Western and Arab states voiced outrage yesterday (5 February) after Russia and China vetoed a UN resolution that would have backed an Arab plan urging Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to give up power. French President Nicolas Sarkozy proposed creating a "Friends of Syria" group to advance initiative.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the veto a "travesty". It came a day after activists said Syrian forces bombarded a district of Homs, killing more than 200 people in the worst night of bloodshed in the 11-month uprising.

Russia said the resolution was biased and would have meant taking sides in a civil war. Syria is Moscow's only big ally in the Middle East, home to a Russian naval base and customer for its arms. China's veto appeared to follow Russia's lead.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Moscow and Beijing had turned their backs on the Arab world. France's Alain Juppé said they "carried a terrible responsibility in the eyes of the world and Syrian people".

Clinton said the United States would work with other nations to try to tighten "regional and national" sanctions against Assad's government "to dry up the sources of funding and the arms shipments that are keeping the regime's war machine going."

"We will work to expose those who are still funding the regime and sending it weapons that are used against defenseless Syrians, including women and children," she said. "We will work with the friends of a democratic Syria around the world to support the opposition's peaceful political plans for change."