UN Security Council aims to endorse halt in Syria fighting
UNITED NATIONS - Russia and the United States circulated to the UN Security Council on Thursday a draft resolution endorsing the planned halt in fighting in Syria and council diplomats said they hoped to adopt it as soon as possible.
The "cessation of hostilities" agreed to by the United States and Russia is due to take hold on Saturday morning from midnight. But opponents of President Bashar Assad say they expect the government to press on with its advance, by branding opposition fighters al Qaeda militants unprotected by the truce.
The joint draft resolution, which diplomats say the 15-nation council plans to put to a vote on Friday afternoon, would endorse the halt in fighting and demand that it begin as planned at midnight local time on Saturday morning.
It also "demands that all parties to whom the cessation of hostilities applies ... fulfill their commitments."
