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United States awaits new draft resolution on Syria from Russia

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The United States expects Russia to soon submit a revised text of a new draft resolution on Syria to the UN Security Council members, Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said.

The United States expects Russia to soon submit a revised text of a new draft resolution on Syria to the UN Security Council members, Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said.

Russia and China vetoed a European-drafted resolution containing the threat of sanctions against Syria in October.

The two veto-wielding UN Security Council members, willing to prevent a repetition of the “Libyan scenario,” circulated a new balanced draft in December, which the Western partners amended. Russia has yet to submit a revised text to its partners.

According to UN data, President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on opposition protests, inspired by uprisings across the Arab world this year, has killed more than 5,000 people. Syrian authorities blame armed gangs for the violence and say 1,100 soldiers and police have been killed.

A group of over 160 Arab League monitors arrived in Syria in late December on a month-long mission to implement a plan calling for the withdrawal of the military from towns and residential districts, a halt to violence against civilians and the release of detainees.

The Syrian opposition called the Arab League’s mission “a farce” after Sudanese Lt. Gen. Mohamed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi, who heads the mission, said that the situation in Syria was calm and reassuring.

Susan Rice told journalists that about 40 people have been killed in Syria since the Arab League monitors started their work, which, she said, meant that the Syrian government was continuing crimes against the nation. She called on Assad to resign.

Assad said on Tuesday he would not resign from his post and reiterated that a foreign conspiracy was behind the bloody unrest in the country.

In his fourth public address since mass national protests against his rule erupted last March, Assad once again said that he still has the support of the Syrian people and would leave office “only by the will of the people.”

The Syrian leader, who has ruled the country for almost a decade, said foreign forces were orchestrating protests in Syria but so far have failed to achieve their goals.

 

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