Russia denies Qatar threat

By GARETH ROSE
Published on Wednesday 8 February 2012 00:37

RUSSIA’S UN ambassador has been forced to deny reports he threatened Qatar during contentious weekend negotiations on Syria.

Ambassador Vitaly Churkin also claimed a UN resolution could have passed if western governments had waited another two or three days.

Russia and China were widely criticised for vetoing the resolution.

But yesterday Mr Churkin was facing very different accusations.

He called a press conference to deny reports circulating on the internet that he responded to a warning by Qatar not to veto the resolution by saying Russia would wipe his country off the map. Mr Churkin said Russia’s UN mission has been deluged with calls about the reports, which he said were “lies”.

The report quoted Qatari prime minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem as telling Mr Churkin a veto would cause Russia to “lose all the Arab countries,” and Mr Churkin as responding that if Sheikh Hamad spoke to him “in this tone once again… there will be no such thing as Qatar after today.”

Qatar has not commented.

Russia and China used their veto to block the resolution, which backed an Arab League peace plan for Syria. The resolution would have called upon President Bashar al-Assad to empower a deputy to negotiate with his opponents.