With the U.N. Security Council deadlocked over the Syrian crisis, the General Assembly prepared Friday to denounce Syria for unleashing tanks, artillery, helicopters and warplanes on the people of Aleppo and Damascus, and demand that the Assad regime keep its chemical and biological weapons warehoused and under strict control.
The Assembly was overshadowed by the resignation of former U.N. chief Kofi Annan on Thursday as the joint U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria after his peace proposals failed.
The anti-Syria resolution was expected to easily pass in the 193-member General Assembly after its Arab sponsors de-fanged two key provisions in the original draft — a demand that President Bashar Assad resign, and a call for other nations to place sanctions on Syria over its civil war.
U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous, meanwhile, told the Security Council on Thursday that U.N. military observers in Aleppo are seeing "a considerable buildup of military means, where we have reason to believe that the main battle is about to start." The rebels have commandeered tanks, and are bringing them into combat as Syrian warplanes strike back.
"Even in Damascus, I was there a few days ago, one could hear explosions regularly, interminably," Ladsous told reporters after briefing the Council.
AP
FILE - This June 3, 2012 file photo released... View Full Caption
FILE - This June 3, 2012 file photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar Assad delivers a speech at the parliament in Damascus, Syria. Arab countries on Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012 pushed ahead with a symbolic U.N. General Assembly resolution that tells Assad to resign and turn over power to a transitional government. It also demands that the Syrian army stop its shelling and helicopter attacks and withdraw to its barracks. A vote is set for Friday morning. (AP Photo/SANA, File) Close
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged restraint on all sides, saying, "Both the government and the opposition forces continue to demonstrate their determination to rely on ever-increasing violence."
But in the General Assembly, diplomats reviewed a draft resolution by Saudi Arabia that focused all its indignation on Assad's government, military forces and the militias that enforce the regime.
It denounced attacks on children as young as 9 years old by the Syrian government, military intelligence services and militias, railing against 'killing and maiming, arbitrary arrest, detention, torture and ill-treatment, including sexual violence, and use as human shields."
In a sign of how quickly the situation can change, the resolution that began to circulate Monday reaffirmed its support for Annan, though he had resigned as special envoy on Thursday.
The original draft had called for Assad to resign, highlighting an Arab League call on July 22 for "the Syrian president to step down from power, in order to facilitate a peaceful political transition."
That naked call for regime change appalled many U.N. members when the draft was discussed in private with regional groups on Tuesday. Syria was one of the original 51 members of the United Nations in 1945. Now, the world body set up to protect nation-states from invasion and foreign domination was about to demand a change in government from one of its charter members.
Russia and China opposed the draft, as expected. Both countries have cast a double-veto in the Security Council three times to kill resolutions that could have opened the door to sanctions on Syria, or even military intervention.
Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said he could not support the General Assembly's "extremely unbalanced and one-sided resolution. And those countries who are pushing this resolution most actively are the countries that are providing weapons to the armed opposition groups. This is unfortunately, the tragedy of the matter, something which made Kofi Annan's efforts so difficult."
The Assembly was overshadowed by the resignation of former U.N. chief Kofi Annan on Thursday as the joint U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria after his peace proposals failed.
The anti-Syria resolution was expected to easily pass in the 193-member General Assembly after its Arab sponsors de-fanged two key provisions in the original draft — a demand that President Bashar Assad resign, and a call for other nations to place sanctions on Syria over its civil war.
U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous, meanwhile, told the Security Council on Thursday that U.N. military observers in Aleppo are seeing "a considerable buildup of military means, where we have reason to believe that the main battle is about to start." The rebels have commandeered tanks, and are bringing them into combat as Syrian warplanes strike back.
"Even in Damascus, I was there a few days ago, one could hear explosions regularly, interminably," Ladsous told reporters after briefing the Council.
AP
FILE - This June 3, 2012 file photo released... View Full Caption
FILE - This June 3, 2012 file photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrian President Bashar Assad delivers a speech at the parliament in Damascus, Syria. Arab countries on Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2012 pushed ahead with a symbolic U.N. General Assembly resolution that tells Assad to resign and turn over power to a transitional government. It also demands that the Syrian army stop its shelling and helicopter attacks and withdraw to its barracks. A vote is set for Friday morning. (AP Photo/SANA, File) Close
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged restraint on all sides, saying, "Both the government and the opposition forces continue to demonstrate their determination to rely on ever-increasing violence."
But in the General Assembly, diplomats reviewed a draft resolution by Saudi Arabia that focused all its indignation on Assad's government, military forces and the militias that enforce the regime.
It denounced attacks on children as young as 9 years old by the Syrian government, military intelligence services and militias, railing against 'killing and maiming, arbitrary arrest, detention, torture and ill-treatment, including sexual violence, and use as human shields."
In a sign of how quickly the situation can change, the resolution that began to circulate Monday reaffirmed its support for Annan, though he had resigned as special envoy on Thursday.
The original draft had called for Assad to resign, highlighting an Arab League call on July 22 for "the Syrian president to step down from power, in order to facilitate a peaceful political transition."
That naked call for regime change appalled many U.N. members when the draft was discussed in private with regional groups on Tuesday. Syria was one of the original 51 members of the United Nations in 1945. Now, the world body set up to protect nation-states from invasion and foreign domination was about to demand a change in government from one of its charter members.
Russia and China opposed the draft, as expected. Both countries have cast a double-veto in the Security Council three times to kill resolutions that could have opened the door to sanctions on Syria, or even military intervention.
Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said he could not support the General Assembly's "extremely unbalanced and one-sided resolution. And those countries who are pushing this resolution most actively are the countries that are providing weapons to the armed opposition groups. This is unfortunately, the tragedy of the matter, something which made Kofi Annan's efforts so difficult."