UN Council to hold new Syria meeting

UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council will discuss human rights and a growing humanitarian emergency in Syria at a special meeting next Thursday, diplomats announced.

UN Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay and UN under secretary for humanitarian affairs, Valerie Amos, will brief the August 18 meeting, the French UN mission said in a Twitter statement.

France and other European countries on the 15 member council asked for the new meeting as part of efforts to maintain pressure for international action against President Bashar al-Assad.

The Security Council condemned the violence in Syria on August 3 and was given a briefing on Wednesday on events since. A top UN official told the council that Assad had pursued his deadly crackdown on opposition protests in defiance of Security Council calls for an immediate end to violence. (AFP)