France, US push for Aleppo observers

Aleppo : The United Nations Security Council could vote as early as this weekend on a French-drafted proposal to allow international observers in Syria's Aleppo and ensure urgent deliveries of aid, the US envoy said Friday.

Ambassador Samantha Power told reporters following a closed-door council meeting that UN officials already based in Syria were ready to be quickly dispatched to the city as a "presence for protection."

"They are eager and willing to carry out monitoring," Power said.

"The presence of independent observers can deter some of the worst horrors."

France told the council meeting that it was working to quickly present a draft resolution on its proposal, but Russia, Syria's main ally, expressed skepticism.

"There are some elements which I thought were questionable," said Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, arguing that it would take weeks to send the monitors to Aleppo.

"To imagine that you can do it within two or three days is really unrealistic."

Power said: "I think we are hoping to vote over the weekend, at least, because of the extreme urgency."

The ambassador sought to address Russian resistance to the proposal.

"Russia has helped deliver Aleppo to the Syrian government. Surely Russia can secure actual safe corridors for civilians," she said.

French Ambassador Francois Delattre said: "The immediate priority is to save lives, to stop the massacres and to avoid a new Srebrenica," referring to the massacre of Bosnian Muslims at the hands of Bosnian Serbs during the Balkan wars.

Delattre told AFP that he planned to circulate the draft text to the council later Friday and that a vote would take place "as soon as possible."