The U.N. Security Council reached a tentative agreement Friday night on a resolution that would expand the number of U.N. cease-fire observers in Syria from 30 to 300 and let Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon decide on their deployment based on conditions on the ground and consolidation of a cease-fire.
The final text calls on the Syrian government and the opposition to immediately halt all violence and urgently implement the six-point peace plan drafted by international envoy Kofi Annan. Ban accused Syrian President Bashar Assad on Thursday of failing to honor the cease-fire that took effect a week ago, expressing dismay that violence has been escalating and claiming more lives.
France's U.N. Ambassador Gerard Araud said the text, negotiated over many hours, would be sent to capitals overnight for consideration and the council would meet at 11 a.m. EDT Saturday for a vote.
Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said he hoped there would be a unanimous vote. But U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice, the current council president, said there is a possibility that not all 15 council members would agree to the text or would have instructions from their government.
The final draft merged two rival texts proposed by Russia, Syria's most important ally, and European Council members, and there were compromises on both sides.
FILE - In a Friday, March 2, 2012 file photo, men hold revolutionary Syrian flags during an anti government protest in a town in north Syria. Secular young men and women, mostly university students, writers and journalists appeared then optimistic that the Assad family's four-decade rule is coming to an end and will be replaced by a democracy representing all of Syria's religious and ethnic group. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd, File) CloseThe Europeans wanted to include a threat of nonmilitary sanctions against Syria if it fails to withdraw all its troops and heavy equipment from cities and towns as it agreed to do, but Russia and China vehemently oppose sanctions against Assad's government and that provision was eliminated.
Instead, the final draft uses language from the resolution adopted last Saturday authorizing deployment of the 30-strong advance team of observers. It expresses the Security Council's intention to assess implementation of the new resolution "and to consider further steps."
The final draft would establish a United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria, to be known as UNSMIS, "comprising an initial deployment of up to 300 unarmed military observers as well as an appropriate civilian component" for an initial period of 90 days.
The Russian text had called for a limited civilian component, while the Europeans wanted to spell out the skills required of the civilians, including political, human rights, civil affairs and public security.
The key difference in the original texts was whether there should be any conditions for deployment of the expanded force.
The European text said before the new observers are deployed the secretary-general should determine "to his satisfaction" that Syria has implemented its pledge to send troops and heavy weapons back to barracks. The Russian draft had no conditions.
The compromise language in the final text says the expanded mission "shall be deployed expeditiously subject to assessment by the secretary-general of relevant developments on the ground, including the consolidation of the cessation of violence."
France's Araud said the Security Council wants to send the observers as quickly as possible but "at the same time, we have to take into account the danger for the observers — so that's the reason why the secretary-general will have to assess the situation on the ground."
