The UN Security Council on Friday unanimously approved a resolution endorsing an international road map for a Syria peace process, a rare show of unity among major powers on a conflict that has claimed more than 250,000 lives.
The resolution gives a UN blessing to a plan negotiated previously in Vienna that calls for a ceasefire, talks between the Syrian government and opposition, and a roughly two-year timeline to create a unity government and hold elections.
The obstacles to ending the nearly five-year civil war remain daunting, with no side in the conflict able to secure a clear military victory. Despite their agreement, the major powers are bitterly divided on who might represent the opposition as well as on the future of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
“This council is sending a clear message to all concerned that the time is now to stop the killing in Syria and lay the groundwork for a government that the long-suffering people of that battered land can support,” US Secretary of State John Kerry told the 15-nation council after the vote.
The resolution also calls for the UN to present the council with options for monitoring a ceasefire within one month.
Talks between Syria’s government and opposition should begin early next month, the resolution said, although Kerry said mid-to-late next month was more likely. It also endorsed the continued battle to defeat Islamic State group militants, who have seized large swaths of both Syria and neighboring Iraq.
It was one of the strongest appeals for peace by the council, divided for years on the issue of Syria’s war, since Russia and China began vetoing a series of Western-drafted resolutions on the conflict in Oct. 2011.
The resolution came after Moscow and Washington clinched a deal on a text. The two powers have had different views on what should happen in Syria, where Islamic State group militants control considerable territory that Western governments suspect has been a launch pad for attacks on Western nations and Russia.
Kerry made clear that there were still differences on the future of al-Assad, a close ally of Russia and Iran who Western countries want ousted, as well as on the question of which Syrian opposition groups would have a seat at the table in talks with the government.
“We are under no illusions about the obstacles that exist,” Kerry said. “There obviously remain sharp differences within the international community, especially about the future of President Assad.”
The resolution does not address al-Assad’s fate.
Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov said that the resolution “is a clear response to attempts to impose a solution from the outside on Syrians on any issues, including those regarding its president.”
Diplomats said the main problem in the negotiations on the resolution involved Russian and Iranian concerns about how to refer to a bloc of opposition groups that would join UN-led peace talks with the Syrian government.
Western officials said that a recent meeting of opposition figures in Saudi Arabia made significant headway in coming up with an opposition bloc, although Russia and Iran have questioned the legitimacy of the Saudi-hosted discussions.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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