UN Assembly to Vote on Syria Resolution

The United Nations General Assembly votes Friday on a Saudi-drafted resolution on Syria, as activists report more violence in the 17-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. 

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Friday that shelling of a Palestinian refugee camp in the capital, Damascus, Thursday killed at least 21 people. The Observatory did not say who fired the mortars.

The group also reported clashes and government attacks Friday in other areas of the country, including the provinces of Hama, Idlib and Aleppo. In Deraa province, it said government forces were using helicopters.

The non-binding U.N. resolution would condemn both the Assad government's use of heavy weapons in the fight against rebel forces and the U.N. Security Council's failure to agree on measures to stop the violence.

UN envoy resigns

The vote comes just one day after Kofi Annan announced his resignation as U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria, blaming what he called a lack of unity in the Security Council.

In the wake of Annan's resignation, Britain pledged to increase its support for the Syrian rebels.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague told BBC radio Friday that Britain will increase its practical but non-lethal support in the coming weeks "given the scale of death and suffering and the failure so far of the diplomatic process."

The White House said Annan's resignation highlights the failure of Russia and China to back meaningful resolutions against Assad.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said China regrets Annan's resignation and supports the U.N. continuing to play an important role in an appropriate solution to the conflict.

Both the Syrian rebels and the government failed to commit themselves to Annan's peace plan for Syria, which included an immediate cease-fire and talks on a transitional government. The three Security Council resolutions that China and Russia vetoed would have held President Assad responsible for his failure to abide by the Annan plan and threatened him with sanctions.