More violence in Syria ahead of Russian foreign minister's visit to Damascus

Wisconsin Star Monday 6th February, 2012

DAMASCUS - The West voiced its ire over Russia and China's veto of the UN Security Council resolution on Syria even as more clashes and deaths were reported in the violence-wracked country.

The fresh violence, reported mainly from the flashpoint cities of Homs and Idlib, comes ahead of a crucial visit Tuesday by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to Damascus to meet with President Bashar al-Assad.

He will be accompanied by Russia's foreign intelligence chief, Mikhail Fradkov. The visit, Moscow said, is aimed to ask Assad to institute "much-needed democratic reforms".

Russia and China had vetoed the proposed UN Security Council peace resolution on Syria that endorsed an Arab League plan urging President Assad to cede power and halt the crackdown on anti-government protesters. The other 13 Council members, including India, voted in favor of it.

The US termed the veto as "a travesty". US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday said the veto leaves the world "faced with a neutered Security Council" and nations will have to "redouble efforts outside of the United Nations with those allies and partners who support the Syrian people's right to have a better future."

She also warned that chances for "a brutal civil war" would increase as anti-government protesters under attack from government are forced to defend themselves.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said that Moscow and Beijing would be "held responsible" for further violence in Syria as the double veto would make "continued violence and instability" in Syria "more likely". He also described Bashar al-Assad's regime as a "murdering regime".

China has justified its veto saying the resolution "that sought to realise a regime change in Syria did not adequately reflect the state of affairs" in the country, according to an editorial in the China Daily.

The People's Daily, the mouthpiece of China's ruling Communist Party, in a comment said: "Vetoing the draft Security Council resolution does not mean we are giving free rein to letting this heart-rending state of affairs to continue."

Russia has also defended its action saying the proposals in the resolution were unbalanced.

Meanwhile, in Homs, in north of Damascus, violence continued to flare.

The Local Coordination Committees of Syria, a network of opposition activists, reported at least 29 deaths on Sunday from Homs. More than 300 protesters are believed to have been killed and hundreds wounded in Homs since Thursday, opposition groups have claimed.

The Local Coordination Committees also reported gun battles in Idlib between army defectors and troops loyal to Assad and said more than six people were killed there. More civilian deaths were reported near Damascus.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition activist group, said nine government troops were killed and 21 others wounded in Idlib.

The Arab League, which last month suspended its observer mission in Syria amid escalating violence, said it would continue to work with the Syrian government and opposition to stop the killings.

The regional alliance called on Syria's leaders to "heed the people's demands." The League had urged Assad to transfer power to his vice president and called for the formation of a unity government, which was turned down.

Meanwhile, the Arab League meets in Cairo next weekend when it will seek to renew sanctions on Syria. The sanctions were put on hold after Damascus agreed to let the Arab League observers team into the country in December.