The UN Security Council has
unanimously agreed on the text of a draft resolution for peace talks in January
and a ceasefire aimed at ending the war in Syria.
All 15 members of the council agreed
to approve the text, which came after hours of negotiation between world powers
on Friday.
Al Jazeera's Diplomatic Editor James
Bays, reporting from New York said the text was a long time coming and came
despite reservations from Russia.
"There was lots of resistance
from Moscow but Western diplomats [are] telling me they are very happy with
what they have," he said.
"This will be the first time
there's been a Security Council resolution on Syria and on political transition
in Syria during five years of civil war."
John Kerry, US secretary of
state, said the resolution aims to install a transitional government
within the first six months, paving the way for elections within the next 18
months.
He said any agreement would exclude
the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and al-Nusra Front.
"We have emphasised from the
beginning that for this to work it has to be implemented by the men and women
of Syria and cannot be opposed from the outside," Kerry said.
"The resolution that we just
approved is a milestone because it sets out specific concepts with specific
time-frames.
The text does not include mention of
Assad's fate or which opposition groups will be included in peace talks.
Both have been key obstacles in
reaching an agreement in talks thus far.
Obama's remarks
Earlier on Friday, US President
Barack Obama reaffirmed his insistence that Assad step down, warning there can
be no peace there without a legitimate government.
"I think that Assad is going to
have to leave in order for the country to stop the blood, for all the parties
involved to be able to move forward in a nonsectarian way," Obama said at
a year-end news conference at the White House.
The conflict in Syria started in
mid-2011 after protests against Assad's rule were violently put down by
government security forces.
The war has killed more than 300,000
people according to some estimates, and sent millions of Syrians fleeing for
neighbouring countries and Europe, giving rise to the worst refugee crisis
since World War II.
Groups such as ISIL have also
conquered large tracts of land, from where they have planned attacks on a
number of states including France, Turkey, and Lebanon.
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SOURCE: ALJAZEERA
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