U.N. Council Urges Syria to Set Ties With Lebanon 
By Warren Hoge
May 18, 2006
The New York Times
Original Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/18/world/middleeast/18nations.html

UNITED NATIONS, May 17 — A divided Security Council adopted a resolution on Wednesday urging Syria to establish diplomatic relations and set an agreed-upon border with Lebanon.
Both moves, the Council said, would help re-establish the political and territorial independence of Lebanon, which was virtually occupied by Syria for three decades. Syria withdrew its troops from Lebanon last year in response to a Security Council resolution.
The vote was 13 to 0, with China and Russia abstaining. Each said the Council action represented outside interference in a dialogue that was already well advanced between Lebanon and Syria.
After the vote, the Syrian Foreign Ministry issued a statement condemning the Security Council action as interference, saying it constitutes an unjustifiable pressure tool and aggravation that complicates matters rather than solving them.
The measure, drawn up by Britain, France and the United States, endorsed a report last month from Secretary General Kofi Annan that for the first time mentioned Iran as a country that contributed to instability in Lebanon through its close ties, with frequent contacts and regular communication, with Hezbollah, the most prominent militia group there. The resolution, which did not identify Iran by name, also called on Syria to curb the flow of weapons into Lebanon.
It certainly could have named Iran in its full four letters, but that reference makes it unambiguously clear that Iran is referred to, said John R. Bolton, the United States ambassador to the United Nations.
The resolution reiterated past — and thus far ineffectual — Security Council pressures for the disarming of all militias and guerrilla groups in Lebanon. Nassir al-Nasser, the ambassador from Qatar and the Arab representative on the Council, voted for the resolution but said his effort to insert a reference to Israel as a destabilizing force in Lebanon had been rejected.
Explaining Russia's decision to abstain, Vitaly I. Churkin, its ambassador, said, We simply do not believe that it's the best way to develop dialogue, to get the two sides into the habit of talking through the Security Council. China's deputy ambassador, Zhang Yishan, told Council members that my country does not believe that the Security Council should become involved in these matters, which are fully of a bilateral nature.
Syria Arrests Rights Advocates
By The New York Times
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, May 17 — Syrian authorities arrested seven human rights campaigners in the second spate of arrests of opposition figures in less than a week, Syrian human rights advocates said Wednesday. 
They said those arrested included Mahmoud Issa, Safwan Tayfour, Khaled Khalifa, Khalil Hussein and Abbas Abbas. The Associated Press, quoting his family, said Anwar al-Bunni, a human rights lawyer, was among those arrested.