Thu, Oct 06, 2011 page1

• China, Russia veto UN resolution on Syria crackdown

  OUTRAGED: The US labeled comments by Russia and China a ‘cheap ruse by those who would rather sell arms to the Syrian regime than stand with the Syrian people’

  • AFP, DAMASCUS
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  Russia and China have vetoed a UN Security Council resolution threatening action against Syria’s deadly crackdown on protests, in a move both condemned and lamented by Western powers.

  As new deaths were reported in Syria’s bloody six-month campaign against dissent, the US said it was “outraged” by the rejection of the resolution proposed by European nations.

  France yesterday bemoaned the blocking of the resolution as a “sad day” for the Syrian people and the Security Council.

  Turkey said despite the failure of the resolution, it would still press ahead with its own sanctions against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

  Nine countries voted late on Tuesday in favor of the text which had called for “targeted measures” if Assad pursues his clampdown, which the UN says has left at least 2,700 people dead.

  Russia and China voted against, killing the resolution because of their veto power as permanent council members.

  South Africa, India, Brazil and Lebanon abstained, reaffirming a divide in the 15-member body since NATO launched air strikes in Libya using UN resolutions to justify the action.

  The double veto marked a “sad day for the Syrian people” and for the council itself, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said, while vowing to keep supporting the “Syrian democrats’ struggle for freedom.”

  “The Security Council should not remain silent in the face of the Syrian tragedy,” Juppe said. “It should raise its voice against a dictator who is massacring his people and seeking to stifle the Syrians legitimate hope for democracy.”

  “France, with its partners, tried everything to offer the Security Council a text that was strong, but which addressed the concerns of all. Some decided to impose their veto,” he said in a statement. “It’s a sad day for the Syrian people. It’s a sad day for the Security Council.”

  Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin said the European resolution was “based on a philosophy of confrontation,” and that the threat of action was “unacceptable.”

  Many opponents raised the air strikes in Libya and fears or more in Syria to justify their votes.

  China said it exercised its veto because the resolution would have “blindly” pressured the Arab nation and not helped.

  “Some countries submitted a draft resolution to blindly impose pressure and even threatened sanctions against Syria. This would not help to ease the situation,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ma Zhaoxu (馬朝旭) said.

  US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice labeled the comments a “cheap ruse by those who would rather sell arms to the Syrian regime than stand with the Syrian people.”

  Rice called on the council to impose “tough, targeted sanctions” and an arms embargo against Syria.

  “The United States is outraged that this council has utterly failed to address an urgent moral challenge, and a growing threat to regional peace and security,” she said.

  The US ambassador later led her delegation out of the council chamber after Syrian Ambassador to the UN Bashar Jaafari said the US had committed “genocide” in a long attack on the Western countries.

  Russia has proposed an alternative resolution which condemns the opposition violence, as well as that of the government, and calls for dialogue to end the crisis. However, European nations vowed that it would not come to a vote.

  Western governments and human rights watchdogs have expressed mounting criticism of the council’s failure to adopt any resolution on Syria, which has since mid-March been shaken by an unprecedented protest movement Assad has sought to crush using deadly force.

  In the latest violence, at least 11 people were shot dead by security forces on Tuesday, including six in the central province of Homs and two in the northwest of the country, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

  The other three were killed in various centers of protest across the country, the Britain-based Observatory said.

  Meanwhile, Amnesty International highlighted cases where Syrian activists had been attacked in other countries and called for stronger action against Syrian embassies behind such intimidation.

  The rights watchdog said it had documented cases of attacks and intimidation against 30 Syrian activists in Britain, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden and the US.
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