UNITED NATIONS: Arab delegations have dismissed as unacceptable Russian amendments aimed at weakening a draft UN General Assembly resolution that backs an Arab plan for Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad to step aside, diplomats said on Wednesday. "The Arabs have rejected them and they're pushing ahead," a senior Western diplomat said about the Russian amendments to the Arab-drafted plan. Several other diplomats confirmed his remarks, saying the Russian proposals, seen as supporting Moscow's key ally in the Middle East, were unacceptable and would have diluted the resolution's message. The point of the Saudi-drafted resolution, which Egypt circulated to the assembly on behalf of Arab delegations, is to support the Arab League plan in a way that the Security Council was unable to do as a result of Russia's and China's veto of a similar resolution on Feb. 4, diplomats said. The draft resolution, which diplomats predict will pass with the support of the vast majority of the 193-nation General Assembly, is also intended to highlight that Russia and China are virtually alone on the issue of Syria's 11-month crackdown on anti-Assad protesters, diplomats said. "It will show that Russia and China are isolated, even more than they were in the Security Council, if there's an overwhelming vote in the General Assembly," the senior diplomat said. Russia and China were the only members of the 15-nation council to vote against the European-Arab draft resolution. There are no vetoes in the General Assembly. The body's resolutions have no legal force, unlike those of the Security Council, but were the Syria text to pass it would add to pressure on Assad and his government. The assembly is tentatively scheduled to vote on the draft resolution on Thursday at 3:00 pm EST (2000 GMT). Similar to the failed council resolution, the assembly draft "fully supports" the Arab League plan floated last month and demands an immediate halt to military operations in Syrian cities and withdrawal of government security forces. One new element in the assembly draft is a call for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to appoint a special envoy to Syria. The Russian amendments, obtained by Reuters, suggest language that would have made the opposition and government equally responsible for the violence, as well as proposing that government security forces would not be required to withdraw from Syrian cities unless the opposition stopped fighting first. "They're trying to give the regime an excuse to continue the violence against civilian protesters," the senior diplomat said. Russia proposed similar amendments to the European-Arab draft resolution on Feb. 4. Arab and Western delegations refused to include them in the text before the Security Council. Diplomats said that around 60 countries have added their names to the General Assembly resolution as co-sponsors, including many Western and Arab states. In December, the assembly passed a resolution condemning Syria's crackdown on pro-democracy protesters with 133 votes in favor, 11 against and 43 abstentions. Envoys said the new resolution would likely receive more 'yes' votes. Once the General Assembly resolution is adopted, diplomats said they would explore the possibility of returning to the UN Security Council for a third attempt at securing a legally binding council resolution on Syria. In addition to the Feb. 4 veto, Russia and China knocked down a European-drafted resolution in October that would have condemned Assad's clampdown on pro-democracy demonstrators and threatened Damascus with possible sanctions. But Western diplomats say Russia has shown no willingness to consider any kind of Security Council resolution condemning Assad. Earlier this week, UN human rights chief Navi Pillay suggested that Russia's and China's veto had "emboldened" Damascus to launch an all-out assault to crush the uprisings in Syrian cities with overwhelming force.
