Russia and the European Union circulated on Friday separate draft UN Security Council resolutions to authorize the deployment to Syria of up to 300 more cease-fire observers and there were hopes for a vote in the coming days, diplomats said. There are seven monitors already in Syria after the council authorised an advance team of up to 30 on Saturday.
A new resolution is needed for a further "initial deployment" of up to 300 as recommended by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Some council members, however, have expressed reluctance to give swift approval for an expanded observer mission because of concern about the failure of the Syrian government to halt the violence, return troops to barracks and withdraw heavy weapons.
At least 23 people were killed on Friday, 10 of them in a roadside bomb targeting security forces and most of the others in shelling by President Bashar al-Assad's forces on the city of Homs, further undermining the truce. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a statement published on the ministry's website on Friday: "Active work is taking place on the basis of the Russian text in order to take the decision tomorrow."
Council diplomats confirmed that negotiations are focusing on the Russian draft. Traditionally efforts are made to combine similar drafts. A council diplomat, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the resolution could be voted on over the weekend, though another envoy said it would most likely be held next week.
Both the Russian and EU texts, obtained by Reuters, authorize the deployment of 300 unarmed observers for an initial three month period and call upon Syria to implement its pledges under a six point plan by UN-Arab League mediator Kofi Annan. A key difference is the EU text, which diplomats say was drafted by France, "underlines the need for the Syrian government to agree rapidly with the United Nations the independent use of air assets" by the observer mission.
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