Outrage as Russia and China veto Syria plan

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 say Syrian forces bombarded the city of Homs, killing more than 200 people in the worst night of bloodshed of the 11-month uprising.

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, home to a Russian naval base and a customer for its arms. China’s veto was widely seen as following Russia’s lead.

Washington’s UN ambassador Susan Rice said she was “disgusted” by Russia and China’s vetoes, and “any further bloodshed that flows will be on their hands”.

Britain’s Foreign Minister William Hague said Moscow and Beijing had turned their backs on the Arab world. France’s Alain Juppe said they “carried a terrible responsibility in the eyes of the world and Syrian people”.

All 13 other members of the Security Council voted to back the resolution, which would have “fully supported” an Arab League plan under which Assad should cede powers to a deputy, withdraw troops from towns and begin a transition to democracy.

The Western criticism was echoed in the Middle East, where Arab powers like Saudi Arabia and non-Arab Turkey have turned decisively against Assad in recent months.

“Unfortunately, yesterday in the UN, the Cold War logic continues,” Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said. “Russia and China did not vote based on the existing realities but more a reflexive attitude against the West.”

Arab League head Nabil Elaraby said in a statement: The veto “does not negate that there is clear international support for the resolutions of the Arab League”.

The Security Council’s sole Arab member, Morocco, voiced “great regret and disappointment” at the veto. Ambassador Mohammed Loulichki said the Arabs had no intention of abandoning their plan.

Burhan Ghalioun, head of the opposition umbrella Syrian National Council (SNC), called Moscow and Beijing’s veto “a new license to kill from these two capitals for Bashar al-Assad and his criminal regime”.

The SNC said that it would hold Moscow and Beijing “responsible for the escalating acts of killing and genocide”.