RUSSIA and China vetoed Saturday a U.N. resolution that backed an Arab plan calling on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down.

    It was the second time since October 2011 that Russia and China used a double veto to block a Syria-related U.N. Security Council resolution, which they deemed not the best choice to promote peace in the Middle East country.

    The unadopted draft resolution said the Security Council “fully supports” the Jan. 22 Arab League plan to ask Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down. That phrase proved a major cause of Russian opposition to the draft in pre-vote consultations.

    The draft also urged efforts to “facilitate a Syrian-led political transition to a democratic, plural political system ... including through commencing a serious political dialogue between the Syrian government and the whole spectrum of the Syrian opposition.”

    At the unusual weekend council meeting, 13 council members voted in favor of the draft resolution. But, in order to be adopted, a U.N. draft needs not only nine votes in favor, but also no veto by any of 15-nation council’s five permanent members: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.

    Russia and China, two veto-wielding council members who have been closely following the situation in Syria, used the double veto on the grounds that more consultations were needed to achieve a proper settlement of the Syrian issue.

    They argued that the co-sponsors, including Arab states and the United States, Britain and France, failed to take into account the reasonable concerns of Russia, which insisted that the draft resolution, tabled by Morocco, be amended.

    U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon of South Korea voiced his deep regrets over the council’s failure to adopt the draft resolution.

    The United States and France responded to the double veto with fury.

    Syria, which has all along voiced strong opposition to any foreign intervention in its internal affairs, reiterated Saturday that Damascus prefers to see a political settlement within Syrians themselves and the Arab family.(SD-Agencies)

    (Related story on P5)