UNITED NATIONS, Feb 3 (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council will meet on Saturday to vote on a European-Arab draft resolution endorsing anArab Leagueplan calling for Syrian PresidentBashar al-Assadto give up power, council members announced.
Diplomats said it was unclear ifRussia, which has opposed significant council action onSyriasince an uprising started there 11 months ago, would vote in favor, abstain or veto the resolution.
TheSecurity Counciloriginally planned to meet at 9 a.m., but the U.N. later said the meeting had been pushed back to 10 a.m. (1500 GMT) Saturday.
TheUnited Nationssays more than 5,000 people have died in attempts bySyrian governmentforces to crush anti-Assad protests across the country.
Russia, which threatened on Thursday to veto the text, had promised to submit suggestions for revising the draft on Friday. But diplomats said the drafters had received no proposals from the Russian delegation so far.
Moroccocirculated a revised draft on Thursday after Russian U.N. AmbassadorVitaly Churkintold a closed council session he would veto it if it were put to a vote on Friday with a phrase saying the body "fully supports" the Arab plan, diplomats said.
A senior Western envoy, however, said that by the end of Thursday’s meeting the 15 ambassadors had agreed in principle on the new text, retaining the "fully supports" phrase, but that a final decision rested with national capitals.
On Friday, Interfax news agency quoted Deputy Foreign MinisterGennady Gatilovas saying inMoscowthe draft was "not enough for us to be able to support it in this form."
Churkin was expected to deliver Russian suggestions for further revisions, diplomats told Reuters. But as of 5:30 p.m. (2230 GMT) on Friday the Russian delegation had not presented any new language, they said.
RUSSIAWORRIED ABOUT REGIME CHANGE
Qatari Prime Minister SheikhHamad bin Jassim al-Thanitold Al Jazeera television on Thursday that theArab Leaguewould not accept any further concessions.
"The version which we have is the minimal which we can accept," he said, adding that ifRussiadid not support the current version, it should use its veto.
Diplomats saidMoscowwas signaling that it did not want to veto the resolution, asRussiaandChinadid in October to a European-drafted resolution condemningSyria. But envoys cautioned that the Russians would not hesitate to vote against a text they consider to be unacceptable.
The issue, they said, could be decided by U.S. Secretary of StateHillary Clintonand Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who plan to meet on the sidelines of the annualMunichSecurity Conference inGermanyat the weekend.
InWashington, State Department spokesmanMark Tonersaid Clinton and Lavrov spoke on the telephone on Friday. They agreed that their U.N. delegations would continue working and the two would discuss the issue inMunich.
Russia, a long-standing ally of and arms supplier toDamascus, has been concerned that aSecurity Councilresolution could be seen as promoting "regime change" there or even lead to Libya-style outside military intervention in the conflict.
A senior U.S. official declined to predict what the final vote would be but suggested the majority of the council backed it. "We are cautiously optimistic that we will have a very strong show of support for this resolution," the official said.
IfMoscowvotes for the resolution, it likely will be adopted unanimously, asChinaandPakistanare expected to followMoscow‘s lead, U.N. envoys said. All other council members have already signaled they will vote for it.
An abstention fromMoscowwould allow the resolution to pass, although it would register a certain level of disapproval.
The latest draft includes changes made by Arab and European negotiators to meet some ofRussia‘s concerns. It calls for a "Syrian-led political transition," does not criticize arms sales toSyriaand leaves out some of the details of what the Arab plan entails, such as Assad transferring power to a deputy.
But the draft still says the council "fully supports" the Arab plan, languageMoscowhas said it dislikes.
Western envoys said they and the Arabs were trying to assure the Russians the resolution is not aimed at regime change inSyriaor a precursor to foreign military intervention. The new draft makes clear that it cannot be used to authorize force.
The draft does not threatenSyriawith sanctions, also rejected byRussia, but includes a vague reference to possible "further measures" in the event of Syrian non-compliance. (Additional reporting by Patrick Worsnip in New York and Arshad Mohammed inWashington; Editing by Eric Beech and Stacey Joyce)
