Outrage grew on Sunday after Russia and China blocked a UN Security Council resolution condemning Syria for its crackdown on protests, with the opposition saying it handed the regime a “licence to kill”.
Saturday’s rare double veto drew swift condemnation from world powers, with Washington saying it was “disgusted.”
Russia blamed Western powers for the security council’s failure to pass the resolution, saying they had failed to make an additional effort for consensus.
“The authors of the draft Syria resolution, unfortunately, did not want to undertake an extra effort and come to a consensus,” Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov wrote on Twitter.
The failed resolution followed widespread disgust at what the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) labelled a “massacre” overnight on Friday in the central flashpoint city of Homs.
Activists and residents had reported more than 200 civilian deaths, including women and children, during an assault by regime forces.
On the ground, activists on Sunday reported another 60 people killed, adding to the body count of one of the bloodiest weekends since the uprising against Assad’s regime erupted almost 11 months ago.
‘Deeply sorry’
Opposition groups say at least 6 000 people have now been killed in Syria since last March.
The surge of violence coupled with the second UN double veto in four months triggered a wave of international outrage.
The SNC said in a hard-hitting statement that “Syrians and others around the world” had looked to the Security Council to issue a strongly worded resolution.
“The SNC holds both governments accountable for the escalation of killings and genocide, and considers this irresponsible step a licence for the Syrian regime to kill without being held accountable,” it said of Russia and China.
The Jeddah-based Organisation of Islamic Cooperation said it was “deeply sorry” at the UN outcome, and warned that Syria could “descend into civil war”.
Syrian SNC member the Muslim Brotherhood denounced “the complicit support of Russia and China for the dictatorship”, and called for a boycott of products from both countries, a call echoed by the Brotherhood in Jordan.
US ambassador to the UN Susan Rice said Russia and China “remain steadfast in their willingness to sell out the Syrian people and shield a craven tyrant”.
‘Rapid stabilisation’
In Libya, crowds of Syrians chanting anti-Russian slogans entered Moscow’s Tripoli embassy and replaced the Russian flag with the new Syrian flag in protest.
The veto controversy comes ahead of a Tuesday visit to Damascus by Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Foreign Intelligence Service chief Mikhail Fradkov for talks with Assad.
“Russia strongly intends to achieve a rapid stabilisation of the situation in Syria through the rapid implementation of much-needed democratic reforms,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
Assad’s troops shelled Homs “randomly” overnight on Friday, killing men, women and children, the SNC said.
It said at least 260 civilians were killed, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said about 100 women and children were among its toll of 237 dead.
The authenticity of the figures is difficult to confirm independently because of reporting restrictions on foreign media.
US President Barack Obama denounced an “unspeakable assault”.
“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,” Obama said in a statement.
‘Horrific massacre’
The SNC called the Homs incident “one of the most horrific massacres since the beginning of the uprising in Syria”.
Damascus denied responsibility, blaming the deaths on rebels seeking to influence the Security Council debate.
While Russia and China blocked a Syria resolution for the second time in four months, the other 13 countries in the 15-member council voted for it.
The resolution had been proposed by European and Arab nations to give strong backing to an Arab League plan to end the crackdown.
France said Moscow cannot hold out “indefinitely”.
“Russia, for reasons that are almost shameful, is blocking everything,” Defence Minister Gerard Longuet told RTL radio.
“We have a duty, we Europeans, to show that we will never accept this regime. Russia can hold out for 15 days, two months, but it cannot hold out indefinitely.”
Catalyst
Syrian government mouthpiece Tishrin on Sunday called the veto “a catalyst that will enable Syria to accelerate reforms, organise a referendum on a new constitution, multi-party elections and the formation of a larger government that includes opposition movements”.
Western envoys said they had bent over backwards to change the text after Russia balked at any resolution that could be used to justify foreign military intervention, called for Assad to quit or imposed an arms embargo on Syria.
Tunisia urged other Arab nations to follow its lead after it said on Saturday it was expelling Syria’s ambassador and withdrawing its recognition of the Assad government.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, meanwhile, on Sunday reported 60 more people killed in Syria, including 27 soldiers and six rebels.
Among the dead were 12 civilians killed on Saturday when security forces opened fire in the Damascus suburb of Daraya on mourners attending funerals, the Britain-based rights watchdog said.
It said nine Syrian soldiers died and 21 were wounded in clashes overnight with armed rebels at Jebel Al-Zawiya in Idlib province, which borders Turkey.
The Free Syrian Army, which comprises army deserters and armed volunteers, is based in Turkey. — AFP