Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2024 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

Europe

The Latest: UN Security Council to vote on Syria resolution

Associated Press
Published | Updated
  • 37529cfc-
    Image 1 of 3

    This frame grab from video provided by the government-controlled Syrian Central Military Media, shows Syrian rebels sitting inside a vehicle of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent after they were released as part of a deal to evacuate over 10,000 residents from Madaya and Zabadani, two opposition-held areas near Damascus, and the two rebel-besieged villages of Foua and Kfarya, in Idlib province, northern Syria, Wednesday, April 12, 2017. Syria's government and rebels exchanged some 30 prisoners and nine bodies, part of a larger agreement to evacuate four besieged areas in different parts of the country, activists and officials said Wednesday. The Arabic words above read:"Handing over the fighter prisoners as part of the exchange deal." (Syrian Central Military Media, via AP) (The Associated Press)

  • e5bec0d2-
    Image 2 of 3

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov smiles during his talks with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, April 12, 2017. Tillerson's Moscow talks hinge on new US leverage over Syria. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev) (The Associated Press)

  • 7143c6af-
    Image 3 of 3

    US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, left, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov shake hands prior to their talks in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, April 12, 2017. Tillerson's Moscow talks hinge on new US leverage over Syria. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko) (The Associated Press)

BEIRUT – The Latest on the conflict in Syria (all times local):

6 p.m.

The U.N. Security Council has scheduled a vote Wednesday afternoon on a Western-drafted resolution that would condemn the reported use of chemical weapons in northern Syria and demand that all parties provide speedy access for investigators.

Britain's U.N. Ambassador Matthew Rycroft called on all 15 members to support the resolution drafted by the U.K., France and the United States saying "every country that really wants the truth will vote in favor of the resolution."

But the final draft includes a paragraph that the Russians objected to last week stressing Syria's requirement to provide investigators with flight plans and information about air operations on April 4 when Khan Sheikhoun was attacked, names of helicopter squadron commanders, and immediate access to air bases where they believe an attack may have been launched.

Rycroft said Russia has a choice of sticking with "the toxic Assad regime that poisons its own people" or seeking peace through negotiations and a political transition.

The Security Council is scheduled to meet at 3 p.m. EDT to vote.

___

10: 45 a.m.

A Syrian official and an opposition monitoring group say the government and rebels have exchanged 30 prisoners and nine bodies, part of an agreement to evacuate four besieged areas in different parts of the country.

Hakim Baghdad, a member of the relief committee for two rebel-besieged villages in northwestern Syria, said Wednesday the overnight release was overseen by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. The Red Crescent had no immediate comment.

Military-run media said rebels released eight women, four children and eight bodies. Pro-government militias freed 19 gunmen and released one body.

The exchange came as part of a deal to evacuate over 10,000 residents from two opposition-held areas near Damascus and the two villages in northern Syria, an agreement that critics say amounts to forced displacement.