Sayda Says U.N. Vote Confirms Syrian Regime Illegitimate

A U.N. General Assembly resolution condemning Syria's use of heavy weapons and the Security Council's failure to act means the Syrian regime has lost legitimacy, the head of the opposition Syrian National Council said on Friday.

"This vote confirms that this regime lost its legitimacy and that the international community does not believe in its legitimacy anymore," Abdel Basset Sayda told a news conference in Arbil, the capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, region referring to a resolution passed earlier on Friday.

"The Security Council... is still a prisoner of the Russian veto," Sayda said, referring to Russia's backing for the regime of President Bashar Assad, who is trying to crush an uprising against his rule.

Sayda is on a visit to Kurdistan for meetings with Syrian Kurdish leaders, and the region's president, Massud Barzani.