UN Syria mission to end, meeting in NY on Friday, say envoys
Smoke billows after a bomb exploded August 15, 2012, at a military site near a hotel used by United Nations monitors in Damascus. — Reuters picUNITED NATIONS, Aug 16 — The UN Security Council will not renew the mandate of a UN observer mission in Syria, which is due to expire in the coming days, and will begin its withdrawal from the country, French UN Ambassador Gerard Araud said today.
A parked UN car seen after the explosion through the broken glass of the hotel used by United Nations monitors. — Reuters pic“The mandate of UNSMIS is over on the 19th of August ... UNSMIS will fade out,” said Araud, who is the president of the Security Council for the month of August.
He said conditions for renewing the mandate had not been met.
Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the permanent five Security Council members — Russia, China, the United States, France and Britain — and key regional players would meet on Syria in New York tomorrow.
He added that he regretted that the UN observer mission would end. — Reuters
