Syria's deputy prime minister and foreign minister in light of the escalating violence across Syria A statement from the UN said discussions had been productive and had led to an agreement about how talks would proceed.
UN leader Ban Ki-moon is awaiting a report on the trip. Mr Ban had demanded widespread access to investigate all allegations of whether chemical weapons might have been used in the 28-month-old conflict. The UN claims to have received reports of 13 chemical attacks in the conflict.
But Syria has insisted that the UN only investigate its claim chemical weapons were used by rebels in the town of Khan al-Assal on March 19th. A Russian inquiry has already found rebels used sarin gas in Khan al-Assal. However, it is widly thought that some of the chemical attacks may have been perpetrated by President Bashar al-Assad's forces.
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