Reuters
Thursday 16 May 2013
...While the non-binding text has no legal force, resolutions of the 193-nation assembly can carry significant moral and political weight. There were 107 votes in favor, 12 against and 59 abstentions - a drop in support compared with a resolution condemning the Syrian government that passed in August with 133 votes in favor, 12 against and 31 abstentions.
UN diplomats cited concerns that Syria could be headed for "regime change" engineered by foreign governments and fears about a strengthening Islamist extremist element among the rebels as reasons for the decline in support for the resolution.
Russia, a close ally of and arms supplier to Assad, strongly opposed the resolution drafted by Qatar, which Assad's government has accused of arming the rebels seeking to oust him. But Moscow, which along with China has used its veto three times to prevent Security Council action against Assad, could not block the motion as there are no vetoes in the General Assembly....
I love the fact there are so many more participants in leadership at the United Nations. The countries with the best insight into the best outcome for a country or region should be leading at the United Nations. There is no reason for them to be overshadowed when they hold the greatest insight to peace.
By Patricia Zengerle
KIRUNA, Sweden (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (click here) said on Wednesday they believed they could pull off peace talks on Syria, where their nations back opposing sides in a war that may have cost 120,000 lives.
I love the fact there are so many more participants in leadership at the United Nations. The countries with the best insight into the best outcome for a country or region should be leading at the United Nations. There is no reason for them to be overshadowed when they hold the greatest insight to peace.
By Patricia Zengerle
KIRUNA, Sweden (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (click here) said on Wednesday they believed they could pull off peace talks on Syria, where their nations back opposing sides in a war that may have cost 120,000 lives.
Differences between Russia, a main ally of President Bashar al-Assad, and the United States, which supports those trying to topple him, have long obstructed U.N. action on the turmoil that has convulsed Syria for more than two years.
But last week Kerry and Lavrov announced plans to hold a peace conference now expected to take place in Geneva in June.
"Both of us are ... very, very hopeful that within a short period of time, pieces will come together so that the world, hopefully, will be given an alternative to the violence and destruction that is taking place in Syria at this moment," Kerry said at a news conference after meeting Lavrov in Kiruna, Sweden.
"I would very much share the assessments just presented by John," Lavrov said.
He said Moscow and Washington were trying to mobilize support for the negotiations from Syria's government and opposition, as well as other countries concerned....
