Russia and China have vetoed a UN Security Council resolution proposing further sanctions on Syria, prompting an angry Western response.The UK, US and France said the UN had failed the people of Syria.Syrian troops have been mobilised to oust rebels from parts of Damascus, after a bomb killed three senior figures in the defence establishment.State TV has broadcast the first images of President Assad since the attack, standing with the new defence minister.The footage appeared to show Gen Fahd Jassim al-Furayj, chief of staff of the armed forces, being sworn into his new post. It was not clear where the meeting had taken place.Syrian forces have deployed tanks, artillery and helicopters in parts of the capital and clashes have been reported south-west and north-east of the city.Meanwhile, the rebels are reported to have captured a number of border posts.The mood inside the Security Council chamber was acrimonious after China and Russia vetoed the resolution. Britain’s ambassador accused the two nations of protecting a brutal regime by their actions.America’s ambassador said the Security Council had failed utterly in the most important task on its agenda.China’s ambassador denounced what he called an uneven resolution which placed pressure on one side, while Russia’s representative claimed the resolution would have opened the path to military involvement in Syria’s affairs.Now negotiations are underway to try to extend the mandate of the UN monitoring mission in Syria which expires today.The mission is supposed to monitor a ceasefire and support a political process – neither of which exist. So the UK is proposing a 30 day “final” extension.‘Sidelined’Russia and China have used their vetoes twice before over Syria and UK Foreign Secretary William Hague condemned their latest action as “inexcusable and indefensible”.“They have turned their back on the people of Syria in their darkest hour,” he said. The UK’s ambassador to the UN, Mark Lyall Grant, said he was appalled.Under the Western-backed plan, the Damascus government would have been threatened with non-military sanctions under Chapter Seven of the UN Charter if it failed to move troops and heavy weapons from populated areas.
