UN debates condemning Hezbollah Syria presenc

UNITED NATIONS - Agence France-Presse

The U.N.’s top rights body will debate a draft resolution today condemning the Syrian regime’s use of foreign fighters in the besieged town of Qusair.

 A draft resolution presented yesterday “condemns the intervention of foreign combatants fighting on behalf of the Syrian regime in Qusair,” an implicit reference to the involvement of fighters from Lebanon’s militant group Hezbollah in the fierce battle for the strategic town. The draft resolution, which was put forward by the United States, Turkey and Qatar and which if passed would be non-binding, cautions that the presence of the foreign fighters in the western town “poses a serious threat to regional stability.” The text also calls on the Syrian authorities to “allow free and unimpeded access by the United Nations and humanitarian agencies to all civilians affected by the violence, especially in Qusair.” Hundreds of civilians have reportedly been killed in the rebel stronghold since the regime began its assault on May 19.