BREAKING NEWS

France ready to seek UN Syria vote despite Russia

WASHINGTON - France is ready to ask the UN Security Council to vote on a draft resolution condemning Syria for its brutal crackdown despite the threat that Russia will veto the measure, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Monday.
Juppe said Syrian President Bashar Assad had lost his legitimacy to rule, and it was time for the UN Security Council to make its views known.
"The situation is very clear. In Syria, the process of reform is dead and we think that Bashar has lost his legitimacy to rule the country," Juppe told a Washington think-tank after a day of talks with US officials including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
"We think, all together, that now we must go ahead and circulate this draft resolution in the Security Council," Juppe said, saying he believed a resolution could attract at least 11 of the 15 Security Council votes in favor.