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India votes against Assad in UNSC
India on Saturday abstained from voting while Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that threatened action against Syria if it didn't immediately halt a deadly crackdown on anti-regime protesters.
Russia and China, both permanent members of the Security Council, vetoed the European-backed resolution, killing the draft. Apart from India, countries that abstained from voting were Brazil, Lebanon and South Africa.
Meanwhile, Syrian forces unleashed a barrage of mortars and artillery on the battered city of Homs on Saturday, killing more than 200 people in what appears to be the bloodiest episode in nearly 11-month-old uprising, activists said.
The Government denied the assault, saying the reports are part of a “hysterical campaign” of incitement by armed groups against Syria, meant to be exploited at the Security Council as it prepares to vote on a draft resolution backing an Arab call for President Bashar Assad to give up power.
With Syria growing increasingly chaotic, Western and Arab countries have stepped up their push for a UN resolution to pressure Assad. A vote was scheduled for Saturday, but negotiations were continuing to the last minute as Russia, a strong ally of Syria, signaled it would veto any call for Assad’s removal.
In a blunt warning to Washington, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Saturday that if a resolution is put to a vote without taking Russia’s opinion into account it will only lead to “another scandal” at the Security Council.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe countered that after the Homs bloodshed —which he called a “crime against humanity” — “those who block the adoption of such a resolution are taking a grave historical responsibility.”
Tunisia decided to expel the Syria’s ambassador in response to the “bloody massacre” in Homs and “no longer recognises” the Assad regime, said an official in the president’s office. Angry Syrians stormed their embassies in Berlin, London, Athens, Cairo and Kuwait city, clashing with guards and police and, in Cairo, setting fire to part of the embassy.
Meanwhile, telephone calls to Khaldiyeh, the hardest hit district in Homs, were not going through, but residents of nearby areas described a hellish night of ceaseless shelling.
“Homs is on fire,” said one opposition activist. “All sides are attacking each other and the number of casualties is more than anyone can count,” he said.
India on Saturday abstained from voting while Russia and China vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that threatened action against Syria if it didn't immediately halt a deadly crackdown on anti-regime protesters.
Russia and China, both permanent members of the Security Council, vetoed the European-backed resolution, killing the draft. Apart from India, countries that abstained from voting were Brazil, Lebanon and South Africa.
Meanwhile, Syrian forces unleashed a barrage of mortars and artillery on the battered city of Homs on Saturday, killing more than 200 people in what appears to be the bloodiest episode in nearly 11-month-old uprising, activists said.
The Government denied the assault, saying the reports are part of a “hysterical campaign” of incitement by armed groups against Syria, meant to be exploited at the Security Council as it prepares to vote on a draft resolution backing an Arab call for President Bashar Assad to give up power.
With Syria growing increasingly chaotic, Western and Arab countries have stepped up their push for a UN resolution to pressure Assad. A vote was scheduled for Saturday, but negotiations were continuing to the last minute as Russia, a strong ally of Syria, signaled it would veto any call for Assad’s removal.
In a blunt warning to Washington, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Saturday that if a resolution is put to a vote without taking Russia’s opinion into account it will only lead to “another scandal” at the Security Council.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe countered that after the Homs bloodshed —which he called a “crime against humanity” — “those who block the adoption of such a resolution are taking a grave historical responsibility.”
Tunisia decided to expel the Syria’s ambassador in response to the “bloody massacre” in Homs and “no longer recognises” the Assad regime, said an official in the president’s office. Angry Syrians stormed their embassies in Berlin, London, Athens, Cairo and Kuwait city, clashing with guards and police and, in Cairo, setting fire to part of the embassy.
Meanwhile, telephone calls to Khaldiyeh, the hardest hit district in Homs, were not going through, but residents of nearby areas described a hellish night of ceaseless shelling.
“Homs is on fire,” said one opposition activist. “All sides are attacking each other and the number of casualties is more than anyone can count,” he said.
