U.n. Security Council
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Fabius Says Creation of Syria Buffer Zones 'Very Complicated'

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius admitted Wednesday that plans to create buffer zones in Syria were "very complicated" and would require the imposition of partial no-fly zones.

Fabius said people displaced by the country's conflict needed to be protected through the creation of buffer zones but that logistical and diplomatic questions were complicating the issue.

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Shara Says 'Mistake' to Keep Iran Out of Syria Peace Bid

Vice President Farouq al-Shara said it would be a "mistake" to keep Iran out of international efforts to end the Syrian crisis, al-Watan newspaper reported on Tuesday.

"Some countries' refusal to engage with Iran on efforts to settle Syria's crisis on the pretext that Iran is part of the problem is a clear political mistake," it quoted Shara as saying.

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Iran to Continue Uranium Enrichment

Iran "will never stop" its controversial uranium enrichment, the country's envoy to the IAEA said on Tuesday, on the sidelines of a Non-Aligned Movement ministerial meeting in Tehran.

"Our enrichment activities will never stop and we are justified in carrying them out, and we will continue to do so under IAEA supervision," Ali Asghar Soltanieh told reporters.

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Opposition to March to Foreign Ministry over Government Inaction

The March 14 alliance’s youth movement is scheduled to march on Wednesday to the Foreign Ministry in Ashrafiyeh to protest the government’s failure to deal with several issues that have spiraled out of control.

According to An Nahar newspaper published on Tuesday, the youth movement’s rally is aimed at protesting the security chaos in Lebanon, exerting efforts to release the Lebanese abductees in Syria, ending the fighting in the northern city of Tripoli, and halting the spread of illegal arms over Lebanese territories.

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Iran Primes Summit amid High Security

Formidable security surrounded a meeting in Tehran on Monday of officials from Non-Aligned Movement nations preparing for a summit later this week that Iran is determined to use to bolster its international status.

Some 110,000 police were deployed across the country, but especially in the capital, where they were manning street corners and hundreds of vehicle inspection stops.

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Iran Seeks NAM Support in Nuclear Showdown

Non-Aligned Movement leaders should take a stand against Western sanctions at a Tehran summit at the end of the month, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said Sunday, adding that many NAM members backed Iran's nuclear program.

"The NAM... should seriously confront unilateral sanctions of certain nations against some members of the NAM," Salehi said in a speech opening days of preparatory meetings for the summit on Thursday and Friday.

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Ban Rejects Morocco Calls to Replace W. Sahara Envoy

U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon on Saturday told Morocco's monarch he would not give in to demands to change his peace envoy on the Western Sahara conflict, diplomats said.

Morocco announced in May that it no longer has confidence in U.N. envoy

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U.N. Observer Chief Leaves Syria after Mission End

The head of the now-defunct U.N. observer team in Syria, General Babacar Gaye, left Damascus on Saturday after the Security Council called time on the troubled mission, his aides said.

The mission officially ended on at midnight last Sunday amid escalating violence and divisions at the U.N. Security Council over how to end a conflict now in its 18th month.

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U.S., Britain Warn Syria against Chemical Weapon Threat

British Prime Minister David Cameron and U.S. President Barack Obama warned Wednesday they would be forced to consider a new course of action if Syria threatens to use chemical weapons on rebel fighters.

The two leaders agreed during a telephone call that "the use -- or threat -- of chemical weapons was completely unacceptable and would force them to revisit their approach so far," Cameron's Downing Street office said.

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U.N.'s Observer Mission in Syria Officially Ends

The United Nation's troubled observer mission to Syria has officially ended after being recalled amid escalating violence as world powers fail to agree how to end months of bloodshed in the country.

The mandate of the U.N. Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) expired at midnight Sunday after a roughly four-month deployment in which its work was hobbled by growing unrest that has cost tens of thousands of lives.

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