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UN General Assembly condemns Syria
Thursday, 16 February 2012
Syria's representative to the United Nations, Bashar Ja'afari, addresses the General Assembly (AP)
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The United Nations General Assembly has approved a resolution backing an Arab League plan that calls for Syria's president to step down and strongly condemns human rights violations by his regime.
The vote in the 193-member world body was 137 to 12 with 17 abstentions.
Russia and China, which vetoed a similar resolution in the Security Council, voted against the resolution.
There are no vetoes in the General Assembly and while their resolutions are not legally binding, they do reflect world opinion on major issues.
Supporters were hoping for a high "yes" vote to deliver a strong message to Assad to immediately end all human rights violations and attacks on civilians and hand power to his vice-president.
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