Russia, China vote against plan due to threat of sanctions

A relative mourns next to the body of Mustafe Al-Qutifan during his funeral in Deraa, Syria. Al-Qutifan was a victim of the fighting between government forces and rebels. [Photo/Agencies]

Russia and China vetoed a Western-backed UN Security Council resolution on Thursday that threatened Syrian authorities with sanctions if they did not stop using heavy weapons against an uprising and withdraw troops from towns and cities.

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The vetoed resolution, which would have extended a UN observer mission in Syria for 45 days, received 11 votes in favor, while South Africa and Pakistan abstained.

The 15-member council still has time to negotiate another resolution on the fate of the unarmed mission before its initial 90-day mandate expires at midnight local time on Friday.

Britain, France, Germany and the United States proposed in the vetoed resolution that international envoy Kofi Annan's six-point peace plan be placed under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which allows the council to authorize actions ranging from diplomatic and economic sanctions to military intervention.

Western council members have said they are talking about a threat of sanctions on Syria, not military intervention. Their vetoed resolution had contained a specific threat of sanctions if Syrian authorities did not stop using heavy weapons and withdraw troops within 10 days.

But Russia made clear days before the vote that it would block any resolution on Syria under Chapter 7, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov describing the threat of sanctions against Syria as "blackmail".

Russia has also put forward a resolution to extend the UN mission for 90 days, but it does not contain a threat of sanctions. The Security Council initially approved the deployment of the UN observer mission, known as UNSMIS, to monitor a failed April 12 cease-fire under Annan's peace plan.

If the mission is renewed, UN chief Ban Ki-moon has recommended shifting the emphasis of the work of UNSMIS from the 300 unarmed military observers to civilian staff focusing on a political solution and issues including human rights.

UNSMIS suspended most of its monitoring activity on June 16 due to increased risk from rising violence.

Major General Robert Mood, the Norwegian head of nearly 300 unarmed UN observers in Syria, condemned the violence and encouraged a diplomatic solution, which appears increasingly out of reach.

"It pains me to say, but we are not on track for peace in Syria," Mood said in Damascus.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and US counterpart Barack Obama acknowledged their differences on Syria but agreed to continue discussions toward solving the crisis, the Kremlin said on Thursday.

During a telephone conversation initiated by the US side on Wednesday, the two presidents also "reached better mutual understanding", a Kremlin official told reporters in Moscow.

"Our principal position was presented. We did not persuade (Obama), but the common understanding was reached that the situation in Syria has been difficult and it must be driven toward a constructive settlement," Putin aide Yuri Ushakov said.

He admitted Moscow and Washington remained divided over approaches to reaching such a settlement.

"We confirmed that we condemn any terrorism acts regardless of who commits them and hope the US joins us," Ushakov said, adding that Putin told Obama both sides in the conflict should be pressed toward a peaceful solution.

According to the presidential aide, Putin and Obama did not discuss the possibility of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's coming to Moscow.

The two presidents agreed to call each other more frequently to consult on various issues, Ushakov said.

Meanwhile, Syrian forces struck back against rebels on Thursday with attack helicopters and shelling in Damascus, one day after a rebel attack in the capital killed three leaders of the government.

Assad attended the swearing-in of his new defense minister on Thursday, according to footage shown on Syrian state TV.

Thousands of Syrians streamed across the Syrian border into Lebanon, fleeing as fighting in the capital entered its fifth straight day, witnesses said. Residents near the Masnaa crossing point — about 40 km from Damascus — said hundreds of private cars as well as taxis and buses were ferrying people across.

Syria's state-run TV warned citizens that gunmen were disguising themselves in military uniforms to carry out attacks.

"Gunmen are wearing Republican Guard uniforms in the neighborhoods of Tadamon, Midan, Qaa and Nahr Aisha, proving that they are planning attacks and crimes," SANA said.

Rebels fired rocket-propelled grenades at a police station in the Jdeidet Artouz area, killing at least five officers, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The unarmed observers were authorized for 90 days to monitor a cease-fire and the implementation of Kofi Annan's six-point peace plan, but the truce never took hold, and the monitors have found themselves largely locked down because of the persistent violence.

Mood said the observers "will become relevant when the political process takes off".

Wednesday's rebel bomb attack on a high-level crisis meeting struck the harshest blow yet at the heart of Assad's government. The White House said the bombing showed Assad was "losing control" of Syria.

Reuters—AP—Xinhua