UN General Assembly set to condemn Syrian crackdownAugust 3, 2012 - 22:08 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - With the UN Security Council deadlocked over the Syrian crisis, the General Assembly prepared Friday, August 3, to denounce the Assad regime for using tanks, artillery, helicopters and warplanes on the people of Aleppo and Damascus and demand that it keep its chemical and biological weapons under strict control. The resolution was expected to easily pass in the 193-member General Assembly after its Arab sponsors weakened two key provisions — a demand that President Bashar Assad resign and a call for other nations to place sanctions on Syria over its civil war. With the tougher language, the Saudi resolution had been in danger of falling below 100 votes and would have been seen as weak and lacking moral authority. General Assembly resolutions are unenforceable. The original draft calling for Assad to resign was opposed by Russia and China, which have cast a double veto in the more powerful Security Council three times to kill resolutions that could have opened the door to sanctions on Syria, or even military intervention. The revised resolution takes a swipe at Russia and China by "deploring the Security Council failure" to act. A frustrated former U.N. chief Kofi Annan resigned Thursday as the joint U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria after his peace proposals failed, according to The Associated Press. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | International cybercrime ringleaders arrested in Armenia, Ukraine Europol, Europe's crime agency, has arrested four ringleaders of several cybercrime networks that used botnets. Armenia skips CSTO Defense Ministers meeting A meeting of the Council of Defense Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization countries began in Almaty. Armenian, Iranian foreigh policy chief talk over the phone The Foreign Minister of Armenia once again expressed condolences to his counterpart on the death of the President of Iran. Armenia, U.S. customs authorities to boost assistance with new deal The government has approved an agreement with the U.S. government on mutual assistance between the customs authorities. |