WESTERN AND Arab countries responded with outrage yesterday after Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would have backed an Arab plan urging Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to give up power.
US secretary of state Hillary Clinton called the veto a “travesty”.
The vote came a day after activists said Syrian forces bombarded the city of Homs, reportedly killing more than 200 people in the worst night of bloodshed of the 11-month uprising.
This figure was later revised downwards by one opposition group.
Russia said the resolution was biased and would have meant taking sides in a civil war. Syria is Moscow’s rare ally in the Middle East – it is home to a Russian naval base and buys its arms. China’s veto was widely seen as following Russia’s lead.
Washington’s UN ambassador, Susan Rice, said she was “disgusted” by the vetoes from Russia and China, and “any further bloodshed that flows will be on their hands”. British foreign minister William Hague said Moscow and Beijing had turned their backs on the Arab world. France’s Alain Juppé said they “carried a terrible responsibility in the eyes of the world and Syrian people”.
All 13 other members of the council voted to back the resolution, which would have “fully supported” an Arab League plan under which Mr Assad would cede power to a deputy, withdraw troops and begin a transition to democracy.
The Syrian government yesterday vowed to restore stability in the country’s restive cities.
The vote followed a reported assault on armed elements holed up in the Khalidiya neighbourhood of the city of Homs.
Opposition activists speaking from Homs said up to 290 people were killed in a four-hour barrage of tank and mortar fire. The opposition “revolutionary committees” said 200 bodies had been buried in the city.
But another regional opposition organisation, the Local Co-ordination Committees said 50-60 people had been killed.
The government denied mounting the operation. Some photos of alleged victims showed men with their hands tied, suggesting they had been abducted and killed. There was no way to verify the toll.
The violence was said to have been triggered by the kidnapping of loyalist soldiers manning checkpoints in and around Homs, and by the establishment by rebels of their own checkpoints sealing off quarters of the city of more than a million people. – (Additional reporting Reuters)