Italy concerned over military intervention in Syria without UNSC approval

Remarking during an Italian radio programme on the Syrian issue occupying the international agenda, Bonino warned of the possible reactions of Russia and Iran, saying ''We should try to avoid making an international drama into a global one.''

''Even a limited intervention runs the risk of becoming unlimited. We must think it over a thousand times, because the repercussions could be dramatic," she added.

Italian top diplomat also argued that military solutions should not be necessarily taken for Syria in the presence of "another means" to solve the Syrian conflict, to ''avoid military intervention' and further bloodshed."

"With a 'unanimous' Security Council vote, we could take other roads, not necessarily military ones in Syria, such as 'deferring Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to the International Criminal Court' or campaigning for his exile," she told the radio listeners.

As a member of the Italian Radical Party, Emma Bonino previously supported sending late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein into exile as an alternative to war.

Bonino also expressed hope that allies of Syria's Bashar al-Assad ''will share their information'' on the claims over his regime's use of chemical weapons, which ''has such far-reaching implications that we hope not to return to dubious positions taken in the past''.

"July 21 use of chemical weapons is 'largely established'. However UN inspectors may only be able to collect ''indirect proof, because nothing is more volatile than gas'' and because a subsequent government air raid that ''caused 700 deaths'' might have tainted the evidence," she stressed.

She further urged that whatever country claiming it has "certain proof'' of Assad's use of such weapons should share that information in ''the proper setting for sharing and analysis, such as the UN Security Council'', referring to ''peremptory declarations'' made by Britain, France, some in the US, and Israel.

"It is no secret that the Pentagon is the most reluctant to intervene within the US administration. This is for ideological reasons but because of 'the complexity on the ground and in the region that they would be facing,'" Bonino also remarked.

Reminding her talks with US, Iranian and Russian counterparts on Syria, Bonino said she would discuss Syria with Italian Premier Enrico Letta and Defense Minister Mario Mauro after a cabinet meeting tonight.