‘Syria veto to avert bloodshed’

China’s official Xinhua news agency said yesterday Beijing and Moscow’s veto of a UN Security Council resolution on Syria was designed to prevent more “turbulence and fatalities” in the violence-hit state. Russia and China’s Saturday veto of a resolution condemning Syria’s crackdown on protests has sparked an international outcry, and came just hours after reports that troops in the city of Homs had killed hundreds of civilians.

Russia’s UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin justified the veto by saying the proposed resolution “sent an unbalanced signal to the Syrian parties”. His Chinese counterpart Li Baodong said pushing through such “a vote when parties are still seriously divided ... will not help maintain the unity and authority of the Security Council, or help resolve the issue.” In a comment piece, Xinhua said the veto -- the second by the two countries since the start of violence in the Middle Eastern state a year ago -- “was aimed at further seeking peaceful settlement of the chronic Syrian crisis.”

AFP