UNSC agrees to condemn Syria violence, say diplomats

The United Nations Security Council has agreed to a statement condemning widespread violence in Syria’s coastal region and calling on Syria’s interim authorities to protect all Syrians, regardless of ethnicity or religion, diplomats said yesterday.

The Russian and U.S.-drafted presidential statement is due to be formally adopted during an open Security Council session today, the diplomats said. 

 

Such statements are agreed by consensus.



It comes after the 15-member council met behind closed doors on Syria. 

 

At least 1,383 civilians, the vast majority of whom were Alawites, had been killed in the violence clashes between loyalists of deposed President Bashar al-Assad and the country’s new Islamist rulers in Syria’s coastal region since March 6, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reported.