|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The United Nations Security Council on Saturday unanimously called for a 30-day cease-fire in Syria, with Russia agreeing to the temporary hiatus only after forcing two days of delays that critics said allowed ally Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to pursue a renewed bombing campaign blamed for hundreds of recent deaths in a rebel-controlled area.
The nationwide truce would begin “without delay,” a victory for the United States and other nations that resisted Russian efforts to push back the start or soften the terms.
It came after intense negotiations to persuade Russia not to use its veto power in the Security Council, the Washington Post reports. Moscow had blocked 11 previous Syria resolutions. The United States and others accused Moscow of protecting the Assad government and its bombing campaign in the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta while allowing a horrific humanitarian disaster to continue.
There was a further delay Saturday as Russia and the United States haggled behind closed doors over the final text. Cameras in the Security Council chamber captured other delegates poring over the document shortly before the session finally began, more than two hours behind schedule.
It will be up to Russia to use its influence with Assad to enforce the cease-fire, which would allow desperately needed deliveries of emergency supplies and medical evacuations of the seriously injured and sick.
Activists and monitors say that more than 500 civilians have been killed in the last week in Eastern Ghouta, in what is considered the fiercest assault in seven years of civil war. Each day of delay in imposing the cease-fire allowed Assad’s forces to level more of the largely rebel-controlled area.
The humanitarian convoys “are ready to go,” Swedish Ambassador Olof Skoog told the council.
“This ended up being a bit of a showdown,” between Haley and Russian Ambassador Vasilly Nebenzia, said a Security Council diplomat who requested anonyity to describe the backroom negotiations.
“She succeeded in retaining vital language in the resolution that called for an immediate start to the ceasefire and unfettered humanitarian access without delay. The Russians kept trying to water it down.”
