VIENNA, Sept 19 - Western states defeated a Russian proposal on Friday to remove Syria's alleged past nuclear activities from the agenda of meetings of the U.N. atomic agency, diplomats said.
But in a vote that highlighted how polarising the global political debate has become, China supported Russia's initiative while only a minority of the nations on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board - 17 out of 35 - voted against.
Western diplomats argued that Damascus should be kept under pressure to cooperate with the IAEA's long-stalled inquiry, even though this has hardly advanced in the last three years as the country descended into bloodshed.