China and Russia have vetoed a UN Security Council resolution threatening sanctions on Syria if it did not stop its brutal crackdown on protesters.

The resolution was set to be the first legally binding move taken by the UN’s security council against Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad since the political protests began in March.

It had taken the UN four months to draw up the resolution after political wrangling between supporters and opponents of Syria’s ruling regime.

The UN estimates that there have been more than 2,700 deaths since the start of the unrest.

Al-Assad assumed power in 2000 after his father had ruled the country for three decades.