U.n. Security Council
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Clinton, Lavrov Hold 'Constructive' Talks on Syria

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday held "constructive" talks with her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov over a draft U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Syria's crackdown, officials said.

The pair agreed that diplomatic teams from both countries would "continue to consult" on the draft in New York, said State Department spokesman Mark Toner, amid a U.S. push for passage of the resolution.

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Report: Syrian Forces Torture Kids as Young as 13

Children as young as 13 are a particular target in the "rampant" use of torture by Syrian government forces battling opposition protests, Human Rights Watch said in a report released Friday.

The United Nations says hundreds of children have been killed in the crackdown over the past 10 months, and the rights group highlighted cases of children shot in their homes or on the street, or grabbed from schools.

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Russia to Veto Any 'Unacceptable' Syria Resolution, Paris Says Death Toll at 6,000

Russia will use its veto to block any U.N. Security Council resolution on Syria that it deems to be unacceptable, Moscow's envoy to the United Nations said on Wednesday, as Paris said Russia has now a "less negative" attitude towards a draft resolution proposed by the West and the Arab League.

"If the text is unacceptable then we will vote against," Vitaly Churkin was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti news agency.

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Unlikely Lawrence of Arabia Row at U.N. Syria Debate

Many points of contention were aired at a high-stakes U.N. Security Council meeting on Syria's bloodshed on Tuesday, but at least one came straight from another era -- Lawrence of Arabia.

Syria's U.N. representative brought up the famous British soldier from World War I as he defiantly rejected a draft resolution backed by other Arab states calling on President Bashar al-Assad to step down.

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Arab League Urges Security Council to Stop Syria 'Killing Machine'

Qatar's prime minister, speaking on behalf of the Arab League, urged the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday to take action to stop Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's "killing machine."

Opening a top-level Security Council meeting on the Syrian crisis, Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani said that the Arab League had tried to seek a solution with Assad in face of the 10-month uprising.

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Russia Warns Resolution on Syria Could Spark 'Civil War'

Russia on Tuesday warned that passing a Western-backed U.N. resolution on Syria vehemently opposed by Moscow would risk paving the way towards civil war in the country.

"The Western draft of the Security Council's resolution on Syria will not help in the search for a compromise," Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov wrote on his Twitter account.

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Ban Wants Council to 'Bear Quick Fruit' on Syria

U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon urged the Security Council to take action on Tuesday to "bear quick fruit" to end the crackdown on dissent in Syria, where more than 5,400 people have been killed.

"I hope the U.N. Security Council meeting will bear quick fruit so that the council can meet the expectations of the international community," Ban told a news conference with Jordan's Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh in Amman.

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Juppe, Hague Head to New York for U.N. Action on Syria

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe is to head to New York on Tuesday to press the U.N. Security Council into taking action over the Syrian regime's "crimes against humanity", his ministry said.

Juppe will seek "to persuade the Security Council to assume its responsibilities faced with the Syrian regime's worsening crimes against humanity," ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said on Monday.

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Organization of Islamic Cooperation Urges End to Syria Bloodshed

The head of the world's largest Muslim body urged the international community on Monday to take up its responsibilities in protecting Syrian civilians and ending bloodshed there.

"I renew my calls to the international community, especially the U.N. Security Council, to take up its responsibilities in protecting civilians and taking all measures to end bloodshed in Syria," the secretary general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, told Agence France Presse.

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Bellemare Reportedly Refused to Postpone Release of New Indictment

Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare refused to postpone the release of a new indictment until the renewal of the STL’s cooperation protocol, according to al-Liwaa newspaper published Monday.

An opposition parliamentary source told the daily that Bellemare’s discussions with Lebanese officials during his farewell visit to Beirut last week increased the political tension in the country.

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