Local Editor

China and Russia vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution on Thursday to refer Syria to the International Criminal Court [ICC] for alleged war crimes in the crisis.
 
The delegations of Russia and China used their veto to refer Syria to the OCC, while 13 Security Council member countries voted in favor of the move.

On Tuesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said the draft is unacceptable to the Kremlin, and Moscow will not back it.
He said, "The draft resolution that is currently submitted to the Security Council for us is unacceptable and we will not support it. If it is put to a vote, we will veto it."

Earlier, Russia's UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin had dismissed the vote as a "publicity stunt" and warned that if the resolution had passed it would hinder efforts to end the Syrian crisis.

It is the fourth time both countries have blocked Western resolutions relating to the three-year conflict in Syria.

The text, drawn up by France, was co-sponsored by 60 countries, including members of the European Union, Japan, South Korea and several African states.
Syria has not ratified the Rome Statute of the ICC, so any investigations regarding Syria should be sanctioned by the Security Council.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team