Sanctioned Syria can’t open bank account to pay UN dues

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Syria said Thursday it can’t pay its UN dues because American banks won’t allow the country to open an account and urged the United States to find a quick solution.

Syria’s UN Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari told the General Assembly’s budget committee that his country, which is a founding member of the United Nations, has paid its dues in full and on time since 1945.

He said that at the beginning of 2011, a US bank closed the accounts of a number of UN missions, including Syria’s. After much difficulty, he said, Syria opened an account at another bank in Washington, but that was unexpectedly closed and the government has not been able to find a new bank.

“The Syrian delegation is now without a bank account here in the host country,” Ja’afari said. “This is an absolutely absurd situation. It’s even surreal and illegal.”

He blamed “unjust and unilateral sanctions” imposed by the US and other countries for its inability to make its annual contribution to the United Nations. A failure to pay annual dues can lead to a loss of voting rights in the General Assembly.

If Syria is unable to open an account it won’t be able to pay its dues “for reasons which have nothing to do with our financial capacity to pay,” Ja’afari said.

“We would like to remind the host country of its obligations with regard to guaranteeing an appropriate environment for member states so that those member states can carry out their UN-related activities,” the Syrian ambassador said. “We urge the government of the host country to find a quick solution to the problem.”

Asked about Syria’s call for swift action by the United States, Payton Knopf, deputy spokesman for the US Mission, did not address the sanctions issue. But he said “over the last two years, several US banks have decided to close all or some of their diplomatic mission banking business and a number of foreign missions to the US have been affected.”

“We recognize the impact of these closures, and given our obligation as host country of the UN we are working with the affected missions, relevant US agencies, and the private sector to find a way to ensure as soon as possible that these foreign missions have access to the customary banking services necessary to maintain their operations here in the United States,” Knopf said.

Ban: No plan B for Syria

Also at the UN, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said international envoy Kofi Annan’s peace plan is the only option right now for ending the violence in Syria.

Ban said in an interview Thursday with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that “at this time, we don’t have any plan B.”

The former UN secretary-general’s plan calls for a complete cessation of violence but Ban said “unfortunately, this has not been implemented.”

He said the deployment of UN observers to Syria has had “some dampening effect” but the violence hasn’t stopped. Ban said this requires “strong political will” by Syrian President Bashar Assad and full cooperation by opposition forces.

Ban said he spoke Wednesday to Annan, who said he will be going to Syria soon but no date has been fixed.