U.N. General Assembly Votes 137 to 12 to Condemn Syrian Regime

The U.N. General Assembly voted 137 to 12 on Thursday to approve a resolution calling for an immediate halt to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's violent crackdown on dissent.

China, Russia and Iran were among the nations that opposed the text.

Introduced by Egypt on behalf of 27 other countries including Arab states, Britain and the United States, the draft resolution condemns "systematic violations and human rights" in Syria.

It demands that Syria immediately adopt an Arab League blueprint to calm the uprising, to "cease all violence" against civilians and withdraw security forces back to their barracks.

Seventeen U.N. member states abstained from voting on the resolution, which came just days after Russia and China joined forces to use their veto power to derail a similar text in the U.N. Security Council.

Russia's representative said his nation voted against the resolution as it did not incorporate amendments that it had proposed. His Chinese colleague said the resolution amounted to undue interference in the affairs of a sovereign state.

Egyptian ambassador Maged Abdul Aziz said there had been an "unacceptable escalation" of violence in Syria. "We demand that the Syrian government heed the demands of the Arab and Syrian people and staunch the bloodshed," he added.

But prior to Thursday's vote, Syria's ambassador to the United Nations, Bashar Jaafari, told the General Assembly that the resolution amounted to unwarranted intervention in his country's internal affairs.

"Some of the co-sponsors would like to settle accounts with Syria," he said, alleging that the resolution was motivated by the wider and long-running Middle East conflict.

To adopt the resolution, 10 days before a referendum on a new constitution for "a modern democratic Syrian state," he said, "will only lead to a tightening of the crisis and more tension in the region."

The United Nations, added Jaafari, was in danger of being used by "some member states" as a way to provide cover for "armed terrorist groups."