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CAIRO, February 5, 2012 (AFP)
The Arab League will continue working to end political violence in Syria to stave off foreign military intervention after Russia and China blocked a UN resolution condemning Damascus, league chief Nabil al-Arabi said on Sunday.
Arabi said the 22-member organisation would continue working with the Syrian regime and opposition for a “political solution” to Damascus’s deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protests.
Arab nations had proposed the resolution which Russia and China vetoed at the UN Security Council on Saturday, and which backed an Arab League plan to end President Bashar al-Assad’s crackdown.
Vetoing the resolution “does not negate that there is clear international support for the Arab League’s decisions,” Arabi said in a statement.
The league “will continue its efforts with the Syrian government and opposition, in coordination with concerned parties, to achieve its uppermost goal to stop all acts of violence and killing, and to protect civilians.”
The bloc will work to “find a political solution that will achieve reforms and the process of change demanded by the Syrian people, which would preserve it from… any foreign military intervention,” he said.
Arab leaders and officials attacked the UN on Sunday after Russia and China blocked a resolution condemning the Damascus regime, as Tunisia urged the world to cut diplomatic ties with Syria.
Russia and China on Saturday used their diplomatic muscle for the second time in four months to block a resolution condemning the violence. The other 13 countries in the 15-member council voted for the resolution.
Rights groups say the Syrian regime’s crackdown has killed more than 6,000 people since democracy protests broke out in March last year.
