Feb 17 2012 |
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Syria expands offensive
Friday, Feb 17, 2012
Gulf News
Dubai France said yesterday that compromise with Russia at the Security Council was possible to end the violence in Syria as more than 22 people were killed in crackdown on protest hubs ahead of a UN vote on the crisis.
The Syrian regime troops pummelled Homs for a 13th straight day, with 18 people killed in central Hama province and four others dying in the southern city of Daraa.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it fears security forces carried out a massacre in Daraa, where dozens of civilians disappeared after being cornered in a valley.
Speaking after a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Vienna, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Paris would not accept the existing political status quo in Syria in the long run.
“We must do everything so that the violence ends and that a lot of humanitarian aid is given to the Syrian people,” he said.
The two countries were prepared to work on a new Security Council resolution despite Moscow vetoing a version based on an Arab League transition plan on February 4, Juppe said.
“We are ready to work in New York on a draft resolution inspired by the Arab League to stop the violence and provide humanitarian aid,” he said.
Lavrov told a separate news conference that he had not yet heard enough details from Juppe about the plan.
“I cannot express my opinion on the French proposal because I received none. The minister told me they are thinking of a new resolution which will be intended to help delivery of humanitarian assistance ... with the consent of all those who have arms on the ground.”
He added: “I expressed my readiness to take a look at this as soon as it is ready.”
The UN General Assembly was to vote later yesterday on a measure condemning repression in Syria.
Meanwhile, China said it was sending an envoy to the country to push for peace. Vice-Foreign Minister Zhai Jun, who will travel to Syria today, said China believed that “sanctions or the threat of sanctions are not conducive to the appropriate resolution of this issue”.
See also Page 12
AFP
Farewell to a fighter
An image grab from a YouTube video shows a funeral in Duma, near Damascus, of a fighter named Omar Dallul, 55, who according to anti-government activists died in detention. UN chief Ban Ki-moon called for an end to the violence while urging the international community to find a common response to the unrest.
uprising’s icon
blogger arrested
Security forces yesterday arrested blogger Razan Gazzawi, icon of the 11-month uprising in Syria, along with rights activist Mazen Darwish and 12 others, opposition figures said.
Human rights lawyer Anwar Bunni said Gazzawi was arrested in an early afternoon raid on the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression, which is located in central Damascus and is headed by Darwish. “We at the Syrian Centre for Legal Studies condemn these arrests and call on Syrian authorities to immediately release them,” Bunni said in a statement. Darwish, 38, has been detained a number of times, most recently last March, when he was held for one day after speaking out against the government crackdown on the southern province of Daraa.
— Agencies
Gulf News Report
© Gulf News 2012. All rights reserved.
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