UNSC authorises monitors for Syria
Russia and China joined the rest of the United Nations Security Council on Saturday to authorise the deployment of up to 30 unarmed observers to Syria to monitor the country’s fragile ceasefire, as called for by UN-Arab League mediator Kofi Annan.
It is the first resolution the 15-nation council approved since the anti-government uprising in Syria began 13 months ago. Moscow and Beijing twice vetoed council resolutions condemning Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s assault on protesters opposed to his rule.
Although Syria’s close ally and arms supplier Russia voted in favour of the resolution, Russian United Nations ambassador Vitaly Churkin made clear that there were limits to the kind of UN action Moscow could support.
“Out of respect for the sovereignty of Syria we have cautioned against destructive attempts at external interference or imposing any kind of illusory fixes,” he said.
The resolution had the council “condemning the widespread violations of human rights by the Syrian authorities, as well as any human rights abuses by armed groups, recalling that those responsible shall be held accountable.”
The resolution calls on “all parties, including the Opposition, immediately to cease all armed violence in all its forms.”
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