Syria conflict: West 'appalled' by Russia China UN veto

The head of the armed forces was named defence minister after Wednesday's bombing at national security headquarters

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, as he swore in the defence minister.
It was not immediately clear where the swearing-in ceremony of armed forces chief Gen Fahd Jassim al-Furayj took 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.

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The whole city is shaken. Worried about passing any government building or checkpoint, people are choosing to stay at home instead”

Damascus-based reporter

• Damascus: 'City in grip of fear'

'National interests'

Russia and China have wielded their vetoes twice before over Syria and Mr Lyall Grant told the Security Council that the UK was appalled.

"The effect of their actions is to protect a brutal regime. They have chosen to put their national interests ahead of the lives of millions of Syrians."
Under the Western-backed plan, the Damascus government would have been threatened with non-military sanctions under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter if it failed to move troops and heavy weapons from populated areas.
It was the use of Chapter 7 that stirred Moscow's objections. It opened the path to "external military involvement in Syrian domestic affairs," Russia's UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin argued.
But US ambassador Susan Rice said that any suggestion of military force was "paranoid if not disingenuous".
With sporadic battles breaking out for control of Damascus, international envoy Kofi Annan has pushed the international community to take urgent and decisive action.
The Security Council still has to decide whether to renew the mandate of a UN mission in Syria, due to end on Friday. The UK is said to be revising the text of the vetoed resolution proposing an extension for a "final 30 days".
'Imminent fall' The bombing at Syria's national security headquarters claimed the lives of three high-profile figures in President Assad's defence establishment

The three men were at a security meeting at the time of the blast

• Defence Minister and ex-chief of staff Gen Daoud Rajiha
• Deputy Defence Minister Assef Shawkat, married to Mr Assad's sister Bushra
• Assistant to the vice-president and head of crisis management office Gen Hassan Turkomani
• Two other senior officials - interior minister Mohammad Ibrahim al-Shaar and National Security Bureau chief Hisham Ikhtiar- were wounded

Rebel groups said the bomb had been planted the day before the meeting at national security headquarters where it was detonated. They predicted the government's imminent fall.
After the attack the government vowed to root out ruthlessly what it described as armed terrorists backed by outside powers.

Unverified footage purportedly shows people celebrating following the death of the officials

Our correspondent says that video of one attack posted on the internet showed scenes of pandemonium after what activists said was a helicopter gunship attack on a funeral procession at Sitt Zeinab, south of the capital. They said at least 60 people were killed in this incident alone.
Activists also said there was fighting near the cabinet office on the western side of Damascus.
In the capital itself, state media said, security forces launched operations in many areas which have seen clashes in recent days, killing many "terrorists".
Activists reported more tanks moving towards the capital from the west.
But our correspondent says the rebels are on the offensive too, warning state TV and radio to evacuate staff before its headquarters comes under attack.