The United Nations Security Council members have unanimously approved a resolution on Friday (local time) for a peace plan for Syria.
Advertisement
Fans Flock To See New Star Wars Movie
Brian Burnham, assistant manager at Maya Cinemas, said the theater has been selling tickets for about two months. And while it wasn’t too busy this afternoon, Chatterly says tonights shows are already sold out.
“This council is sending a clear message to all concerned that the time is now to stop the killing in Syria and to lay the groundwork for a government that the long-suffering people of that battered land can support”, Secretary of State John F. Kerry said of the initiative.
CRADDICK: “Lifting the Antiquated US Crude Oil Export Ban Will Be Monumental”
Commissioner Ryan Sitton said, “Lifting the crude export ban is critically important to Texas oil producers who are { currently US } oil producers will soon be able to export crude oil with minimal restrictions for the first time in { nearly
The talks between Syria’s government and opposition should begin in early January, the resolution said.
Obama presses Turkey’s president to lower tensions with Iraq
On Dec. 4, Turkey reinforced the force protection component of its units in the camp due to increasing threats to their security. Their conversation came after Turkish troops were wounded when a training base in northern Iraq was hit by Daesh on Wednesday.
The Council called for a Syrian-led political process facilitated by the United Nations to establish within six months “credible, inclusive and non-sectarian governance”, setting a schedule for drafting a new constitution, with free and fair elections to be held within 18 months under United Nations supervision with all Syrians, including members of the diaspora, eligible to vote. We all have a duty to prevent future slaughter. Those objectives were endorsed in the resolution passed on Friday. The two powers have had very different views on what should happen in Syria, where Islamic State militants control considerable territory that Western governments suspect has been a launch-pad for attacks on Western nations and Russian Federation. The resolution does not, however, touch on the question of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s fate. Nor does it specify whether the Syrian president would be eligible to run for re-election.
Speaking at a news conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Kerry also said talks between the Syrian opposition and government aimed at reaching agreement on a unity government were not likely to start before mid to late January.
While not seeking “regime change”, Kerry said, the United States and its partners “don’t believe that Assad himself has the ability to be able to lead the future Syria”.
Foreign ministers from 17 countries met on and off for more than five hours to overcome divisions on the text.
The Geneva Communique called for political transition in Syria and Tehran never formally embraced it because of the implication that it could mean the end of Assad.
This position was stated on the eve of the United Nations session by Riad Hijab, who was selected in Riyadh as the “chief coordinator” of the anti-Assad coalition cobbled together by the Saudis. But Western powers, Turkey, Saudi Arabia reluctantly agreed to allow him to remain in place during a transition period.
But the Russians and the Iranians have blocked any explicit discussion of whether Mr. Assad, who has depended on Moscow and Tehran for critical military and financial support, can try to stay in office.
Any halt to hostilities would not apply to air strikes against ISIS and other terrorist groups, the resolution makes clear, amid fears they could otherwise benefit. “Some countries sent 15 to 20, others sent more”, he told reporters.
Mohammad Javad Zarif told The Associated Press on Thursday that his country has seen “no lists we can agree upon” of Syrian opposition groups that should be included in peace negotiations set to begin by January 1, or of Syrian groups that should be considered terrorist organizations instead.
Jordan’s foreign minister presented a draft list of “terrorist” groups that the ISSG nations will agree to exclude from the talks.
The UN Security Council threw its unanimous support Friday behind a plan to end Syria’s brutal civil war by summoning rebels and the regime to the negotiating table.
Missing from the talks so far has been the man at the center of the storm: Mr. Assad, whose barrel bombs, chemical weapons and vicious tactics have so embittered a huge segment of his own population that his critics insist he can no longer rule the country.
Advertisement
But an increasingly bloodied Russian Federation – now a target of ISIS – and growing US urgency in resolving the 5-year-old conflict whose chaos only strengthens the terror group, seems to provide some common ground for finding a resolution to the conflict.
