Geneva: UN leader Ban Ki-Moon urged the UN Security Council on Friday to reduce the number of unarmed military observers in Syria and put more stress on political efforts to end the conflict. Ban recommends in a report that the mission in Syria with a “reduced military observer component” be redeployed to Damascus. The divided Security Council must make a decision on the future of the 300 unarmed military observers and more than 120 civilian staff in Syria by July 20.
Tension in the debate on the future of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria is likely to increase in the wake of western calls for sanctions against President Bashar Al Assad despite the opposition of veto-wielding council members Russia and China.
The UN leader expressed alarm at the “dangerous trajectory of the conflict and the destructive dynamics at play” between the government and opposition.
