Russia and China blocked a UN Security Council resolution condemning Syria

 Russia and China blocked a UN Security Council resolution condemning Syria 

(CNN)-- The death toll from fighting between Syrian government forces and civilians rose steadily Sunday, a day after the United Nations Security Council failed to approve a plan seeking to halt the violence.
The Arab League said Sunday it would continue to work with the Syrian government and opposition to stop the killing despite the Security Council vote, and it urged the government to "heed the people's demands."



At least 31 people, including five children, were killed by security forces Sunday, according to the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, a network of opposition activists. The group said 18 of the deaths happened in Homs, where hundreds have been killed in recent days in violence that opposition groups blame on the government.



Five of the deaths happened in the Damascus countryside, and one each happened in Aleppo and Daraa, the group said.
The LCC said another six were killed in the northwestern city of Idlib, where clashes broke out Sunday between government forces and defectors. At least nine Syrian army troops were killed in those clashes and 21 others were injured, according to Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition activist group.

The observatory also said a 14-year-old child was killed when security forces used gunfire to disperse a demonstration in suburban Damascus.

The Local Coordination Committees announced plans for a two-day civil strike starting Sunday as a way to mount more pressure on President Bashar al-Assad's government.

Arab League Secretary-General Nabil el-Araby insisted that despite the developments in the Security Council, the Arab League and the international community will continue to seek a resolution to the crisis, according to an Arab League official who could not be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

"The Arab League aims to avoid military intervention in Syria and continues to probe for an Arab solution to the Syrian crisis," el-Araby said, according to the official.

The Arab League suspended its mission in Syria a week ago because of a recent sharp escalation in violence, with hundreds killed in clashes.

The mission would have monitored whether al-Assad was abiding by an agreement to end the crackdown, which has resulted in an estimated 6,000 deaths, according to the United Nations.

Protesters and rebel fighters have been demanding an end to al-Assad's rule and true democratic elections.

Saturday, Russia and China used their veto power in the Security Council to defeat a draft resolution that would have demanded al-Assad stop the killing and answer calls aimed at finding a Syrian-led solution to the 11-month crisis.

The other 13 council members voted in favor of the resolution.

"What happened yesterday at the United Nations was a travesty," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Sunday, saying the veto left the world "faced with a neutered Security Council."

She said the international community has to "redouble our efforts outside of the United Nations with those allies and partners who support the Syrian people's right to have better future. We have to increase diplomatic pressure on the Assad regime and work to convince those people around President Assad that he must go, and that there has to be a recognition of that and a new start to try to form a government that will represent all of the people of Syria."

The Russian and Chinese ambassadors said they support the cessation of violence but did not agree with the text of the resolution, which they said would have complicated the issue and sent conflicting signals to both sides.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is scheduled to visit Damascus on Tuesday to meet with al-Assad, Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said.

Ambassadors from the three other permanent members of the council -- the United States, France and the United Kingdom -- said they were furious at Russia and China for failing to halt the violence that has consumed Syria.

U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice told CNN that Russia and China "will have any future blood spill on their hands." She said the United States was "disgusted" by the veto.

British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said his country was "appalled" by the veto, and French Ambassador Gerard Araud said Russia and China have aligned themselves with a regime that is massacring its people.

In the past few days, more than 300 civilians have died and hundreds have been wounded in Homs, in eastern Syria, north of Damascus. The opposition blames the government for the attacks.

Residential buildings and homes were bombed in what the opposition Syrian National Council called a "massacre."

CNN cannot independently confirm opposition or government reports from Syria because the government has restricted journalists' access to the country.

Syria's U.N. ambassador, Bashar Jaafari, said the crisis has been manufactured and that there is a media campaign to make the Syrian government look bad. The Syrian government has consistently blamed "armed terrorist groups" for the violence.

Referring to the deaths in Homs, Jaafari asked, "Is there a sensible person who would believe a government commits massacres in a given city on a day when the Security Council is scheduled to hold a meeting to examine the situation in that country? Would any entity put itself in such a position?"