The UN General Assembly's human rights committee on Thursday adopted a Saudi-drafted resolution condemning Iranian and Russian intervention in Syria, a decision that the Syrian and Iranian delegations rejected as unhelpful and unjustified. The non-binding resolution, authored by Saudi Arabia and co-sponsored by Qatar and other Arab nations, the United States and other Western powers, was adopted by the 193-nation assembly's Third Committee. There were 115 votes in favor, 15 against and 51 abstentions. Without explicitly naming Russia, it said the General Assembly "strongly condemns all attacks against the Syrian moderate opposition and calls for their immediate cessation, given that such attacks benefit Daesh (so-called IS) and other terrorist groups, such as al Nusra Front." "ISIL" and "Daesh" are names for ISIS. The resolution's language is clearly aimed at Russia, which has been bombing opposition forces in Syria for two months. Moscow says it is attacking Daesh but Western officials say its strikes have mainly targeted other rebel forces, including Western-backed groups. The resolution also condemned the presence in Syria of "all foreign terrorist fighters ... and foreign forces fighting on behalf of the Syrian regime, particularly the Al Quds Brigades, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (of Iran) and militia groups, such as Hezbollah." Iran's deputy UN representative, Ambassador Gholamhossein Dehghani, also rejected the resolution. He said it blurred the clear distinction between "terrorists with those who fight against them." The resolution demands foreign militias leave Syrian territory immediately. It also blasts Daesh and other militant groups for rights abuses and atrocities.
