Morocco World News with agencies
Morocco World News with agencies
United Nations, New York, July 19, 2012
Russia and China on Thursday vetoed a Security Council draft Resolution presented by the United Kingdom and backed by the United States and France, Germany and Portugal. The draft resolution, which was tabled under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, threatened to impose a wide range of sanctions in case the Syrian regime continued not to abide by its binding provisions. The text called for non-military sanctions if Assad does not withdraw heavy weapons from Syrian cities in 10 days.
Britain, France, Germany and the United States proposed in the vetoed resolution that Annan’s six-point peace plan be placed under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter
This is the third time since the start of the Syrian revolution that the Russia and China and vetoed draft resolutions aimed at ending the bloodshed in Syria. The first time was in October 2011 and the second time last February.
The Council had originally been scheduled to discuss the situation in Syria on Wednesday.
The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon– along with the Joint Special Envoy for the United Nations and the League of Arab States for the Syrian Crisis, Kofi Annan – has repeatedly expressed the hope that the Council can reach agreement on a course of collective action.
Days before the vote, Russia made clear that it would block any resolution on Syria under Chapter 7. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described the threat of sanctions against Syria as “blackmail.”
