UNITED NATIONS — Russia and China, two permanent members of the UN Security Council, Thursday used their veto power over a draft resolution intended to refer the Syrian civil war to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The unadopted draft resolution, proposed by France, received 13 votes in favour and two against, Xinhua reported.

The vote at the 15-nation UN body made it a fourth double veto by Russia and China on a West-drafted resolution on Syria, with the two countries having vetoed three previous draft resolutions on the issue.

Syria is not a state party to the Rome Statute which established the ICC, so the only way the Middle East country can be referred to the tribunal, based in The Hague, is by the Security Council.

France, another permanent council member, circulated the draft resolution among council members May 12 in a bid to refer the Syrian civil war, currently in its fourth year, to the ICC for a review of alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.–IANS