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WAR REPORT
US says Russia, China narrow gap with world on Syria
by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) March 14, 2012


The United States said Wednesday that Russia and China have moved closer to the rest of the world in condemning Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's deadly crackdown of an opposition revolt.

The points agreed in Cairo on Saturday between the Arab League and Moscow "are an improvement over where we had been previously in some of the Russian positions," US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

"They begin to close some of the gaps," Nuland told reporters.

Russia and the Arabs agreed on "unhindered humanitarian access," an end to the violence, the establishment of a mechanism for "objective monitoring" in the country, and no foreign intervention. China then welcomed the plan.

Nuland indicated she was encouraged by further statements from Moscow and Beijing, which have been criticized by Washington for twice vetoing UN Security Council resolutions condemning the Syria violence.

"You're now seeing public statements, both from Russia and from China, that are quite clearly saying that they are not interested in protecting Assad, that they are not interested in anything but something that ends the violence," she said.

"So are we there yet? No, we're not there yet, but we are continuing to work on this, but we have seen an increasing convergence," Nuland said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday criticized Assad for the "big delay" in reform in Syria, saying Damascus was failing to swiftly follow Moscow's advice.

Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao called for an immediate truce and for protection of civilians, adding: "China respects the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people for change and for the pursuit of their own interests."

However, it was not immediately clear whether both powers were any more likely to back any new UN resolution on Syria. China and Russia have said the past UN resolutions were unbalanced and only sought to replace Assad.

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China's Syria envoy in Paris for talks
Paris (AFP) March 14, 2012 - China's Syria envoy Zhang Ming was to hold meetings Wednesday and Thursday in Paris, the French foreign ministry said, but he was not due to meet top-level officials.

Western nations including France have been at loggerheads with China and Russia over the unrest in Syria, with the two powers blocking United Nations Security Council resolutions on the crisis.

Zhang was to arrive in Paris after talks with Arab League officials in Cairo, which he said agreed on the need to find a "political solution" to the Syria crisis.

"France welcomes this representative of the Chinese government with interest," deputy foreign ministry spokesman Romain Nadal told a press conference.

He said Zhang would be reminded of the need for "an urgent humanitarian solution," "an urgent end to repression" and "an urgent political solution" in Syria.

Zhang was to meet a presidential advisor and top ministry officials, but was not scheduled to meet President Nicolas Sarkozy, Foreign Minister Alain Juppe or any other ministers.



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UN leader backs NATO over Libya air strikes
United Nations (AFP) March 13, 2012
UN leader Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday threw his weight behind a UN report which said NATO did not deliberately target civilians during its air strikes in Libya last year. The air strikes have divided the UN Security Council with Russia, China, South Africa and India all saying NATO's tactics breached UN resolutions. The United States, Britain, France and Germany all insist their actions were lega ... read more


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