Russian initiatives at UNSC blocked

The UNSC will consider opening a coordination bureau in Syria, as proposed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon last week. French chairman of the UNSC Gerard Aro said that UN presence in Syria is neededafter August 20. He added that no one wants to be the new special envoy of the UN and LAS in Syria after resignation of Kofi Annan on August 31.

A terrorist attack happened at the hotel of international observers.

Foreign ministers of OIC states met in Jidda and decided to freeze Syria’s membership in the organization. Iran spoke out against the initiative. OIC leaders met in Mecca and approved the initiative.

56 states attended the two-day OIC session, including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, King of Jordan Abdullah II, Turkish President Abdullah Gul, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari are attending the summit.

The Syrian governments and opposition, Iraq, UAE and Indonesia were not invited for the summit initiated by Saudi Arabian King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al Saud.

Secretary General of the OIC Ekmeleddin Ishanoglu said that most states were opposed to Islamic foreign intervention.

Qatar, UAE and Saudi Arabia urged their citizens to leave Lebanon.

Over 20 Syrians, a Turks and Saudi Arabian were kidnapped by Shiites in Beirut in response to kidnap of Hezbollah members in Syria. 4 out of 11 Lebanese people detained in Syria were killed in Aazaz near the Turkish border, as reported on Wednesday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov urged countries to stop supporting opposition. The US State Department accused Russia of hindering settlement of the Syrian conflict. 

US Deputy Secretary of State for political affairs Wendy Sherman will visit Moscow to discuss Iran.