Syria Opposition Wants U.N. Action after Deadly Day
Two days ahead of a U.N. deadline for Syria's military to halt fire, neither regime forces nor the rebels appeared ready on Sunday to compromise after a deadly day that saw nearly 130 people killed.
The main opposition umbrella group the Syrian National Council called for U.N. intervention after monitoring groups said 86 of those killed on Saturday were civilians.
The escalation came despite a rebuke to Damascus by U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon for stepping up its assault on dissent hubs ahead of Tuesday's deadline to cease fire and withdraw.
"We urge the U.N. Security Council to intervene urgently to stop the humanitarian crisis caused by the regime against the unarmed Syrian people, by adopting a resolution under article 7 to ensure the protection of civilians," the SNC said in a statement.
It said that "to believe in the promises of this barbaric regime enables it to advance its criminal plan of tearing Syria apart and bathing it in blood."
"The regime has committed savage massacres that killed nearly 1,000 people since it falsely announced the acceptance of the plan" put forward by U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, it added.
On Saturday alone, at least 40 civilians died "in bombardment and shooting on the town of Latamna," in Hama province, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.
Five civilians were killed in Tibet al-Imam, also in Hama, while another 18 died in the neighboring province of Homs, where Rastan town was bombed, 22 in Idlib to the northwest, and one in Aleppo in the north.
Sixteen rebels and 26 members of the security forces were also reported killed nationwide.
Annan had warned of "alarming" casualties as the Syrian government's year-long crackdown on dissent -- which the United Nations says has killed more than 9,000 people -- showed no signs of abating.
Monitors put the number of dead at more than 10,000.
Sunday's SNC statement said that both it and the rebel Free Syrian Army, "have announced their cooperation with the Annan plan and international efforts to halt the bloodshed and launch a political way to transfer power from the hands of Assad and his clan to the Syrian people."
On Saturday, thousands of people demonstrated in Damascus in support of the ruling Baath party on its 65th anniversary, an AFP journalist said.
The official SANA news agency reported similar demonstrations in other cities.
Ban said on Friday that the increased attacks by Assad's forces on cities "violate" a U.N. Security Council statement demanding an end to hostilities by Tuesday's deadline.
He indicated that he believes Assad's government is using the deadline to pull troops and heavy weapons away from cities as "an excuse" to step up the killing.
Ban "deplores the assault by the Syrian authorities against innocent civilians, including women and children, despite the commitments by the government of Syria to cease all use of heavy weapons in population centers," said his spokesman Martin Nesirky.
"The April 10 timeline to fulfill the government's implementation of its commitments, as endorsed by the Security Council, is not an excuse for continued killing," Ban added.
The Security Council passed one statement backing Annan's peace plan and on Thursday agreed a second "presidential statement" formally endorsing the April 10 limit for Syrian troops and big guns to be withdrawn from cities.
Russia and China, which vetoed two Security Council resolutions on Syria, signed up to the new demands.
But Syria said in a letter to Ban on Friday that the number of what it calls "terrorist acts" has risen since the deal was reached with Annan.
Damascus also lashed out at the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, accusing her of turning a blind eye to "terrorism" funded from abroad.
Syria's government has also demanded a written commitment that the opposition will not seek to exploit the troop withdrawal to make territorial gains.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Walid Muallem is scheduled to travel to ally Moscow on Monday for talks on the crisis.
Elsewhere, Turkey said on Saturday nearly 700 Syrian refugees poured across the border in 24 hours, bringing to more than 24,000 the total number of Syrians seeking haven there.
And the Organization of Islamic Cooperation said at least one million people inside Syria affected by violence need urgent humanitarian aid worth $70 million, following a joint OIC-U.N. visit to assess the country's needs.
Source: Agence France Presse
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