The United States, Britain and France agreed on Monday to further soften the language of a resolution, which they drafted to demand Syria's full cooperation in the investigation of the murder of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, by deleting an implicit threat of sanctions.

The revised resolution does not mention Article 41 of the UN Charter, under which the Security Council can resort to economic or diplomatic sanctions to ensure the implementation of its decisions.

The new draft only says the council would consider further action to ensure Syria's compliance with its demands.

A demand for Syria to cease its support for terrorist groups was also dropped from the new text, which came out after a last- ditch closed meeting of the 15-nation council Monday morning.

The council is to hold a foreign ministers' meeting soon to adopt the draft, which was put forward by the US, Britain and France early last week. Diplomats here said the new revisions could probably lead to unanimous support for the draft.

Eleven council members have sent foreign ministers for the meeting, highlighting its importance. The 12 top diplomats include US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and their French and Chinese counterparts, Philippe Douste-Blazy and Li Zhaoxing.

Source: Xinhua