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Obama steps up the pressure on Syria – calls on Assad to step down
From its base in Turkey, the rebel Free Syrian Army called on the Arab League to “quickly transfer the case of Syria to the UN Security Council,” in a statement signed by its leader Riyadh al-Asaad, a dissident colonel.
The United Nations has pledged to assist the Arab mission deployed in Syria since last month, saying on Monday it would start training the bloc’s observers within days.
But the rebels demanded much bolder action from the world body, urging it to “act quickly against the regime through Chapter Seven of the UN Charter to maintain peace.”
Chapter Seven provides for UN forces to initiate military action, not simply act in self-defense.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon said “the situation in Syria has reached an unacceptable point,” and urged the Security Council to respond with “seriousness and gravity and in a coherent manner.”
But tough action by the council has been repeatedly blocked by Damascus allies China and Russia, which vetoed a Western draft UN resolution in October that would have condemned the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
Russia, which has accused the West of eyeing Libya-style regime change in Syria, on Monday distributed a new draft that would blames both sides for the crisis and oppose strong UN action, Western diplomats said.
France rejected the latest Russian text, saying it fell “very far from responding to the reality of the situation in Syria.” And Britain said a UN Security Council resolution on Syria was “long overdue.”
