International responses

UN Secretary-General voiced his deep regrets over the council's failure to adopt the draft resolution.

"The secretary-general deeply regrets that the Security Council has been unable to agree on a resolution supported by the League of Arab States to bring an early end to the violence and the killing in Syria," said a statement released here by Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky.

Morocco's UN envoy, Mohammed Loulichiki, voiced his "deep regret and disappointment," saying that he was "extremely frustrated" by the failure of the resolution.

Furthermore, the United States and France responded to the double veto with fury.

"The United States is disgusted that a couple of members of this Council continue to prevent us from fulfilling our sole purpose here -- addressing an ever-deepening crisis in Syria and a growing threat to regional peace and security," said US Ambassador Susan Rice.

French Ambassador Gerard Araud said it was "a sad day for the Security Council." France, together with other Western powers, pushed for an early council vote despite strong Russian calls for more consultations to amend the draft.

Syria, which has all along voiced strong opposition to any foreign intervention in its internal affairs, on Saturday reiterated that Damascus prefers to see a political settlement among Syrians themselves and the Arab family.

"Given our firm belief in the Pan-Arab role, we had hoped that the examination of the question of Syria first exclusively in the Syrian household and then in the larger, supporting Arab structure, " Syria's permanent representative to the UN Bashar Jafaari told the Security Council.

"But the rush by some parties to invite international intervention, which we know in advance the objectives of its dealing with Arab issues, first and foremost the question of Palestine and the Israeli occupation of Arab territories is a cause for concern," he added.