UN Headquarters, New York Backdrop of the UN headquarters

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The UN Security Council scheduled a vote for Thursday at 1400 GMT on a new Syria resolution after a last-minute delay failed to get key Western nations and Russia to agree on measures to end the dramatically escalating violence — but both sides remained deeply divided.

International envoy Kofi Annan urged the deeply divided council to delay Wednesday afternoon's scheduled vote after a bombing in the heart of Syria's capital killed the defense minister and his deputy, the brother-in-law of President Bashar Assad.

The mandate of the 300-strong UN observer force in Syria expires on Friday and the Security Council must decide by then whether to extend it.

Russia and China have incurred international criticism by twice vetoing UN resolutions to increase pressure on Assad.

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