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| Syria resolution has no chance, says Russia - live updates | Syria resolution has no chance, says Russia - live updates |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| 10.44am: A number of opposition groups have issued a joint press release calling for protesters to take to the streets across Syria on Thursday and Friday to commemorate 30 years since the Hama massacre, when President Hafez al-Assad, Bashar al-Assad's father, razed the city to crush a Sunni rebellion, slaughtering an estimated 20,000 of his own people. | |
| The statement, which includes the Syrian National Council, the Local Co-ordination Committees and the Hama rebels council among its signatories, says it is the first time a remembrance ceremony will be held inside Syria for the victims. It says: | |
| The Arab and international silence regarding [Hafez] Assad's crimes and those of his thugs has lasted 30 years and this silence is a partner in his crimes. Also this irresponsibility has allowed crimes to keep happening till our present day… this has allowed the continuation of these crimes by [Hafez] Assad's son Bashar Al- Assad and his thugs to keep committing these barbaric massacres on a daily basis and all over the country in broad daylight. | |
| 10.04am: The activist group the Local Co-ordination Committees in Syria claims 25 people have been killed so far today in Syria. | 10.04am: The activist group the Local Co-ordination Committees in Syria claims 25 people have been killed so far today in Syria. |
| They include five members of Free Syrian Army in the Damascus suburb of Wadi Barada, according to the group's Facebook page. | They include five members of Free Syrian Army in the Damascus suburb of Wadi Barada, according to the group's Facebook page. |
| It also names four people killed in al-Gharba al-Sharqiah in the southern province of Dera'a. | It also names four people killed in al-Gharba al-Sharqiah in the southern province of Dera'a. |
| The reports cannot be independently verified. | The reports cannot be independently verified. |
| 9.55am: The British publisher Cannongate Books has denied reports that it has bought the rights to the memories of Suzanne Mubarak, wife of the deposed Egyptian leader. | 9.55am: The British publisher Cannongate Books has denied reports that it has bought the rights to the memories of Suzanne Mubarak, wife of the deposed Egyptian leader. |
| A spokeswoman said: "It's completely untrue. We don't know where they got the story from." | A spokeswoman said: "It's completely untrue. We don't know where they got the story from." |
| 9.44am: Lawrence of Arabia became an unlikely subject of row during the security council debate on Syria, AFP reports. | 9.44am: Lawrence of Arabia became an unlikely subject of row during the security council debate on Syria, AFP reports. |
| Syria's ambassador to the UN, Bashar Ja'afari said his country vote for a parliament in 1919 while "Lawrence of Arabia was wreaking havoc with the destinies and resources of the states and was trying to turn the bloc back to obscurantism." | Syria's ambassador to the UN, Bashar Ja'afari said his country vote for a parliament in 1919 while "Lawrence of Arabia was wreaking havoc with the destinies and resources of the states and was trying to turn the bloc back to obscurantism." |
| Britain's foreign secretary William Hague responded: "It is not acceptable to try to blame the situation in Syria on everyone else, from outside intervention to the Gulf states to French states to Lawrence of Arabia. This does not excuse such repression." | Britain's foreign secretary William Hague responded: "It is not acceptable to try to blame the situation in Syria on everyone else, from outside intervention to the Gulf states to French states to Lawrence of Arabia. This does not excuse such repression." |
| 8.29am: Welcome to Middle East Live. The focus remains on the diplomatic efforts at the United Nations to force Syria's president Bashar al-Assad to step down, while his troops continue to crush pockets of resistance around Damascus. | 8.29am: Welcome to Middle East Live. The focus remains on the diplomatic efforts at the United Nations to force Syria's president Bashar al-Assad to step down, while his troops continue to crush pockets of resistance around Damascus. |
| Here's a roundup of the latest developments: | Here's a roundup of the latest developments: |
| • Russia's envoy to the European Union says he sees no chance of the Arab-Western resolution passing in the security council. Interfax quoted Vladimir Chizhov as saying that the current draft resolution, does not clearly rule out military intervention, Reuters reports. | • Russia's envoy to the European Union says he sees no chance of the Arab-Western resolution passing in the security council. Interfax quoted Vladimir Chizhov as saying that the current draft resolution, does not clearly rule out military intervention, Reuters reports. |
| Chizhov said: | Chizhov said: |
| [The draft] is missing the most important thing: a clear clause ruling out the possibility that the resolution could be used to justify military intervention in Syrian affairs from outside. For this reason I see no chance this draft could be adopted. | [The draft] is missing the most important thing: a clear clause ruling out the possibility that the resolution could be used to justify military intervention in Syrian affairs from outside. For this reason I see no chance this draft could be adopted. |
| • Earlier the Russia news agency RIA Novosti claimed Russia's envoy to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, was seeking a consensus on the Syria crisis. "We believe a consensus of the Security Council members on Syria is not only necessary but possible," Churkin told the UN Security Council meeting. | • Earlier the Russia news agency RIA Novosti claimed Russia's envoy to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, was seeking a consensus on the Syria crisis. "We believe a consensus of the Security Council members on Syria is not only necessary but possible," Churkin told the UN Security Council meeting. |
| • But according to the Guardian, Russia declared its intention to scupper any attempt to force Assad to step down, denouncing the resolution as "meddling" that could lead to conflict and military intervention. Churkin said: | • But according to the Guardian, Russia declared its intention to scupper any attempt to force Assad to step down, denouncing the resolution as "meddling" that could lead to conflict and military intervention. Churkin said: |
| The international community should not be meddling in economic sanctions or through the use of military force. We will not stand for any sanctions resolution or using the council's tool box to foment conflict and military intervention in the future. | The international community should not be meddling in economic sanctions or through the use of military force. We will not stand for any sanctions resolution or using the council's tool box to foment conflict and military intervention in the future. |
| • Hillary Clinton sought to allay Russian fears by claiming that the international community did not want to intervene in the crisis as it had in Libya. | • Hillary Clinton sought to allay Russian fears by claiming that the international community did not want to intervene in the crisis as it had in Libya. |
| She said: | She said: |
| Now, I know that some members here may be concerned that the Security Council could be headed toward another Libya. That is a false analogy. Syria is a unique situation that requires its own approach, tailored to the specific circumstances occurring there. And that is exactly what the Arab League has proposed – a path for a political transition that would preserve Syria's unity and institutions. | Now, I know that some members here may be concerned that the Security Council could be headed toward another Libya. That is a false analogy. Syria is a unique situation that requires its own approach, tailored to the specific circumstances occurring there. And that is exactly what the Arab League has proposed – a path for a political transition that would preserve Syria's unity and institutions. |
| Now, this may not be exactly the plan that any of us ourselves would have designed. I know that many nations feel that way. But it represents the best effects and efforts of Syria's neighbors to chart a way forward, and it deserves a chance to work. | Now, this may not be exactly the plan that any of us ourselves would have designed. I know that many nations feel that way. But it represents the best effects and efforts of Syria's neighbors to chart a way forward, and it deserves a chance to work. |
| • Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov refused to take Clinton's telephone calls, after staying away from the UN, the specialist UN blog Inner City Press reports. Clinton said nothing should be read into Lavrov not taking her call, blaming the apparent snub on poor communications in Australia where Lavrov is visiting. | • Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov refused to take Clinton's telephone calls, after staying away from the UN, the specialist UN blog Inner City Press reports. Clinton said nothing should be read into Lavrov not taking her call, blaming the apparent snub on poor communications in Australia where Lavrov is visiting. |
| • Syrian ambassador to the UN, Bashar Ja'afari, accused the Arab League of violating its principles and siding with pro-Israeli western countries. | • Syrian ambassador to the UN, Bashar Ja'afari, accused the Arab League of violating its principles and siding with pro-Israeli western countries. |
| Syria considers the decision made at the Arab League Council's recent meeting a violation of Syria's national sovereignty, a flagrant interference in its internal affairs and a gross transgression of the goals for which the AL was founded ... The wild tendency of some Western countries to interfere in our internal and external affairs by all means is not new or accidental, but it is a systematic and continued approach since Sykes-Picot agreement in 1916 and Balfour Declaration in 1917, and through the unlimited support to Israel in its aggressive polices and its occupation of the Arab territories. | Syria considers the decision made at the Arab League Council's recent meeting a violation of Syria's national sovereignty, a flagrant interference in its internal affairs and a gross transgression of the goals for which the AL was founded ... The wild tendency of some Western countries to interfere in our internal and external affairs by all means is not new or accidental, but it is a systematic and continued approach since Sykes-Picot agreement in 1916 and Balfour Declaration in 1917, and through the unlimited support to Israel in its aggressive polices and its occupation of the Arab territories. |
| • The opposition Free Syrian Army controls large parts of al-Qusayr but its grip on the city is weak, according photojournalist Alessio Romenzi who has spent more than a week in the area. | • The opposition Free Syrian Army controls large parts of al-Qusayr but its grip on the city is weak, according photojournalist Alessio Romenzi who has spent more than a week in the area. |
| The FSA's fighters here are not strong. They know that they cannot really compete with the regular army in numbers or in equipment. Each of them has a Kalashnikov; some have M16s, RPGs and a few mortars. That is nothing – nothing in comparison with the troops who have remained loyal to the regime. Still, though, they say they will fight on, come what may. | The FSA's fighters here are not strong. They know that they cannot really compete with the regular army in numbers or in equipment. Each of them has a Kalashnikov; some have M16s, RPGs and a few mortars. That is nothing – nothing in comparison with the troops who have remained loyal to the regime. Still, though, they say they will fight on, come what may. |
| • Syrian forces were battling groups of defectors in the eastern outskirts of Damascus on Tuesday as a campaign continued to reclaim pockets of the capital briefly seized by opposition groups. The sound of artillery and gunfire could be heard throughout the afternoon as opposition forces fought street battles with loyalists who had retaken contested areas in northern Damascus on Monday. | • Syrian forces were battling groups of defectors in the eastern outskirts of Damascus on Tuesday as a campaign continued to reclaim pockets of the capital briefly seized by opposition groups. The sound of artillery and gunfire could be heard throughout the afternoon as opposition forces fought street battles with loyalists who had retaken contested areas in northern Damascus on Monday. |