LEAD: Russia rejects watered-down UN Syria resolution

Feb 3, 2012, 20:37 GMT

Moscow - Russia's deputy foreign minister on Friday said his country still could not agree to a watered-down version of a United Nations Security Council resolution on Syria.

'Our position has not been taken into consideration enough,' Gennady Gatilov said, according to the Interfax news agency.

Moscow was ready to negotiate and recognized the value of recent Security Council discussions, he said.

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov telephoned Friday and agreed that their delegations at UN headquarters in New York would continue consulting on the draft resolution, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.

'We want to see the Security Council speak in a unified and strong fashion in support of the Syrian people,' Toner said.

A revised draft resolution, submitted to the Security Council on Thursday by Morocco and supported by European and Arab members, dropped several major demands including a call for Syrian President Bashir al-Assad to step down.

The resolution is based on an Arab League plan for Syria.

Russia holds a permanent seat on the security council and could veto any resolution.

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