Russia won’t halt arms sales to Syria
BEIRUT — Russia said Thursday it will keep selling arms to longtime ally Syria, despite mounting international condemnation over the Syrian regime’s bloody crackdown on a 10-month-old uprising.
Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said his country is not violating any international obligations by selling weapons to Damascus.
Moscow has been one of Syria’s most powerful allies — along with Iran — as regime forces try to crush the revolt against President Bashar Assad. The U.N. estimates that more than 5,400 people have been killed in the government crackdown.
U.N. continues bid to forge resolution on Syrian violence
UNITED NATIONS — Security Council ambassadors have failed to reach agreement after a third straight session of talks on a resolution aimed at stopping the bloodshed in Syria.
Envoys said Thursday that yet another text is being drawn up for them to send to their capitals for consideration.
British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant says the new version will be put in final form in preparation for a vote “as soon as possible.”
Six aid workers freed in Yemen
BERLIN — Six aid workers abducted in Yemen have been released unharmed, the German Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
The six, who were kidnapped by armed tribesmen near Yemen’s capital, Sana, on Tuesday, worked for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. One was a German national, the ministry said. Media reports said the others were a Colombian, an Iraqi, a Palestinian and two Yemenites.
Royal family meets with head of inquiry on violence
MANAMA, bahrain — Senior members of the ruling family have met with the head of an independent inquiry that called for reforms in the violence-wracked Gulf nation. Thursday’s visit by Mahmoud Cherif Bassiouni comes more than two months after his group’s findings on the deepening unrest between Bahrain’s Sunni monarchy and majority Shiites seeking a greater voice in the kingdom’s affairs.
IMF advising Tunisia on post-revolution economic crisis
TUNIS, tunisia — The International Monetary Fund has been working closely with Tunisian authorities since the revolution to cope with the current economic crisis.
Director Christine Lagarde said Thursday at the conclusion of her two-day visit that she discussed with Tunisia’s leaders what measures they could take to cope with an economic downturn that has been aggravated by problems in the country’s main European trading partners.
U.N. urges Israeli action to salvage peace talks
HERZLIYA, israel — U.N. chief Ban Ki-Moon warned Thursday that time is running out for a Mideast peace deal and urged Israel to make goodwill gestures, including easing its Gaza blockade.
Ban attended a security conference in Israel just hours after visiting Gaza, where dozens of Palestinians pelted his armored convoy with shoes and sticks, accusing him of being unfairly biased toward Israel.
Ban met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas this week to try to salvage low-level talks on borders and security arrangements between Israel and a future Palestinian state.
Denver Post wire services
