epa03087439 United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (R) speaks with Susan Rice (L), the United States’ Ambassador to the United Nations, during a United Nations Security Council meeting on the ongoing violence in Syria at United Nations headquarters in New York, New York, USA on 31 January 2012. Diplomats are trying to gather support for a draft resolution demanding that Syria President Assad step aside but have faced opposition to the measure from Russia on concerns that such a move could lead to western military intervention. EPA/JUSTIN LANE