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The United States is urging the U.N. Security Council to adopt a resolution ordering an immediate 30-day cease-fire in the Syrian capital Damascus and the suburbs of eastern Ghouta.
The draft resolution, circulated Monday and obtained by The Associated Press, expresses "outrage" at the lack of implementation of a resolution adopted Feb. 24 demanding a cease-fire throughout Syria without delay for at least 30 days to deliver humanitarian aid and evacuate the wounded and critically ill.
The U.S. draft would eliminate what U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley called a "loophole" in the Feb. 24 resolution that allows military operations against al-Qaida and Islamist State extremist groups.
Haley accused Syria and its Russian allies of exploiting this loophole "to continue starving and pummeling hundreds of thousands of innocent Syrian civilians."
The draft resolution orders all parties immediately after its adoption to allow "safe, unimpeded and sustained access" for humanitarian convoys and for medical evacuations.
It stresses that any movement of civilians must be "voluntary and to appropriate final destinations of their choice." And it asks U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "to urgently develop proposals" to monitor a cease-fire and civilian movements from eastern Ghouta.
(ABC)
