Edited and translated by People's Daily Online
China and Russia vetoed a United Nations Security Council draft resolution on Syria on Feb. 4. At present, Syria is not only the eye of the storm in the Middle East, but also a focus of interest for great powers that seek to set the template for resolving the crisis of a sovereign state.
Arab League increasingly tough on Syria
The Arab League is becoming increasingly tough on Syria. On Feb. 4, the Arab Parliament, a committee of parliamentarians from Arab League states, called on Arab countries to expel Syria's ambassadors over Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's continued crackdown on protests despite growing international pressure.
On the same day, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency denied Western accusations that Syrian security forces had bombarded the country's third largest city, Homs, and caused heavy casualties. The news agency cited a government official as saying that this was a "sinister bid" of armed terrorist groups and the opposition Syrian National Council to "negatively affect the ongoing UN Security Council discussions about Syria."
The United States insists that Assad must step down
The United States has recently made its stance even clearer that Assad must step down. In fact, it had been persuading and pressuring other countries to vote in favor of the draft resolution before the Security Council vote.
Hillary Clinton went to the headquarters of the United Nations in New York personally in the end of January and insisted that the only peaceful solution for the Syria Crisis should be President Bashar al-Assad's quit. She said that Syria is not Libya and the plan proposed by the League of Arab States has showed the road for the political transition of Syria. She expressed that she knows some member countries are worrying about that the UN Security Council may treat Syria as Libya, but it is a wrong comparison, and Syria's special condition needs a special solution.
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