Russia-China vetoed UN resolution against Syria

Damascus. Russia and China vetoed a new UN Security Council resolution that would have slapped new sanctions against President Bashar Al Assad’s regime, while India was among the 11 countries that voted in favour.
The 11-2 vote, with two abstentions from South Africa and Pakistan, was the third double veto of a resolution addressing the Syria crisis, now in its 17th month, by Damascus’ most important allies.
The key stumbling block was the West’s insistence that a new resolution be drafted under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which could eventually allow the use of force to end the conflict, and threaten non-military sanctions against the Syrian regime if it didn’t withdraw troops and heavy weapons from populated areas within 10 days.
Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the resolution should never have been put to a vote because the sponsors knew it had no chance of adoption.
“We simply cannot accept a document under Chapter 7, one which would open the path for the pressure of sanctions and further to external military involvement in Syrian domestic affairs,” he said.
The defeat leaves in limbo the future of the 300-strong U.N. observer mission in Syria, which was forced to suspend operations because of the intensified fighting. Its mandate, to monitor a cease-fire and implementation of international envoy Kofi Annan’s six-point peace plan, expires Friday.
Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant, who sponsored the Western-backed draft, said he had circulated a new draft resolution that would extend the mission of the unarmed observers for a final 30 days and hoped for a vote later Thursday. Pakistan introduced a rival draft that would extend the mission for 45 days, leaving open the possibility of an additional extension.
It was the third time in nine months that Russia and China had used their powers as permanent members of the UN Security Council to block resolutions on Syria.