UN council to set up new Syria office after observers go

New York: The Security Council will let the mandate for the UN military observer mission in Syria expire on Sunday and will back a new civilian office there to support UN and Arab League efforts to end the country's 18-month conflict.

France's UN Ambassador Gerard Araud, the current Security Council president, said on Thursday that members have agreed to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's proposal for a liaison office.

Mr Araud says the council agreed that conditions set for possibly extending the mission of the unarmed observers past Sunday were not met. He says there was no halt to the Syrian government's use of heavy weapons and no significant reduction in violence.

In a letter to the council on last Friday, Ban said Syria now risks "a descent into a full-scale civil war."