As Annan Resigns, UN Condemns Violence in Syria
August 03, 2012
Kofi Annan resigned from his position as United Nations and Arab League negotiator for Syria.
This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.
The United Nations General Assembly has approved a resolution on Syria. But it does not require any actions and cannot be enforced. The resolution condemns the government's use of heavy weapons against rebels. It also criticizes the U.N. Security Council for failing to stop the violence in Syria.
Friday's vote came as Syrian activists reported more violence in the seventeen-month-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.
On Thursday, Kofi Annan announced he will leave at the end of the month as the United Nations and Arab League negotiator for Syria. He blamed his resignation what he called a lack of unity in the Security Council.
KOFI ANNAN: "Syria can still be saved from the worst calamity if the international community can show the courage and leadership necessary to compromise on their partial interest for the sake of the Syrian people."
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says the Security Council has become "paralyzed" over Syria. On Friday he urged the major powers to cooperate. He said "the immediate interests of the Syrian people must be paramount over any larger rivalries of influence."
Unlike Security Council measures, General Assembly resolutions cannot be vetoed.
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