UN Security Council to discuss Syria resolution

UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council on Wednesday prepared to discuss a resolution proposed by European nations condemning the Syrian government's deadly crackdown on opposition protests.

Russia and China have strongly opposed Security Council action on Syria, but Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron said: "If anyone votes against that resolution, or tries to veto it, that should be on their conscience."

Britain and France have drawn up a new version of a resolution already sent to other members of the 15-nation council hoping to sway countries that had opposed an older one.

"It has been adapted but it still condemns the violence," Britain's UN ambassador Mark Lyall Grant told this agency ahead of Security Council consultations.

The United States backed the resolution. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Washington was "trying to convince others in the council" to back the measure against President Bashar al-Assad.

"We believe that such a resolution will bring added pressure on Assad's regime and advance the international community's efforts to end the brutal repression on Syrian people," Toner said.

The resolution has been updated to cover the worsening violence in Syria, said one diplomat on condition of anonymity.

It urges vigilance on arms supplies to President Bashar al-Assad's regime, demands Syria's co-operation with a UN Human Rights Council investigation and calls for the release of prisoners of conscience, the diplomat added.

European nations would like to hold a vote within days, according to Portugal's envoy Jose Filipe Moraes Cabral.

European diplomats believe they have at least nine votes and that, among the doubters, South Africa and Brazil could be persuaded to back a new version.

The biggest risk to the motion however is a veto from Russia or China, two of the five permanent members along with Britain, France and the United States who can block any resolution.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday that Moscow opposed a Security Council vote condemning Syria, its main ally in the Middle East.

"We are concerned about the situation in Syria but we do not think that involvement of the council will help the situation there," China's UN ambassador Li Baodong said Tuesday.

Neither country has explicitly threatened a veto however, diplomats said.

Among other members, Lebanon has said it would vote against because of its close ties to Syria. India also spoke out against the first draft resolution.

"Exactly how this proceeds will depend to a large degree on our experience on Libya. That is what is complicating the situation," said India's UN ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri.

South Africa, Brazil and India have all joined Russia and India in criticizing the international air strikes in Libya, which NATO has said is justified by UN Security Council resolutions.

The new resolution aims to ease their concerns by not specifically acting under Chapter VII of the UN charter which would allow for mandatory sanctions, diplomats said.

In London, Britain's prime minister pressed the case for the UN Security Council to take action on Syria. "There are credible reports of a 1,000 dead and as many as 10,000 detained and the violence being meted out to peaceful protesters and demonstrators is completely unacceptable," Cameron told parliament. (AFP)