Britain Warns Russia Against Blocking Security Council Vote

On Tuesday, the U.N. Security Council will take up a draft resolution calling on Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to step down and transfer power.  The meeting will take place amid increasing violence which brought an end to the Arab League observation mission over the weekend. Syrian opposition, which claims to have 15,000 constituents, have been increasingly involved in violent clashes as Syrian authorities attempt to re-take control of the suburbs surrounding Damascus.

Arab League Secretary General Nabil El-Araby arrived in New York on Monday accompanied by fellow league member Qatari Sheikh Hamid Bin Jassim Al-Thani in order to “deliver the monitoring mission’s findings to the Security Council.” Russia, which vetoed a western-initiative condemning the Syrian president’s crackdown earlier this month, has stated that the Syrian authority accepted an invitation for Russian sponsored peace talks in Moscow. Syrian opposition leaders responded affirming that there would be no dialogue with President Bashar Al-Assad.”

Tomorrow, Britain’s Foreign Secretary William Hague and French Foreign Minister Alan Juppe will be in attendence at the hearing “to bolster Arab League efforts to press for a United Nations resolution aimed at halting Syria’s violent crackdown on anti-regime protests.” Britain has warned Russia not to block the U.N. efforts, saying that Russia can “no longer justify” support for the regime. El-Araby expressed confidence that Russia and China would support the renewed effort assuring that there he had”contacts with Russia and China on the issue.” A British official, wishing to remain anonymous,  said the Security Council, seeking to approve a resolution, would “threaten possible sanctions” and would not “permanently rule out” military intervention.