Russia and China Brave Arab and Western Fury to Veto UN Resolution on Syria
It was the two countries’ second use of their security council vetoes to shield the Syrian leader from UN condemnation since the uprising against his rule began last year, and came despite worldwide outrage at the slaughter of up to 330 people in Homs during the previous night.
The five hour shelling of the rebellious city’s civilian population, in which 99 women and children were reportedly among those killed, was the worst single act of violence in the 11 month-long uprising.
Russia said it could not support a resolution backing an Arab League plan for a swift transition of power and elections. It was understood to have demanded a last-minute change dropping a call, already agreed by Syria in November, for tanks and artillery to be withdrawn from the streets.
That was rejected outright by Western governments after residents of Homs reported an extraordinary bombardment overnight by mortars and heavy artillery, shattering houses and sending the injured and dying flooding to hospitals and makeshift clinics. At least 200 were killed, with some activists giving figures as high as 330.
“This is a new massacre to add to the other Assad regime massacres,” a lawyer and activist in the city who gave his name as Abu Jihad told The Sunday Telegraph. “We ask for international intervention to stop this.”
William Hague, the foreign secretary, said Russia and China had “let the Syrian people down” and their veto would encourage more killing.
“Russia and China faced a simple choice today: would they support the people of Syria and the Arab League or not?” he said. “They decided not to, and instead sided with the Syrian regime and its brutal suppression of the Syrian people in support of their own national interests.”
Hillary Clinton, US secretary of state, who had earlier discussed Moscow’s concerns directly with the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said: “I thought that there might be some ways to bridge, even at this last moment, a few of the concerns that the Russians had.
“I offered to work in a constructive manner to do so. That has not been possible.”
But Russia insisted that the resolution was “unbalanced” and amounted to an attempt by the West to force regime change in Syria.
China’s representative to the UN, Li Baodong, said: “To push through a vote when parties are still seriously divided over the issue will not help maintain the unity and authority of the Security Council, or help resolve the issue.”
Earlier, world leaders had united to condemn the attack on Homs. “Yesterday the Syrian government murdered hundreds of Syrian citizens, including women and children, in Homs,” President Barack Obama said in a written statement.
“Assad must halt his campaign of killing and crimes against his own people now. He must step aside and allow a democratic transition to proceed immediately.”