BICOM

The UN General Assembly is scheduled to meet this evening to consider a Saudi Arabia-led draft resolution condemning the continuing violence in Syria and calling for a transition to a democratic system.

The meeting is set for 20.00 GMT this evening, according to diplomatic sources quoted widely in the media. The General Assembly will most likely vote on a draft that contains language similar to the Western-backed resolution, which was vetoed by Russia and China at a UN Security Council meeting on 4 February. A veto by world powers cannot be applied in the General Assembly.

The Saudi resolution draft, which has yet to be circulated officially in the 193-nation assembly, would back the Arab League’s plan of action to end the fighting between government security forces and the opposition. Western and Arab states have been looking at new measures to stop the escalating violence after the failure of the Security Council resolution, which would have called on Syrian President Bashar Assad to hand over power to his deputy. Though lacking veto power, Russia has been working behind the scenes to exclude potential military action against the Assad regime from the General Assembly resolution.

Since the Security Council veto, the Syrian army has intensified its assault on Homs, besieging the central city and shelling the Baba Amr neighbourhood, the centre of anti-regime protests. Activists say more than 400 people have been killed since security forces launched an assault on opposition-held areas on the city this month.