U.N. Passes Resolution Urging Political Settlement In Syria

Absent from the text is any mention of the future of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad – a key point of contention among Russian Federation and the Western powers that remains unresolved.

The resolution came after Russian Federation and the United States clinched a deal on a text.

He said Assad must go if there is to be peace in Syria, stressing that “Assad has lost the ability…to unite the country”.

“There are still operatives who are interested in carrying out terror attacks because they still operate in areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan, or more prominently right now, in Yemen, that are hard to reach”, he said.

Diplomats said a final list of which opposition organizations will be allowed to participate in the negotiations was still in the works. Adopted 15-0, “the plan calls for talks on a political solution and a cease-fire in Syria, except in those parts under the control of ISIS”, reports NPR’s Michele Kelemen.

He noted that “the Syrian conflict began with peaceful popular demands for political change, but it soon became defined by internal, regional and worldwide divisions – including in this very Council”.

Rycroft said the Security Council resolution would not break new ground but would enshrine agreements from talks in Vienna and Geneva.

During a break in Friday’s talks, Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said he had presented a document compiling the groups each country attending considered to be a “terrorist” organisation.

The draft asked the United Nations to convene representatives of the Syrian government and opposition for formal negotiations with a target start date of January.

“Only a Syrian-led, inclusive dialogue can put an end to the untold suffering of the Syrian people”, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned the Security council.

The UK and France joined Kerry in calling for Assad to step down.

But the United Nations representative for the main Syrian opposition group – the Syrian National Coalition – said the deadline was “too ambitious a timetable”.

But Washington and Moscow remain split over the fate of Assad and which groups fighting in Syria should be designated “terrorists” and therefore excluded from negotiations.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said there was “some movement” in the talks on Syria, adding that one goal of the NY meetings was to clarify the timeline for peace talks between the government and opposition. U.N.-supervised “free and fair elections” are to be held within 18 months under the new constitution. “We can not have a peace process without a ceasefire; and without a ceasefire peace talks can not continue to produce results”.

Originally, Western powers hoped the council would rubber-stamp a resolution endorsing a two-year road map for talks between Syria’s government and opposition on a unity government expected to begin in January and eventual elections.