The UN is making contingency plans for a peacekeeping force in Syria in the event of a ceasefire there. The UN has called for a truce for the festival of Eid al-Adha, which begins on Friday. A UN monitoring mission operated in Syria earlier year, as part of a failed UN-Arab League peace plan, but withdrew after it became too dangerous. The UN Security Council, which is deeply divided on Syria, would have to approve any peacekeeping force. Western and Arab countries have pushed for UN action on Syria, but their resolutions have been vetoed by Russia and China.

Read more: BBC News – Syria peacekeeping contingency plan mulled at UN.