UN Security Council members on Tuesday resumed discussion of a draft statement that would provide support and strengthen Kofi Annan's mission in Syria, dpa reported.
Annan, the joint special envoy for the United Nations and Arab League, had called for the Security Council's support for his diplomatic efforts to end the violence in Syria, in which, by UN estimates, more than 8,000 people have died since March 2011.
Diplomats said the closed-door discussion among the 15 council members was to assess reactions to the draft from governments in the last 24 hours. They said the draft statement would be issued publicly if council members were to agree to it.
The draft would support the six points that Annan presented as proposals to end the violence when he met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on March 9-10 in Damascus.
The six points include demands for Syria: to commit to work with Annan in an inclusive, Syrian-led political dialogue to address the legitimate aspirations and concerns of the Syrian people; to commit to stop the fighting under a UN-supervised ceasefire "in all its forms by all parties"; and to ensure timely provision of humanitarian assistance to all areas affected by the fighting.
The draft would call for freedom of movement throughout Syria for journalists and ensure freedom of association and the right to demonstrate peacefully as legally guaranteed.
Annan sent a team of experts Sunday to Damascus to discuss his six-point plan. Last week, he asked the Security Council to speak with one voice on Syria and to back his diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.
The council is divided about how to end the killing in Syria, with Russia and China having vetoed two resolutions condemning the government of President Bashir al-Assad's severe human rights violations.
The other permanent members – the United States, Britain and France – along with Portugal and Germany supported such a condemnation.
