Syria rebels meet U.N. Security Council, urge Russia to end Assad support - Alarabiya.net English | Front Page

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (3rd R) meets with members of the Syrian Opposition Coalition (L) at the United States Mission to the United Nations July 25, 2013 in New York. (AFP)

Reuters, Michelle Nichols / UNITED NATIONS

Syrian rebel leaders met with the U.N. Security Council for the first time on Friday to discuss the country’s two-year war and appealed to Russia to stop its powerful political and military support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

The 15-member Security Council has been deadlocked on Syria. Russia, an ally and arms supplier of Assad, and China have three times blocked action against Assad supported by the remaining veto powers - the United States, Britain and France.

“We asked them (Russia) to stop providing the political and military support for this criminal regime to continue its crimes against the Syrian people,” senior Syrian National Coalition member Najib Ghadbian told reporters after the meeting.

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