UNSC set to target Syria observer force

UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council is set to vote Saturday on a resolution allowing a 300-member UN ceasefire observer force to be sent to Syria, diplomats said.

"We are looking forward to an adoption tomorrow," Russia's UN envoy Vitaly Churkin told reporters, adding that a draft resolution had been registered so that a vote could take place from Saturday.

Russia and European nations proposed rival resolutions on the force which have been merged during talks Friday, diplomats said.

They added that not all details had been finalized however. "There are still some problems which have to be resolved," said India's UN ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon asked this week for the force to be set up even though he said Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has not kept commitments to withdraw troops and heavy weapons from Syrian cities. (AFP)