Brahimi Seeks Chinese Support for Syria Solution

Posted October 31st, 2012 at 2:30 am (UTC-5)
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The U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria is urging China to be a part of a solution to Syria's 19-month-long crisis.

Lakhdar Brahimi told Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi at a meeting Wednesday in Beijing that he hopes China “can play an active role” in resolving the conflict.

Brahimi is in China for a two-day trip, his latest in an effort to find a way to halt the fighting. He met earlier this week with Russian officials.

Both China and Russia have vetoed three U.N. Security Council resolutions that could have led to sanctions against the Syrian government.

Brahimi had called for a cease-fire during the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday, but both Syrian rebels and government ignored the truce.

The fighting has continued, with Syrian activists saying clashes and airstrikes across the country killed more than 120 people Tuesday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Syrian warplanes struck Maarat al-Numan, a strategic, rebel-held town on a highway linking Damascus and Aleppo.

The Observatory also said the Syrian army and rebels fought in a Palestinian refugee camp near Damascus.

Meanwhile, Syrian state television blamed the assassination of air force General Abdullah Mahmoud al-Khalidi on those it calls terrorists. It gave no details. But the French News Agency reports that the rebel Free Syrian Army claims it killed the general because he was in charge of military training.