Russia, China veto UN resolution on Syria

Associated Press

BEIRUT

Russia and China vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution aimed at ending Syria’s bloodshed, despite international outrage Saturday over a devastating bombardment of the city of Homs by President Bashar Assad’s forces. Activists said more than 200 were killed in the bloodiest episode of the nearly 11-month uprising.

The veto and the show of support by Russia raised concerns that Assad’s regime could now unleash even greater violence to crush the revolt against his rule, assured that his ally would prevent international action while continuing its weapons sales to Damascus.

It could also push an opposition despairing of other options further into an armed response, fueling a cycle of violence that threatens to tear apart the Arab nation. A movement that began with peaceful protests in March has already turned increasingly to the weapons of rebel soldiers to defend itself against Assad’s crackdown.

The overnight onslaught on restive neighborhoods in Homs, Syria’s third-largest city, signaled a willingness by Assad’s regime to bring a new level of violence to stamp out its opponents. Its timing, hours before a planned vote on the U.N. resolution, suggested Assad was confident of his ally Russia’s protection on the world stage.

Activists’ reports of the death toll from the assault could not be independently confirmed.

The Syrian government denied any bombardment took place at all, saying the reports were opposition propaganda aimed at pressuring the United Nations. It said bodies of the dead that appeared in activists’ online videos were those of people who had been kidnapped previously by “terrorists.”

Thousands gathered for a funeral ceremony for some of the victims in the worst-hit neighborhood, Khaldiyeh, where more than 60 coffins and bodies in white shrouds were lined up in a park, according to footage of the scene.

The bloodshed added new urgency to negotiations over the resolution, as Western and Arab nations amended drafts to overcome Russia’s opposition.

“The Assad regime must come to an end,” President Barack Obama said in a statement Saturday before the vote, calling on the Security Council to “stand against the Assad regime’s relentless brutality.”