UN Considers Resolution Calling on Assad to Resign

But without Russia's support, the Syrian resolution could be dead on arrival.

The United Nations Security Council is discussing a draft resolution today that would call on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step aside with the hope that his resignation could pave the way to peace. But that resolution getting passed is entirely dependent upon Russia supporting it, and given that Russia has been Assad's biggest and fiercest supporter during the 11-month uprising, we shouldn't expect them to get behind this resolution. After all, Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov described the UN resolution as "a path to civil war" this morning, so you sort of know where Russia stands on this mess. The resolution, drafted by Moroccan diplomats, would call on Assad to step down in favour of his deputy, Farouk al-Sharaa. Diplomats told the New York Times that the resolution's focus on Assad was meant to stave off Russian concerns that NATO was planning a military intervention in Syria, a la Libya. Regardless of what happens in the UN, though, the fighting in Syria continues as heavily as ever before, with 100 people killed in clashes between rebel and government forces in the outskirts of Damascus yesterday. Some 5,400 people are believed to have been killed in the conflict so far.