UNITED NATIONS ? The U.N. General Assembly on Thursday voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution demanding Syria end its brutal 11-month crackdown on anti-government protesters, and endorsing an Arab League plan for a political transition that would require President Bashar al-Assad to yield some of his powers.
The non-binding resolution is largely symbolic and includes no enforcement provisions. But it highlighted the growing isolation of Syria?s closest allies at the United Nations, particularly China and Russia, who voted against Thursday?s resolution and vetoed a similar measure in the U.N. Security Council two weeks ago.
The new measure calls on U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to appoint a special envoy for Syria, where more than 6,000 people have been killed since the uprising began. It also ?strongly condemns? Syria?s crackdown and urges the government to ?immediately put and end to all human rights violations and attacks against civilians.?
Syria?s U.N. ambassador, Bashar al Jafaari, denounced the chief Arab and Western sponsors of the resolution for ?leading a political and media aggression against Syria? and providing logistical and military support for ?armed terrorists? seeking the overthrow of Assad?s government. He accused the sponsors of ignoring his country?s offer to introduce political reforms, and dismissing a series of Russian amendments aimed at calling on the opposition to disassociate itself with the country?s armed resistance.
The resolution was approved by a vote of 137 to 12, with 17 abstentions, although the final count was expected to change slightly. At least three countries reported that a technical malfunction prevented them from voting.
Diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis in Syria have been stalled since Feb. 4, when China and Russia vetoed a resolution that called for the establishment of a government of national unity.
The Arab League hoped Thursday?s vote would help reinforce that political plan.
In Syria, meanwhile, security forces continued their assault aimed at suppressing the revolt, with attacks across the country. Human rights groups reported that 26 people had been killed Thursday.
The veto of the Security Council resolution appears to have emboldened the Syrian government to crack down even more harshly against protesters. The conflict has increasingly taken on the cast of an armed insurgency as frustrated protesters take up weapons and start to fight back.
Correspondent Liz Sly in Beirut contributed to this report.
Source: http://feeds.washingtonpost.com/click.phdo?i=8fd805b618eded456ce5ffd12dbc7bb3
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