UN Council heads for Syria resolution showdown

UNITED NATIONS: UN Security Council powers headed for a showdown over a western-backed resolution that threatens sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad that Russia has vowed to veto when it comes to a vote today.

Britain, France, the United States, Germany and Portugal say it is time to step up the pressure on Assad.

Russia has branded as "blackmail" a bid to make renewal of the UN mission in Syria conditional on sanctions.

"I made it very clear we are going to vote against this resolution," Russia's UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters after the latest tense talks between council ambassadors.

A 'no' vote by Russia, one of the five permanent members of the 15-nation council and a key ally of Assad, would be a veto. Russia and China, another permanent member, have twice vetoed resolutions which hinted of sanctions against Assad over the 16-month old conflict in his country.

A rival Russian resolution just proposing to renew the UN mission would fail to get enough votes to pass, US envoy Susan Rice told reporters.

As the 90-day mandate of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) ends on Friday, if no resolution is passed by then, it would have to shut down this weekend, diplomats said. Rice said it would be "immoral" to leave the nearly 300 unarmed observers in Syria if the council was not going to pressure Assad to carry out the peace plan of UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan. AFP