UN Security Council permanent members to meet on Syria: Diplomats

UNITED NATIONS - Agence France-Presse

Envoys from Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - the permanent veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council - will meet Sept. 11 to discuss the situation in Syria, diplomats said.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said earlier in the day that the failure to halt atrocities in Syria had become a new stain on the reputation of the world body and the Security Council powers.

France, Britain and the United States on Sept. 10 pressed for a tough Council resolution that would impose tough consequences should Damascus fail to hand over control of its banned chemical weapons.

But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said it would be "unacceptable" for the 15-nation council to pass a text that puts the blame on President Bashar al-Assad for an August 21 attack in the Damascus suburbs.

A Council meeting scheduled for Sept. 11 was cancelled at the last minute at Moscow's request.