![Yemeni Minister of Legal Affairs Mohammed al-Mekhlafi is working to bring the country's legislative process into line with international conventions. [Faisal Darem/Al-Shorfa]](/shared/images/2013/05/18/yemen-legal-minister-90_58.jpg)
![Iraqi artist Sadik Jaafar's most recent exhibition, 'Harmony of Light', is now showing in Beirut. [Nohad Topalian/Al-Shorfa]](/shared/images/2013/05/18/iraq-artist-sadek-90_58.jpg)
![Lebanese Shia cleric Sayyed Ali al-Amine says religious leaders in Arab countries must speak out and issue fatwas prohibiting involvement in the fighting in Syria. [Photo courtesy of Ali al-Amine]](/shared/images/2013/05/17/lebanon-ali-amine-90_58.jpg)
![Boys at a Pakistan-based training camp fire AK-47's in this undated video released by the al-Qaeda affiliated Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP) terror group. [Video frame grab/Liveleak.com]](/shared/images/2013/05/17/cao-pak-children-90_58.jpg)
The UN Security Council began negotiating a pair of draft resolutions Thursday (July 12th) that could impose new sanctions on Syria and revive the suspended UN monitoring mission, AFP reported.
Western nations submitted a draft resolution Wednesday calling for Syria to respect a new deadline to implement a ceasefire plan sponsored by Kofi Annan, the UN-Arab League special envoy to Syria, which was introduced in April but has been violated by both the government and opposition forces.
The resolution allows for non-military sanctions to be applied if the government does not withdraw troops and heavy weapons from population centres within 10 days of the Security Council vote on the draft. The vote must be held before July 20th, the day the mandate of the UN monitoring mission is scheduled to expire.
This draft resolution, if approved by the Security Council, would renew the mission's mandate for 45 days, and call on the mission to take on more political duties.
The second draft resolution being discussed, submitted by Russia, excludes any call for sanctions.
Russia will veto the "unacceptable" draft resolution submitted by Western powers if the draft is brought to a vote, Gennady Gatilov, Russia's deputy foreign minister told the Interfax news agency Thursday.
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![A torn poster of Syrian President Bashar Assad hangs in the northern Syrian city of al-Raqa on March 5th following days of fierce fighting. [Mohammad al-Hussein/AFP]](/shared/images/2013/04/19/Syria-assad-raqaa-90_58.jpg)
![An Iraqi man pulls a cart up a hill through Baghdad traffic. [Karim Sahib/AFP]](http://mawtani.al-shorfa.com/shared/images/2013/05/17/iraq-traffic-jam-90_58.jpg)
![Iraqi students of all levels are preparing for their final exams. [Saif Ahmed/Mawtani]](http://mawtani.al-shorfa.com/shared/images/2013/05/17/iraq-students-tests-90_58.jpg)
![Iraqi security forces learned about this weapons cache from members of an 'Islamic State of Iraq' cell. [Saif Ahmed/Mawtani]](http://mawtani.al-shorfa.com/shared/images/2013/05/16/iraq-anbar-cache-90_58.jpg)
![The dome of Imam al-Hadi shrine in Samarra was badly damaged in 2006 in an attack led by an al-Qaeda affiliate, according to Mowaffak al-Rubaie, the national security advisor at the time. [Dia Hamid/AFP]](http://mawtani.al-shorfa.com/shared/images/2013/05/15/Iraq-shrine-samarra-90_58.jpg)
ADD A COMMENT (COMMENT POLICY) * DENOTES REQUIRED FIELD
READER COMMENTS
علي
2012-7-13
We must end this farce that is going on with the Syrians who escaped from their country for their lives the soonest possible. If we could achieve the national union of the Arab countries, as we discuss at conferences, curriculum of all education events, starting from the primary grades till high school and the University. Now, we must be one heart and one hand that beat every tyrant who even tries to forget that he will be punished, forgets that each tyrant must meet his end, and every oppressor will become a mirage. The real power of the Arabs is in their union and unity, as the holy book says. Our Syrian brothers are scattered everywhere in the world waiting to be saved, waiting for us to unite and save them from this farce which doesn't affect them only, but affects all of us.
محمد حكيم
2012-7-13
We must adhere to the high moral religious principles, and in particular, the provisions of the Islamic Sharia, as well as the human heritage of the Arab nation that renounces all forms of violence and terrorism and calls for the protection of human rights; namely, the provisions that are in line with the principles of international law and its foundations that have been based on the cooperation of the peoples for the establishment of peace, and commitment to the Charter of the Arab League, Charter of the United Nations and all covenants and other international instruments which are the Contracting States to this Convention, as a party in it, and affirming the right of people to struggle against foreign occupation and aggression by all means, including armed struggle for the liberation of its territory, and access to their right to self determination and independence, including the preservation of the territorial integrity of each Arab country, all in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter and the resolutions of the United Nations.