Syria warns West against intervention

1 May 2012 Last updated at 19:26 Share this pageEmail Print Share this page

341ShareFacebookTwitter.Syria violence 'leaves 30 dead' despite UN monitors Idlib has been the scene of attacks on civilians and government forces Continue reading the main story
Syria CrisisAgainst the odds
Fear and defiance
New challenges
Annan plan ailing

At least 30 people have been killed in renewed violence in Syria on Tuesday despite a ceasefire, activists say.

Nine members of one family, including four women and two children, were among 11 people killed in a mortar attack by troops on a village in Idlib province.

Twelve soldiers were also reportedly killed in the province of Deir al-Zour.

Meanwhile, the UN's peacekeeping chief said its observers in Syria had noted violations of the 20-day-old ceasefire by both the government and opposition.

"The violations that are observed come from both sides. I would not establish the ratio," Herve Ladsous told reporters in New York, adding that heavy weapons were still being deployed.

"Our observers have seen a number of APCs [armoured personnel carriers], for instance. They see a number of Howitzers and military equipment in most places where they are," he added. "It is being claimed that the APCs have been disarmed, but that is not verified in all places."

Mr Ladsous said the observers had confirmed there had been a bombing in Hama on Thursday, but that they did not know more. Both sides have blamed each other for the blast, which activists say killed up to 70 people.

Continue reading the main story
Annan's six-point peace plan
1. Syrian-led political process to address the aspirations and concerns of the Syrian people

2. UN-supervised cessation of armed violence in all its forms by all parties to protect civilians

3. All parties to ensure provision of humanitarian assistance to all areas affected by the fighting, and implement a daily two-hour humanitarian pause

4. Authorities to intensify the pace and scale of release of arbitrarily detained persons

5. Authorities to ensure freedom of movement throughout the country for journalists

6. Authorities to respect freedom of association and the right to demonstrate peacefully

An advance party of 24 unarmed military observers began work two weeks ago, with a number being sent to cities such as Hama.

Mr Ladsous said the deployment of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) was being "accelerated", and that he hoped its full complement of 300 observers would be on the ground by the end of May.

However, he revealed that UN member states had so far only offered 150 monitors, and that Syria had refused visas for three of them.

'Outside forces'

Mr Ladsous spoke after activists said at least nine members of a single family, including four women and two children, had been killed during the bombardment of a village in the north-eastern province of Idlib.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a mortar round had hit the family's home in Mashmashan, near the town of Jisr al-Shughour.

Elsewhere in the province, a 13-year-old boy was killed by random gunfire in the town of Maarat al-Numan, it added.

Speaker of the Syrian Parliament

In Deir al-Zour province, in the east, troops reportedly retaliated with mortar and machine-gun fire at a village, killing at least one person, after 12 soldiers were killed by rebels.

The Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC), an activist network, said 35 people had been killed by security forces across the country on Tuesday, including 18 in Idlib province, five in Hama and four in Homs.

The speaker of the Syrian parliament, Mahmoud al-Abrash, blamed the violence on other countries, which he said had been supporting the rebel Free Syrian Army.

"The escalation is continuing and it must be stopped from the outside - I mean those who are providing those groups with weapons and money," he told the Reuters news agency. "They need to stop this."

'No other options'

Earlier the head of UNSMIS, Maj Gen Robert Mood of Norway, told the BBC World Service that his team were already having "a calming effect".

He rejected criticism of the mission, particularly the small size of the team, and the fact that the observers are unarmed.

"There are not any other options on the table at the moment," he said.

Maj Gen Robert Mood has said his UN observer cannot bring peace to Syria on their own
"We have seen this in many crises before that if you simply keep adding to the violence with more bombs and weapons and more violence, it becomes a circle that is almost impossible to break," he added. "We are not in that situation."

But Gen Mood acknowledged that the monitors would not be able to solve Syria's problems on their own.

The observer mission is part of a six-point peace plan negotiated by the UN and Arab League's special envoy, Kofi Annan.

The UN meanwhile said it had received reports that 34 children had been killed in Syria since the ceasefire came into effect in 12 April.

Definitive figures are hard to verify because until now the UN, and independent journalists, have not had free access to the country.

But Radhika Coomaraswamy, the UN's special representative for children and armed conflict, said she could confirm that in recent days at least one child had been killed at an anti-government demonstration, and that the body of a girl had been retrieved from a destroyed house in Hama.

She urged both sides to "refrain from indiscriminate tactics resulting in the killing and wounding of children".

In a separate development, President Barack Obama moved to increase the pressure of sanctions against Syria and Iran by granting the US treasury department new powers to publicly identify foreign companies, banks and individuals who try to evade US sanctions.

The treasury said it would also be able to bar those who seek to bypass the sanctions from access to the US financial and economic sectors.

(CNN) -- A six-point peace plan for Syria negotiated by U.N.-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan is not being upheld, an opposition group said Wednesday.

"Having spoken to a range of residents and activists across Syria, Avaaz is able to assert with confidence that the Annan plan has been ineffective, with residents continuing to flee the violence being committed by both sides," the report concluded. Avaaz is the name of the opposition group.

Annan's peace plan calls for establishing a cease-fire between the government and the opposition, allowing humanitarian groups access to the population, releasing detainees and starting a political dialogue. It also calls for government forces to withdraw from city centers.

In Homs, "Armed opposition groups remain inside the city while the regime's forces retain a formidable presence," Avaaz said.

Also in Homs, the plan's call for a cease-fire is not being observed, the group said.

"Snipers are still stationed across the city's rooftops, shooting at anything within range," the report said, citing residents. "One man was shot dead today in Khalidiya." It also reported that Abdelbasset Saroot, the Olympic goalkeeper for Syria's national soccer team, was also injured by sniper fire.



Suicide bomb in Damascus targets troops

Annan's Syria peace plan may be dead

Opposition: Syria attack kills dozens The report said government forces were continuing to clash with Free Syrian Army opposition forces. An activist blamed the army for "shooting at anything" in its efforts to enter cities, and state media was blaming "terrorists" for targeting government forces.

CNN cannot independently verify reports of violence and deaths within Syria because the government has restricted access by most of the international media.

The plan's call for the release of political prisoners "has not even seen the light of day," the report said, with activists in Homs saying "no political prisoners have been released."

Humanitarian aid is not getting into the city, and demonstrators must leave Homs to avoid being shot, it said.

Though Syrian authorities say they have permitted 400 journalists to enter Syria, "these journalists enjoy little to no freedom of movement, with their movements calculated in advance by the Syrian security forces under the pretext of protecting them," the report said.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner expressed no surprise. "So far, the Syrian regime -- Assad regime -- has taken, really, almost no steps toward fulfilling the core commitments of the Annan proposal," he said.

Though the United States seeks an end to violence by both sides, "the vast proportion of violence has been the Syrian government inflicting it on its own citizens," he said.

But Syria's Information Minister Adnan Mahmoud insisted Wednesday that his government is committed to the Annan plan.

"At the same time, we are waiting for Mr. Annan to take tangible steps towards the armed terrorist groups and take commitments from the states which support and sponsor them to halt violence in Syria," he told reporters Wednesday in Italy, according to the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency.

The Avaaz report came as a Human Rights Watch accused government forces of having raided opposition strongholds and detained and killed residents in attacks in Idlib that amounted to war crimes as Annan was negotiating the plan in late March and early April.

Government forces killed at least 95 people during the two-week offensive in Idlib shortly before the cease-fire, which was to have gone into effect on April 12, Human Rights Watch said.

"While diplomats argued over details of Annan's peace plan, Syrian tanks and helicopters attacked one town in Idlib after another," said Anna Neistat, associate director for program and emergencies at Human Rights Watch.



Report: Syrian killings after U.N. visit

Syria's deadly lies to U.N. monitors

Shelling of Syrian city intensifies "Everywhere we went, we saw burnt and destroyed houses, shops and cars, and heard from people whose relatives were killed. It was as if the Syrian government forces used every minute before the cease-fire to cause harm."

In a 38-page report, the rights group documents reports of executions, killings, destruction of property, and arbitrary detention and torture.

About two-thirds of detainees remain in detention despite government promises to release political detainees, the group said.

The report is based on a field investigation in the towns of Taftanaz, Saraqeb, Sarmeen, Kelly, and Hazano in Idlib governorate.

"In each attack, government security forces used numerous tanks and helicopters, and then moved into the towns and stayed from one to three days before proceeding to the next town," Human Rights Watch said.

Graffiti left in affected towns indicated it was a military operation, the group said.

"These cases indicate that government forces failed to distinguish between civilians and combatants and to take necessary precautionary measures to protect civilians," the rights group said.

The report comes amid an international outcry over a cease-fire violation by the government and opposition forces.

"All the parties need to take further steps to ensure a cessation of violence in all its forms," said Herve Ladsous, the U.N. under-secretary-general for peacekeeping, on Tuesday. "The people of Syria have suffered too much."

But the presence of the tiny but growing U.N. observer team is having a "dampening effect" on the violence, Ladsous said.

Twenty-four unarmed military observers are in the country, and the number will rise to 300 by the end of the month, he said Monday. The observers are in Homs, Hama, Daraa, Idlib and Damascus.

Human Rights Watch urged the United Nations to ensure its monitoring mission included a human rights staff to interview victims of abuses and protect them from retaliation.

"The peace plan efforts will be seriously undermined if abuses continue behind the observers' backs," Neistat said.

Meanwhile, violence continued.

At least 30 people were killed Wednesday, including defecting soldiers and a woman, the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria reported.

Ten of those deaths occurred in the northwestern Syrian city of Aleppo, said Mohammad Said Hareitan, a 25-year-old English student at Aleppo University. It was there that four students were killed and 50 wounded when police and soldiers fired Thursday morning on an anti-government demonstration, he said.

Gunfire resumed at the hospital where many of the wounded were taken, with more casualties resulting, he continued in a telephone interview with CNN.

In the north of the city, another six people were killed, he said.

A day earlier, regime forces killed at least 48 people, the network of opposition activists said.

Syria's protests started peacefully in March last year, but a government crackdown spawned violence that has left thousands dead and prompted some military defectors to take up arms against the regime forces.

The United Nations estimates that at least 9,000 people have died in the conflict while opposition groups put the death toll at more than 11,000.

President Bashar al-Assad's family has ruled Syria for 42 years.

CNN's Ahmed Amir contributed to this report

3 May 2012 Last updated at 14:36 Share this pageEmail Print Share this page


At least four people have been killed as security forces and militiamen raided student accommodation in Syria's second city, Aleppo, activists say.

Live ammunition was reportedly used to disperse an anti-government protest outside dormitories adjacent to Aleppo University's campus late on Wednesday.

As many as 200 students are thought to have been arrested during the raid.

The university has announced it is suspending all classes for the rest of the current academic year.

Aleppo has so far not experienced the violence and large-scale protests seen in other cities during the uprising.

But there have been almost daily demonstrations by its students.

'Tougher tactics'

One student in Aleppo, Thaer al-Ahmed, said there was panic and chaos as security forces personnel and members of the Shabiha militia fired live rounds and tear gas to disperse a protest by about 1,500 people outside their dormitories on Wednesday night.

"Some students ran to their rooms to take cover but they were followed to their rooms, beaten up and arrested," he told the Associated Press. "Others suffered cuts and broken bones as they tried to flee."

Mr Ahmed said raids and intermittent gunfire had continued in the area for about five hours until Thursday morning.

The Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC), an activist network, said troops had later warned anyone still inside the student accommodation to leave. Entrances to faculty buildings were also said to have been closed.

The LCC said five students had been killed, while the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said four people had died.

A protest against the violence is now said to have begun nearby.

Activists said security forces had tended to use only tear gas and batons to disperse student protests since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011, but that in the past few days they had adopted tougher tactics.

This had forced students to hold demonstrations at night, they added.

The overnight crackdown in Aleppo was launched despite the Syrian government saying it was abiding by the terms of the peace plan negotiated by the UN and Arab League envoy, Kofi Annan, which includes a ceasefire and a commitment to allow peaceful protests.

May 4, 10:40 AM EDT


Syrian forces kill teen in Aleppo protests








BEIRUT (AP) -- Syrian forces opened fire on thousands of protesters in Aleppo Friday, killing a teenager, after a raid on dormitories atthe city's main university killed four students and forcedthe closure ofthe state-run school.

An Aleppo-based activist saidthe protests werethe largestthe city has seen sincethe start ofthe uprising against President Bashar Assad in March 2011.

"The people are incensed by what happened atthe university," saidthe activist, Mohammed Saeed. "Everyone wants to express solidarity with those students."

Saeed said security forces were out in full force, firing live ammunition to disperse protesters and arresting people randomly.

"With our blood, we sacrifice for you students!" people shouted.

The raid at Aleppo University was an unusually violent incident forthe city, a major economic hub that has remained largely loyal to Assad overthe course ofthe 14-month uprising.

Anti-government proteststhere have been onthe rise, and university students - many from rebellious areas such asthe northern Idlib province - have been staging almost daily demonstrations.

"This is what prompted this extremely brutal attack bythe government ... this is proof thatthe regime has started to worry about Aleppo rising up," said Omar Idilbi, a member ofthe Syrian National Council opposition group.

During Friday's protests, security forces killed a 16-year-old youth inthe Salaheddine district of Aleppo and wounded around 30, Saeed said. Scores of others were arrested, he said.The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists onthe ground in Syria, confirmed that a teenager was gunned down.

Amateur videos showed a large number of people shouting "Allahu Akbar," or God is great, as a protester climbed an electricity pole in Salaheddine to hang a flag thatthe opposition has adopted as its own -the national flag that dates to beforethe ruling Baath party took over.

Other videos showed protesters shouting: "Death rather than humiliation!"

Thousands protested Friday also inthe central provinces of Hama and Homs, inthe southern province of Daraa and in suburbs ofthe capital Damascus.

The Observatory said one person was killed inthe Damascus suburb of al-Mleiha as security forces opened fire to disperse protesters.

The attack on a university campus, considered something of a safe space even within Syria's upheaval, sparked outrage among many residentsthere.

Activists said large protests formed Thursday night in solidarity with Aleppo students who were thrown out oftheir dorms along withtheir belongings. Dozens of protesters were arrested duringthe night, activists said.

On Friday, tens of thousands of people demonstrated asthey streamed out of mosques in several districts of Aleppo. Friday,the Muslim holy day, isthe main day of anti-government protests in Syria, when thousands of demonstrators aroundthe county have been taking tothe streets, calling for Assad's ouster.

Aleppo University announced it was closing until final exams on May 13 followingthe bloody clash on Wednesday.

The Syrian National Council called for a nationwide university strike in solidarity with Aleppo University, but no classes were scheduled on Friday,the start ofthe weekend in Syria.

The clashes further highlighted doubts over a peace plan brokered by international envoy Kofi Annan nearly a month ago.

A spokesman for Annan said Fridaythe international envoy believes his peace plan for Syrian remains "on track" - a day afterthe Obama administration offered a far bleaker view.

Ahmad Fawzi, Annan's spokesman, told a U.N. briefing in Geneva that "there are small signs of compliance," despite continuing violations.

On Thursday, White House spokesman Jay Carney saidthe plan might be doomed.

"Ifthe regime's intransigence continues,the international community is going to have to admit defeat," he said, adding that new measures might have to be taken, including a return tothe U.N. Security Council. He gave no further details.

It wasthe clearest statement yet thatthe Obama administration sees little chance forthe cease-fire.

"It is clear and we will not deny thatthe plan has not been succeeding thus far," Carney said.

In Lebanon Friday, a military prosecutor charged 21 people inthe case of a ship carrying weapons for Syrian rebels that originated in Libya and was intercepted offthe Lebanese coast last week.

Military prosecutor Saqr Saqr saidthey were charged with buying large quantities of weapons withthe aim of carrying out "terrorist acts."

A judicial official saidthey included 13 Syrians, four Lebanese, two Egyptians, a Libyan and an Indian. Seven are at large, whilethe rest are in Lebanese custody, saidthe official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

© 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

CNN) -- The head of a Syrian leading opposition political group arrives in China for talks Sunday amid violence in the Middle East nation despite a cease-fire implemented last month.

Burhan Ghalioun, president of the Syrian National Council, will meet foreign ministry officials during the visit ending Wednesday, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Despite the visit, China has not changed its stance on Syria, a foreign ministry official said.

China and Russia derailed a U.N. Security Council resolution this year demanding an end to attacks on peaceful protesters in Syria, a position that sparked international outrage.

China has said it does not support forced regime change and called on Syrians to decide their own fate.

The country ranked as Syria's third-largest importer in 2010, according to data from the European Commission.



Woes mount in Syria as UN mission grows

At least 20 die in Syria blasts

Head of U.N. mission arrives in Syria

U.N. response in Syria mocked The visit follows days of violence, including an explosion near Syria's largest city of Aleppo that killed at least five people Saturday, opposition activists said.

The blast occurred as security forces drove by in a bus, but it was unclear whether the fatalities were soldiers or civilians, according to the Britain-based opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. It also reported separate blasts in the capital of Damascus.

Aleppo, a bastion of support for President Bashar al-Assad, has been largely spared in Syria's 14 months of bloody uprising. Recent protests there could signal a significant shift.

"The regime is very worried," said Andrew Tabler, a Syria expert who is a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "Their actions in the last few days demonstrate that."

At least 25 people were killed across the nation Saturday, the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria said.

CNN cannot independently verify reports of violence and deaths within Syria because the government has restricted access by most of the international media.

Syria's anti-regime protests started peacefully in March of last year, but a government crackdown spawned violence that has left thousands dead and prompted some military defectors to take up arms against the regime forces. The government has blamed the violence on "armed terrorists."

Attacks and clashes violate a peace plan brokered by international envoy Kofi Annan, escalating doubts on whether the 14-month uprising can be resolved.

A cease-fire went into effect April 12 as part of a six-point peace plan negotiated by Annan.

The plan includes the government allowing humanitarian groups access to the population, releasing detainees, starting a political dialogue and withdrawing troops from city centers.

The United Nations estimates that at least 9,000 people have died in the conflict but that estimate is old and believed low by opposition groups.

CNN's Saad Abedine contributed to this report.

.

(CNN) -- The opposition urged Syrians to boycott Monday's parliamentary elections, saying a vote for one of the more than 7,000 candidates vying for 250 seats in parliament amounted to a vote for President Bashar al-Assad.

"We are moving ahead til' we topple the regime," read a slogan on an opposition election poster that purported to show its candidates -- victims of al-Assad's crackdown on those calling for his ouster.

Security was expected to be heavy across Syria, as voters began casting ballots in the parliamentary elections at 7 a.m. (12 a.m. ET), the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported.

The election follows the adoption of a new constitution that allows political parties to compete with al-Assad's ruling Baath Party. The referendum in February, hailed by government supporters as a step toward reform, was widely ridiculed by analysts and the opposition as window dressing.

Spurred by the success of popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, Syrians took to the streets in March 2011 calling for reforms and increased political freedoms. But a brutal crackdown against demonstrators saw the movement quickly devolve into an uprising with an armed resistance.

World powers, including many of Syria's Arab neighbors, have condemned the violence, which has pitted al-Assad's Alawite minority-dominated government against a predominantly Sunni uprising. Al-Assad is an Alawite, a Shiite offshoot.

The United Nations estimates at least 9,000 people have died in the conflict, though the opposition says the death toll is much higher. The Local Coordination Committees of Syria, a network of opposition groups, puts the toll at more than 11,000.



Crackdown in Syria CNN cannot independently verify reports of violence and deaths within Syria, as the government has restricted access by most of the international media.



Woes mount in Syria as UN mission grows Thousands have fled the violence in Syria, primarily crossing the border into Turkey.



At least 20 die in Syria blasts On Sunday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited a refugee camp along the Turkey-Syria border where he promised to allow the more than 23,000 Syrians living in Turkish camps to stay until they voluntarily choose to return to their country.



Head of U.N. mission arrives in Syria "God willing, those who oppress our Syrian brothers will account for what they have done in front of their people," he said.

Erdogan called on supporters of al-Assad within Syria to reconsider, saying Turkey would continue to support effort peace efforts by the United Nations, the Arab League and others.

"We have one concern: That is, the bloodshed stop immediately, the tears end, the Syrian people's demand be met," he said. "We consider the Syrian people to be separate from the regime."



U.N. response in Syria mocked Relations between the two countries have been strained in wake of the uprising, and they have severed diplomatic relations.

Al-Assad has accused Turkey of allowing arms to flow to the opposition across its border.

The al-Assad family has ruled Syria for 42 years. Al-Assad's father, Hafez, ruled for three decades and was routinely criticized for his brutal handling of dissent. Bashar al-Assad assumed the mantle from his father in 2000.

Both the Syrian regime and the rebel Free Syrian Army have agreed to a peace plan brokered by Kofi Annan, the U.N.-Arab League special envoy. A key element of the plan involves a cease-fire by all parties plus the withdrawal of Syrian forces from populated areas.

But there have been continuing reports of attacks and clashes since an April 12 cease-fire went into effect, raising doubts about whether it can be resolved.

The plan includes the government allowing humanitarian aid groups access to the population, releasing detainees, starting a political dialogue and withdrawing troops from city centers.

Additionally, dozens of United Nations observers are in Syria with a total of 300 expected by the end of the month to monitor the cease-fire and peace plan.

CNN's Saad Abedine

CNN)-- Polls opened Monday in Syria with more than 7,000 candidates vying for 250 seats in parliament amid mounting international pressure on President Bashar al-Assad to step aside and end the violence that has seen thousands die.

The opposition urged Syrians to boycott the elections, saying a vote for any of the candidates amounted to a vote for al-Assad.

"We are moving ahead til we topple the regime," read a slogan on an opposition election poster that purported to show its candidates: victims of al-Assad's crackdown on those calling for his ouster.

Security was heavy across Syria, as voters began casting ballots in the parliamentary elections at 7 a.m. (12 a.m. ET), the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported.

In the provinces of Daraa and Hama, the opposition claimed general strikes and election boycotts were underway in a number of locations.




U.N. response in Syria mocked Sporadic violence was reported in the Daraa province, where a child was wounded after security forces opened fire in Tafs, according to the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, a network of opposition groups. Gunfire also was reported in Yadouda where security forces used bulldozers to open roads to a break the strike, the group said.

The election follows the adoption of a new constitution that allows political parties to compete with al-Assad's ruling Baath Party. The referendum in February, hailed by government supporters as a step toward reform, was widely ridiculed by analysts and the opposition as window dressing.

Spurred by the success of popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, Syrians took to the streets in March 2011 calling for reforms and increased political freedoms. But a brutal crackdown against demonstrators saw the movement quickly devolve into an uprising with an armed resistance.

World powers, including many of Syria's Arab neighbors, have condemned the violence, which has pitted al-Assad's Alawite minority-dominated government against a predominantly Sunni uprising. Al-Assad is an Alawite, a Shiite offshoot.

The United Nations estimates at least 9,000 people have died in the conflict, though the opposition says the death toll is much higher. The Local Coordination Committees of Syria puts the toll at more than 11,000.

CNN cannot independently verify reports of violence and deaths within Syria, as the government has restricted access by most of the international media.

In Syria's capital city, a student at Damascus University said she was trying to be optimistic about the elections.

"Maybe these new parliamentarians will do something push the regime to change. Who knows?," said the student, who identified herself as Obi. "But I'm telling you the polling stations are empty. And I don't think too many people are going to go the ballot boxes."

In southern Syria, a man who identified himself as Mammon said he was refusing to cast a ballot in Daraa.

"I see all the government moves at the moment as gutless and pointless. How can we say that we are gonna be happy about this election when this guy is killing the people?," he said.

In the embattled Baba Amr neighborhood in the city of Homs, an opposition member identified as Abo Odi said there was no sign of an election in the bombed out community.

"Homs is totally destroyed, and some neighborhoods are empty of people and the rest of the city is controlled by the army or by (the rebel Free Syrian Army)," he said.

Thousands have fled the violence in Syria, primarily crossing the border into Turkey. On Sunday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited a refugee camp along the Turkey-Syria border where he promised to allow the more than 23,000 Syrians living in Turkish camps to stay until they voluntarily choose to return to their country.

"God willing, those who oppress our Syrian brothers will account for what they have done in front of their people," he said.

Erdogan called on supporters of al-Assad within Syria to reconsider, saying Turkey would continue to support effort peace efforts by the United Nations, the Arab League and others.

"We have one concern: That is, the bloodshed stop immediately, the tears end, the Syrian people's demand be met," he said. "We consider the Syrian people to be separate from the regime."

Relations between the two countries have been strained in wake of the uprising, and they have severed diplomatic relations.

Al-Assad has accused Turkey of allowing arms to flow to the opposition across its border.

The al-Assad family has ruled Syria for 42 years. Al-Assad's father, Hafez, ruled for three decades and was routinely criticized for his brutal handling of dissent. Bashar al-Assad assumed the mantle from his father in 2000.

Both the Syrian regime and the rebel Free Syrian Army have agreed to a peace plan brokered by Kofi Annan, the U.N.-Arab League special envoy. A key element of the plan involves a cease-fire by all parties plus the withdrawal of Syrian forces from populated areas.

But there have been continuing reports of attacks and clashes since an April 12 cease-fire went into effect, raising doubts about whether it can be resolved.

The plan includes the government allowing humanitarian aid groups access to the population, releasing detainees, starting a political dialogue and withdrawing troops from city centers.

Additionally, dozens of United Nations observers are in Syria with a total of 300 expected by the end of the month to monitor the cease-fire and peace plan.

An explosion struck a military truck escorting UN monitors to Syria’s southern city of Deraa on Wednesday, injuring at least six soldiers. It is unclear who is responsible for the blast, or whether it was meant to target UN monitors or the military.


By Josh Vardey / Pierrick Leurent (video)
News Wires (text)





AP - A roadside bomb struck a Syrian military truck Wednesday, wounding six soldiers just seconds after a convoy carrying the head of the U.N. observer mission passed by.

An Associated Press reporter who was traveling in the U.N. convoy said the blast cracked the military truck’s windows and caused a plume of black smoke. The U.N. convoy was not hit.

The attack was “a graphic experience that the Syrian people live with every day,” the head of the U.N. observer mission, Maj. Gen. Robert Mood, told reporters. He said the observers’ work will continue as usual.

The blast went off after Mood headed into this southern city, the birthplace of the Syrian uprising, with a convoy of monitors and journalists.

The explosion was more than 100 meters (330 feet) behind the convoy.

“We were driving behind the U.N. convoy as protection when a roadside bomb exploded, wounding a 1st Lieutenant and five troops,” a soldier who asked to be identified only by his first name, Yahya, told The Associated Press at the scene.

At least three bloodied soldiers were rushed away. Mood said he does not know whether the blast was meant to target the observers or the military.

“For me the important thing is really not speculating about who was the target, what was the target, but it is to make the point that this is what the Syrian people (are) seeing every day and it needs to stop,” he said. “Whoever is doing it and whoever is supporting it.”

It’s not clear who was behind the bombing.

But Syria’s rebel leader, Col. Riad al-Assad, threatened to resume attacks because the government has not honored a cease-fire, the London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported Wednesday. Al-Assad told the paper that “our people are demanding that we defend them.”

The comments were published in Wednesday’s edition of the paper and could deal yet another blow to a peace plan brokered by special envoy Kofi Annan, which calls for a truce monitored by observers to pave the way for negotiations for a resolution.

On Tuesday, Annan gave a bleak assessment of the crisis in Syria, saying violence remains at “unacceptable levels” and warning that his peace plan is the country’s last chance to avert a disastrous civil war.

Annan insisted there is still hope and said the presence of U.N. observers has had a calming effect on the crisis, which has killed at least 9,000 people since March 2011.



















“There is a profound concern that the country could otherwise descend into full civil war and the implications of that are frightening,” Annan told reporters in Geneva after briefing a closed-door session of the U.N. Security Council in New York by videoconference. The observer mission, he said, “is the only remaining chance to stabilize the country.”

Annan’s efforts have been troubled from the start. A truce that was to begin on April 12 has never really taken hold. About 60 U.N. observers are currently in Syria, and Annan said that a full deployment of 300 should be on the ground by the end of the month.

Syria has become one of the bloodiest conflicts of the Arab Spring, and world powers have been unable to stop the violence. Syrian President Bashar Assad still has a firm grip on power, and his regime portrays his opponents as terrorists out to weaken the country.

Although the death toll mounts daily, the U.N. has ruled out any military intervention of the type that helped bring down Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi, in part out of fears that it could make the conflict worse. Syria is an important geopolitical linchpin with a web of allegiances to powerful forces, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah and close ally Iran.

Also Wednesday, bullets flying across the Syrian border into Lebanon killed a 70-year-old woman and wounded her daughter, Lebanese security officials said.

The two were near a mosque in the village of al-Qaa in northeastern Lebanon near the Syrian border when the shooting happened. The older woman was shot once in the head and once in the chest and died soon after, the officials said. Her daughter was shot in the stomach, but the wound was not life-threatening.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity under government rules.

Two strong explosions rip through the Syrian capital
10:38am UK, Thursday May 10, 2012

Emma Hurd, Middle East correspondent

More than 40 people have been killed and 170 wounded in two powerful explosions in the Syrian capital Damascus, according to state TV.
Reports said the "terrorist bombings" targeted an area that houses a military intelligence complex as employees were arriving for work.

The state TV channel broadcast video of the aftermath of the explosions showing burnt bodies in the mangled wreckage of vehicles on what was described as a "freeway south of Damascus".

Heavily damaged cars and pick-up trucks were left smoldering in the area.

The blasts caused the outer wall of the headquarters to collapse, although the basic structure inside appeared intact, according to reports.

Plumes of smoke were seen rising above the city.

Residents said the two blasts hit within seconds of each other at 8am local time.

"The house shook like it was an earthquake," Maha Hijazi, who lives across the street from the military compound, told the Associated Press.

The explosions left two craters at the gate of the complex.

The head of the UN observer mission, Major General Robert Mood, visited the site in the neighbourhood of Tadamun.

He said the Syrian people did not deserve this "terrible violence".

"It is not going to solve any problems. It is only going to create more suffering for women and children," he said.

Central Damascus is tightly under the control of forces loyal to President Bashar Assad but has been struck by several bomb attacks, often targeting security installations or convoys.

Last month a suicide bomber detonated an explosives belt near members of the security forces, killing at least nine people and wounding 26.

More to follow...

(CNN) -- New details are emerging about the agent sent by Saudi counterterrorism agents into Yemen to track a plot by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to bomb a U.S.-bound airliner.

The agent is of Arabic origin but holds a British passport, according to Mustafa Alani, director of security studies at the Gulf Research Center. Alani was briefed on the operation by Saudi counterterrorism officials.

The agent, whom another source said had Saudi roots, lived for a long time in the UK and at some point fell in with jihadist sympathizers, Alani told CNN. That made him an attractive target for Saudi counterterrorism agencies, which recruited him about a year ago, Alani said.

His background gave him the credibility to infiltrate AQAP, the Yemeni-based branch of the terrorist organization, which is exceptionally careful about whom it accepts and trusts. At the same time, his possession of a British passport enhanced his appeal to the terror group -- because he could travel without a visa to the United States.



Saudi agent in plot had UK passport

Al Qaeda's operations in Yemen

Are fliers safe from new al Qaeda bomb? According to Alani, the agent was sent into Yemen as a potential suicide bomber after the Saudis heard from other informants that a new AQAP plot was in the works. The agent enrolled in an Arabic language school in Yemen in the hope of being talent-spotted by the group.

AQAP fell for the bait and the mole connected with the group. After he joined them he had to handle the tremendous pressure of what discovery by al Qaeda would entail, said Alani.

Two or three months ago, the agent learned that the group was working on a new device to bomb a U.S.-bound airplane, and he contacted Saudi counterterrorism officials from Yemen. At this point they informed the Americans of the potential threat, and that they had a mole inside the group, according to Alani.

The agent was later provided training in how to use the explosive device in a training facility in Yemen, possibly inside a safe house, according to Alani.

"He received instruction how to how to avoid detection at the airport, how to behave," Alani told CNN. "Apparently he was able to convince al Qaeda that he is genuinely ready to carry out the mission."

Alani said his understanding was that AQAP intended the would-be suicide bomber to fly through a Gulf country to connect to a U.S. bound flight.

The Saudi operation culminated with the agent and another Saudi informant -- likely his handler -- being whisked out of Yemen, Alani said. The Saudis knew they would never be able to use the agent again, and they and smuggled him through a number of Middle Eastern countries to protect him from al Qaeda retaliation, Alani told CNN.

"My information that he was pulled out after the device was handed to him, and they ordered the green light to carry out the operation. I don't think he was pulled out prematurely," Alani told CNN.

"The family is secure, and the man is outside the Middle East," Alani told CNN. The device that AQAP bomb-makers had built for the mole was flown from Yemen to Saudi Arabia by Saudi counter-terrorism agents and handed over -- around April 20th -- to U.S. intelligence officials. They subsequently took it to the United States for forensic analysis, Alani told CNN.

He also said the intelligence community remained deeply worried that similar devices might be unaccounted for and that AQAP may be planning a similar operation. The details collected from the device brought out of Yemen could allow for important counter-measures to thwart al Qaeda's next operation.

The recovered device had two triggering mechanisms -- one involving a chemical reaction and one designed to be set off manually -- to maximize the chances that the device would work, said Alani. It contained 250-300 grams of the high explosive PETN, a slightly smaller amount than that used in two printer cartridges for an October 2010 plot aimed at blowing up cargo planes en route to the United States.

Those devices were intercepted after a tip by Saudi counterterrorism, and had the potential to bring down a plane, according to British and U.S. officials. The underwear device used in the attempt to bring down a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day 2009 contained about 200 grams of the same explosive.

Saudi counter-terrorism officials believe the device was likely constructed by a team working under the supervision of Ibrahim al-Asiri, AQAP's chief bomb-maker. When the device used in the Christmas Day plot was examined, a set of fingerprints matched those of al-Asiri held in a Saudi database.

Alani said al-Asiri was the target of a drone strike last year after Yemeni and Saudi intelligence developed information about his possible location. The Yemenis, he said, subsequently established that another member of the group and not al-Asiri was killed in the strike.

Meanwhile, a source working closely with U.S. intelligence agencies and the military told CNN that al Qaeda's Yemeni affilliate now has "a whole outfit designated to target the U.S. homeland." The United States believes AQAP is working on "several types of bombs" that could get past airport X-ray screening machines.

Counterterrorism officials in the Gulf and the United States say that AQAP's expansion in Yemen over the past two to three years has given it greater breathing room and resources to plot attacks against the United States.

"This is going to give them a major advantage in future operations," Alani told CNN.

The group operates out of rudimentary training camps in southern Yemen. Thought it has not yet succeeded in any bomb plot targeting Americans, observers say there are several bombmakers and a group of would-be suicide bombers working inside the group.

"What I think is concerning to myself and other people is that it seems the talent of the organization is getting better," said Gregory Johnsen, a Near East studies scholar at Princeton University. "That is, they are much more capable of carrying out attacks. So when something fails, like the Christmas Day plot in 2009 or again, the cartridge plot in 2010, the organization is able to adapt. And the next time they come back, they present a better and more lethal threat. I think that's what has a lot of people in U.S. and Saudi intelligence quite concerned."

CNN has previously reported that al-Asiri has been involved in training both bombmakers and suicide bombers. The U.S.-affilliated source said al-Asiri is now not making all the components himself, giving the group extra security and the advantage of having multiple manufacturing capabilities if al-Asiri were to be killed.

The source also confirmed that the device the mole turned over had no metallic parts and an advanced detonation system to improve the chances the entire bomb would explode. AQAP bomb designs are aimed at hiding explosives in clothing, camera lenses and animals, according to the source.

And the fundamental growth in AQAP's ability to control territory has made them tougher to target since the 2009 incident, Johnsen said.

"AQAP at that time was about two to three hundred members, and it controlled no territory in Yemen. Now, two and a half years later, the terror group has more than tripled in strength to over a thousand members and it controls a great amount of territory in southern Yemen," Johnsen said. He said the group controls towns, is running its own police department and in some places has established court systems.

"It's providing services -- electricity and water -- to some of the citizens, and really it sees itself in parts of southern Yemen as a government," he said.

CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr contributed to this report.

11 May 2012 Last updated at 16:01 Share this pageEmail Print Share this page


Syria has foiled a attempted suicide car bomb attack in the northern city of Aleppo, state TV says, a day after massive blasts in the capital Damascus.

It says the security forces killed the would-be bomber, who had 1,200kg (2,640lb) of explosives in the car.

On Thursday, 55 people died in the two Damascus blasts near a military intelligence building.

Syrian officials say "foreign-backed terrorists" carried out the twin suicide car-bomb attacks.

On Friday, Syria's state TV said the attempted attack had been thwarted in Aleppo's al-Shaar area.

It said the bomber was killed before he could detonate the powerful device.

There has been no independent verification of the report so far.

Syrian activists in Aleppo immediately dismissed the report as "a lie".

"It is not in the interests of the (rebel) Free Syrian Army to stage attacks on a Friday," activist Mohammad al-Halabi told the AFP news agency.

He said Friday had traditionally been the day of weekly mass anti-regime protests in recent months.

Opposition activists have accused the government of President Bashar al-Assad of staging bomb attacks, including Thursday's, in an attempt to discredit them.

'Terrible violence'
Thursday's blasts caused massive destruction in a suburb to the south of Damascus
The Syrian authorities said that almost 400 people were wounded in Thursday's attacks in Damascus.

The interior ministry said the attackers used two cars "loaded with more than 1,000kg of explosives and driven by suicide bombers".

The explosions damaged the facade of a 10-storey military intelligence building involved in the crackdown on the uprising against President Assad's rule.

It is part of a broader military compound of the Palestine Branch, one of the most feared among the more than 20 secret police organisations in the country, correspondents say.

The unit was originally set up in the 1950s to interrogate suspected Israeli spies. But it has evolved into the country's counter-terrorism unit, and is infamous for interrogations and torture, they say.

Large crowds later gathered despite the security cordon, shouting slogans and chants in support of President Assad.

The Norwegian head of the UN observer mission in Syria, Maj Gen Robert Mood, said the Syrian people did not deserve this "terrible violence".

The blasts have been widely condemned by the international community.

The UN says at least 9,000 people have died since pro-democracy protests began in March 2011.

11 May 2012 Last updated at 21:14 Share this pageEmail Print Share this page


A large blast has hit the north Syrian city of Aleppo, opposition sources say, hours after officials said they had foiled a car bomb attack there.

The blast was said to have happened near the local headquarters of the ruling Baath party.

Earlier state television reported the death of a would-be bomber said to have had a 1,200kg device in his car.

On Thursday at least 55 people died in two huge blasts in the capital, Damascus.

Syrian officials say "foreign-backed terrorists" carried out the twin suicide car-bomb attacks, near military intelligence headquarters.

"There is no information until now on the number of victims that fell in the explosion [in Aleppo]," the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told the Reuters news agency.

Reports of the Friday's blast, near Aleppo's central Al-Jabiri square, first emerged from the Observatory.

An activist in Aleppo told Agence France Presse that the blast happened at about 20:45 local time (17:45 GMT).

Earlier, Syrian state TV had reported that an attempted attack had been foiled in the al-Shaar area of Aleppo when security forces killed the would-be bomber.

Activists in the city had dismissed that report as "a lie".

Opposition figures have accused the government of President Bashar al-Assad of staging bomb attacks in an attempt to discredit them.

May 11, 9:21 PM EDT Suicide attacks in Syria add wild card element By BASSEM MROUE and BEN HUBBARD Associated Press AP Photo/Bassem Tellawi World Video Advertisement Documents Indictment of Monzer al-Kassar DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) -- The latest suicide bombings in the Syrian capital showed an increasing ruthlessness: The attackers struck during rush hour, setting off one blast to draw a crowd before unleashing a much bigger one, killing 55 people and leaving the street strewn with rubble and mangled bodies. For many, the al-Qaida-style tactics recall those once familiar in the country's eastern neighbor, Iraq, raising fears that Syria's conflict is drifting further away from the Arab Spring calls for political change and closer to a bloody insurgency. "Syria is slowly but surely turning into another Iraq," said Bilal Y. Saab, a Syria expert at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. The presence of al-Qaida militants and other extremists adds a wild card element to the Syria conflict that could further hamper international efforts to end it. While world powers and U.N. observers in Syria can pressure the government and the opposition to stick to special envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan, they have no means of influencing shadowy Islamic militants who often don't claim their own attacks. Western officials say there is little doubt that al-Qaida-affiliated extremists have made inroads in Syria since the popular uprising against President Bashar Assad began 14 months ago. But much remains unclear about their numbers, influence and activities inside Syria. "We do have intelligence that indicates that there is an al-Qaida presence in Syria, but frankly we don't have very good intelligence as to just exactly what their activities are," U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters in Washington on Thursday. Panetta said he didn't know whether al-Qaida was connected to the latest bombings in Damascus. Amateur videos posted online provide occasional glimpses of extremist activity. One video posted this week shows a suicide attack that reportedly took place on May 2 in the northern town of Idlib. In the footage, a white van speeds toward an army checkpoint and erupts into a huge ball of flame as it nears the soldiers, sending their bodies flying. In February, al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri called on Muslims in neighboring countries to join the uprising, saying Syria's rebels must not rely on the West. Syria's uprising started in March 2011 with mostly peaceful protests inspired by successful revolts elsewhere calling for political reform. The Syrian government responded with a brutal crackdown, prompting many in the opposition to take up arms to defend themselves and attack government troops. The U.N. said weeks ago that more than 9,000 people have been killed. Hundreds more have died since. Thursday's twin blasts in Damascus were the fifth in a string of major attacks in Syrian cities that have clouded the picture of a fight between the opposition and the regime. It was the deadliest yet, in part because it happened on a key thoroughfare during rush hour, while previous bombings were on weekends. No one has claimed responsibility for the blasts, although a shadowy militant group calling itself the Al-Nusra Front has claimed past attacks through statements posted on militant websites. Little is known about the group, although Western intelligence officials say it could be a front for al-Qaida. Throughout the conflict, the government and its foes have tried to tar each other with accusations of links to the terror network. On Friday, Burhan Ghalioun, head of the opposition Syrian National Council, accused the government of cooperating with al-Qaida to carry out the Damascus attacks, using the violence as a way to taint the uprising. A day earlier, Syria's Ambassador to the United Nations, Bashar Ja'afari, told the U.N. Security Council in New York that al-Qaida, backed by unnamed foreign governments, was behind the attacks. Late Friday, the leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group and a strong Assad ally warned that attacks like Thursday's could tear Syria apart. Sheik Hassan Nasrallah told supporters via videolink that the same hands that "destroyed and killed in Iraq ... want to destroy Syria today." Syria's rebels - vastly outnumbered and outgunned by Assad's armed forces and security apparatus - have adopted insurgency tactics, regularly ambushing military checkpoints and convoys. But Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey differentiated Thursday between extremists and the opposition. "We do know that there have been extremist elements that are trying to make inroads in Syria," he said. "That is to be distinct from the opposition. I'm not tying those together." Sometimes, the line between them is unclear. On Friday, the pro-government TV station Ikhbariya said police shot dead a man driving a truck filled with 1,500 kilograms (3,300 pounds) of explosives. It broadcast video of a police general showing two U.N. observers a minibus holding four large metal containers rigged with explosives. In the driver's seat, a bearded, bloodied man wore what appeared to be an explosive belt. "It was similar to the terrorist attack that targeted Damascus yesterday," the general told the observers. The videos could not be independently verified, and the opposition often accuses pro-Assad media of staging events. Nor was it clear what group - if any - the would-be bomber belonged to. World powers have backed a peace plan by international envoy Kofi Annan that calls for a truce to allow for dialogue on a political solution to the conflict. The plan has been troubled from the start, with neither side fully respecting a cease-fire that was supposed to begin on April 12. But the presence of international observers has brought the daily death toll down and halted large government assaults on opposition areas. U.N. headquarters in New York announced that as of Friday there are 145 military observers and 56 civilian staff deployed in Syria. Most experts don't expect Annan's plan to fully succeed, and many say large attacks are likely to become more common. "I think increasingly we'll see less directed bombings and more arbitrary ones that seek to create chaos more than anything else," said Bassam Haddad, director of the Middle East Studies Program at George Mason University. --- Hubbard reported from Beirut. Associated Press writers Malcolm Foster in Tokyo, and Bradley Klapper and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed reporting. © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

CNN) -- Terror gripped cities across Syria on Sunday as residents came under attack by shelling and gunfire, opposition activists said.

At least five people were killed in Hama after Syrian forces stormed the western city, the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding that many residences caught fire.

Explosions were also heard near the southern city of Douma and near a government security branch in the eastern Deir Ezzor province, the observatory said.

The Syrian conflict has also spilled across the border to Tripoli, Lebanon, where at least one Lebanese civilian and one Lebanese soldier were killed Sunday in clashes between factions supporting and opposing the uprising in Syria, Lebanon's National News Agency reported.

The fighting in Lebanon took place between residents of Bab al-Tebbaneh, a Sunni stronghold hostile to the Syrian regime, and Alawite residents of Jabal Mohsen who support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Inside Syria's borders, the crisis is getting more complicated.

A video purportedly released by a shadowy, Syrian-based terrorist group claimed responsibility Saturday for dual suicide bombings that killed dozens and wounded hundreds in the country's capital last week.

The two-minute video, apparently by jihadist group Al Nusra Front, says government buildings were targeted "because the regime continues to shell residential civilians in Damascus countryside, Idlib, Hama, Daraa and other areas. And we remained true to our promise to respond to this shelling with strikes."

Syrian Prime Minister Adel Safar visited the site of the bombings in Damascus on Saturday, state-run media reported.

The suicide attacks were aimed "at striking Syria's will and its people in life, security and stability," Safar said, according to the official Syrian Arab News Agency.

The attacks Thursday killed at least 55 people. The government has blamed "terrorists," while members of the Syrian opposition have blamed the government.

Since the bombings, reports of bloodshed only continue to mount.



Syria releases journalists The Local Coordination Committees of Syria, an opposition network, reported at least 22 deaths Saturday, three of them children. The dead included one person killed by regime sniper fire in Hama and one man who died from gunshot wounds sustained Friday after regime forces stormed his Deir Ezzor home, the group said.

A homemade bomb also blew up a military vehicle in Maerat Al Nouman in Idlib province, according to state-run Al Dounia television.

Damascus and Aleppo have been the scene of a flurry of attacks in recent months. Aleppo, a commercial center and long a bastion of support for al-Assad, had been largely spared in Syria's 14 months of bloody uprising. But recent protests and violence there could signal a significant shift.

Some analysts said recent attacks raise concerns about the presence of jihadist elements in Syria, noting Thursday's Damascus strikes resemble suicide car bombings during the sectarian violence in Iraq in the past decade.

But opposition groups have said the regime is responsible for the violence that erupted after government forces began a crackdown on peaceful protests in March 2011. That fierce clampdown spurred a grassroots uprising against the regime.

The opposition Syrian National Council said al-Assad's regime staged Thursday's deadly suicide bombings in Damascus "to spur chaos, disrupt the work of the international observers and divert attention away from other crimes being committed by its forces elsewhere."

"In orchestrating such acts," the council said Friday, "the regime seeks to prove its claims of the existence of 'armed terrorist gangs' in the country that are hindering its so-called 'efforts of political reform.'"

The deadly blasts in Damascus took place near a military intelligence center.

But the SNC questioned how the attackers could have made it past security to conduct the bombings.

More than 1,000 people have died since a cease-fire was supposed to go into effect on April 12, according to the LCC.

CNN cannot independently verify reports of deaths and violence because the Syrian government has severely restricted access to international media.

A team of U.N. monitors is on the ground to observe the progress of the cease-fire and encourage the implementation of a U.N.-backed peace plan.

On Saturday, the head of the U.N. observer mission, Maj. Gen. Robert Mood, said 157 civilian and military monitors were in the provinces of Daraa, Idleb, Hama and Homs, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency reported. About 300 observers are expected within weeks.

more armored Jeeps and another 13 more, bringing to 25 the number of vehicles to arrive on Saturday, all offered by the European Union.

CNN's Kamal

14 May 2012 Last updated at 11:29 Share this pageEmail Print Share this page


At least 30 people - including 23 soldiers - have died in heavy overnight clashes in the central Syrian city of Rastan, according to activists.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said dozens of others were wounded in the city, in the restive Homs province.

Three troop carriers were destroyed in fighting, the UK-based group said.

If confirmed, the attack would be one of the deadliest suffered by security forces in the 14-month-long uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

It comes after government forces launched a fresh assault on Rastan at the weekend, despite a UN-backed nominal ceasefire that was supposed to come into effect just over a month ago.

Meanwhile, the EU has imposed another round of sanctions on Syria - the 15th so far - in an effort to increase pressure on the government.

'Hama raid'

The Observatory said Rastan, which lies 180km (120 miles) north of Damascus, was subjected to sustained shelling overnight, leaving dozens of people injured.

The city, currently an opposition stronghold, has been fiercely contested during the Syrian uprising and control of the town has changed several times.


Meanwhile, the army has raided a Sunni village north of Hama, killing five people, the Observatory said.

Activists said at least 30 people died on Sunday - mainly civilians - as violence surged at flashpoints across the country despite an increase of UN observers.

The figures cannot be verified independently, as journalists' movements are severely restricted in Syria.

The UN on Sunday said it had 189 observers in Syria, some two-thirds of the total intended for deployment as part of a six-point peace plan mediated by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan.

Continue reading the main story
Annan's six-point peace plan
1.
Syrian-led political process to address the aspir
at
ions and concerns of the Syrian people

2.
UN-supervised cess
at
ion of armed violence in all its forms by all parties to protect civilians

3. All parties to ensure provision of humanitarian assistance to all areas affected by the fighting, and implement a daily two-hour humanitarian pause

4. Authorities to intensify the pace and scale of release of arbitrarily detained persons

5. Authorities to ensure freedom of movement throughout the country for journalists

6.
Authorities to respect freedom of associ
at
ion and the right to demonstr
at
e peacefully

The BBC's Jonathan Head in neighbouring Turkey says neither the Syrian military nor the opposition appears to have any confidence that the plan will hold, with both using the putative ceasefire to gain ground before full-scale fighting resumes.

The EU gave no official details of its newly agreed sanctions, but an EU diplomat said the 27-member bloc had agreed to an assets freeze and visa ban on two companies and three people who are believed to be financially backing the government.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the ceasefire was "not being fully implemented".

"There continues to be killing, torture, abuse in Syria. So it's very important we keep the pressure on the Assad regime."

The UN estimates at least 9,000 people have died since pro-democracy protests began in March 2011.

On Saturday, a radical Islamist group said it carried out a massive bomb attack in Damascus last week, increasing fears that extremists are taking advantage of the unrest.

The violence also once again ignited tensions in neighbouring Lebanon, where clashes in the northern city of Tripoli over the weekend left three dead, according to local media.

.Creating Syria Safe Zones Is a Dangerous Step Toward War
By Aaron David Miller May 13, 2012 11:04 PM GMT+0100 Facebook Share Tweet LinkedIn Google +1 3 Comments
Print QUEUEQ
Having proposed more than my fair share of bad ideas during more than 20 years in government service, I know one when I see it. And the proposal by various media commentators and politicians to create safe zones inside Syria for refugees and rebels is one bad idea.

If President Barack Obama determines that toppling the regime of Bashar al-Assad by force is a vital U.S. national interest (though it isn’t), he should create a coalition to act quickly, decisively and effectively to do it. Otherwise, he should avoid half-baked measures, such as the safe-zones scheme, that can lead to an open-ended military commitment without accomplishing the intended results.

The desire to do something about Syria is understandable. An April 12 cease-fire brokered by former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan between the government and leading opposition groups has failed -- deaths, including those of at least 34 children, continue to mount on both sides. To many, the Russians and Chinese appear callous for supporting Assad, and the U.S. looks feckless for not doing more -- much more -- to take down the regime.

But the president is absolutely right to be wary of ill- considered interventions, including the idea du jour for stopping the killing. (John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has begun talking up the concept.) Like the Annan plan, safe zones are far more compelling on paper than they would be in practice.

A Tightening Noose
The arguments in their favor go something like this: Safe zones would absorb fleeing refugees, relieving pressure on Turkey, which has received at least 25,000 of them; a political opposition might set up a headquarters in the sanctuaries; and powers such as the U.S., France, the U.K. and key Arab states could help organize, train and supply fighters from the rebel Free Syrian Army and other groups there. This would send a powerful signal to Assad that the noose was tightening. A foreign presence on Syrian soil might shake the regime and accelerate its fragmentation.

To have even a chance of working, the right conditions would have to be present. Those would include full Turkish buy- in and an international mandate legitimizing intervention, preferably a resolution of the UN Security Council. Most important would be a sustained military commitment to protect the zones and the corridors leading to them. This would require air patrols and thus the suppression of Syrian air defenses. It would also mean carrying out offensive air strikes against the regime’s forces, if the Syrians respond militarily, and ultimately securing Syria’s stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons to prevent their use against coalition troops.

Even if all that could be achieved (and it probably couldn’t), safe zones are real headaches. Protecting these areas from the air might not be possible and would thus require boots on the ground. The farther coalition forces got from Turkey’s border, the harder and messier this would be. Once in, there would be no choice but to prevail. Declaring safe zones without having the means and will to protect them could lead to a repeat of the 1995 tragedy in Bosnia where UN peacekeepers couldn’t protect civilians in UN designated safe zones from Bosnian Serb massacres.

It took eight months to bring down Muammar Qaddafi’s regime in Libya. And the advantages that effort enjoyed -- French enthusiasm, Russian acquiescence, a Security Council mandate, and a tin-pot dictator with no serious military, air defenses or weapons of mass destruction -- don’t apply to Syria. Plus the NATO after-action report on Libya -- with its accounts of faulty information sharing; a paucity of military analysts and planners; heavy reliance on American know-how; and a lack of aircraft required to intercept electronic communications -- doesn’t inspire confidence in another coalition mission. The report suggests that, unlike Libya, Syria would have to be a U.S.-dominated operation.

Arguments Against Inaction
I’ve heard all the arguments against inaction: It’s morally wrong to let the murderous Assad regime continue killing; toppling Assad will weaken Iran grievously; Syria is more important than Libya; the longer the killing continues, the greater the chances of regional instability, even war.

They are all forceful. Watching the killing over the past year has been heartbreaking -- sensing it will continue, even worse.

But let’s be very clear with ourselves. If the case for intervention is so compelling, then the U.S. should lead and develop a strategy geared to the real task: removing Assad quickly so that a political transition to something better can result. Otherwise, we should stop pretending we’re serious about quickly and dramatically changing the balance of power in favor of the rebels. In this case, we should stick to a more modest approach, building up political and economic pressures against the regime.

And if we do make Syria our priority, we have to accept the costs: To maintain the pressure against Iran’s nuclear program, we’ll need the Russians and the Chinese on board, but we won’t get them to support both our policies on Iran and Syria.

Above all, we shouldn’t delude ourselves. The creation of safe zones will lead to our full military involvement in the Syrian crisis. If we’re prepared to go in this direction, fine. But we can’t let our moral outrage push us into embracing a plan, thinking we can get rid of Assad on the cheap. We can’t.

(Aaron David Miller, a distinguished scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, served both Republican and Democratic secretaries of State as a Middle East negotiator and analyst. The opinions expressed are his own.)

Read more opinion online from Bloomberg View.

Today’s highlights: the View editors on better cookstoves for the developing world; Albert R. Hunt on the next Kennedy superstar; David Aaker on marketing brands; Edward Conard on what drives the U.S. economy; Aaron David Miller on safe zones in Syria; Simon Johnson and Peter Boone on the euro and banks; Rachelle Bergstein on wedges and World War I.

.

15 May 2012 Last updated at 19:44 Share this pageEmail Print Share this page


At least 20 people have been killed by Syrian security forces in the north-western town of Khan Sheikhoun during a visit by UN observers, activists say.

Unconfirmed reports say the deaths occurred when security forces opened fire on a funeral procession in the town in Idlib province.

Three of the monitors' cars were damaged in a blast in the town, but the observers were not hurt, the UN said.

This comes despite the UN-backed ceasefire in place since last month.

The Syrian government has so far not publicly commented on the incidents.

In a separate development, the head of Syria's election committee announced that turnout in last week's parliamentary elections was more than 50%.

The committee did not say who had won, but it is clear that the ruling Baath party has secured a substantial majority of the seats, the BBC's Jonathan Head in neighbouring Turkey reports.

This was the first election in which the Baath party was not, in theory, guaranteed a majority, our correspondent says.

Opposition parties - which boycotted the election - have dismissed the vote as a sham.

As the parliament's powers are poorly defined, he adds, there was no chance that the poll would dilute President Bashar al-Assad's power, our correspondent says.

'IED blast'

"The Syrian regime committed a massacre [on] Tuesday during a visit by UN monitors to Khan Sheikhoun," the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Tuesday, according to the AFP news agency.

The group also called for an international investigation into the attack.

Separately, a spokesman for the UN-Arab Union envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan, said the UN vehicles were damaged in Khan Sheikhoun.

Spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said the UN convoy was struck by "an explosion from an improvised explosive device".

He added that the UN mission in Syria sent a patrol team to the area to evacuate the monitors.

The team of seven UN observers was in the town to observe a demonstration by opposition supporters at the funeral.

UN monitors were also hit by gunfire during an intense battle in the town of al Rastan on Monday, and the convoy of another UN team was struck by an explosion in Deraa last week.

The BBC's Jonathan Head, in neighbouring Turkey, says that despite the announced ceasefire the levels of violence are steadily creeping up and may reach the level when the UN monitors can no longer operate.

The UN said over the weekend that it had 189 observers in Syria, some two-thirds of the total intended for deployment as part of a six-point peace plan mediated by Mr Annan.

Earlier this week, at least 30 people - including 23 soldiers - reportedly died in clashes in central Syria, in what would be one of the deadliest suffered by security forces in the 14-month-long uprising against President Assad.

The government in Damascus says it is fighting organised gangs.

The UN estimates at least 9,000 people have died since pro-democracy protests began in March 2011.

CNN) -- Syrians seeking cover at a camp for displaced residents came under attack Wednesday by government forces, an opposition group said, unable to escape the violence that has tormented the country for 14 months.

Three people, including a young girl, were killed when regime forces shelled the camp in Daraa, said the Local Coordination Committees of Syria. They are among at least six people killed across the country on Wednesday, opposition activists said.

Camps for residents displaced from besieged areas such as Homs have been set up in parts of Syria, though the violence doesn't necessarily stop.

The latest report of terror comes a day after a four-vehicle U.N. convoy was struck by an explosive device in northwest Syria, the United Nations said.

Twin suicide bombers rock Damascus

Unrest continues in strife-torn Syria No U.N. personnel were injured, but three vehicles were damaged, said Ahmad Fawzi, spokesman for U.N.-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan.

The attack on the convoy happened around the same time government forces opened fire on a nearby funeral procession, according to opposition activists.

At least 23 people were killed and 100 were injured in that attack, said the opposition group Avaaz.

Another opposition group, the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, described dozens of people falling to the ground after government forces fired on them using heavy machine guns.

Videos posted on YouTube purported to show what happened. CNN cannot confirm their authenticity.

In all, at least 63 people were killed Tuesday across Syria, including 33 in Idlib and eight in Homs, the LCC said.

Meanwhile, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency said terrorists were preparing a bomb in Banyas when it exploded, leaving "scores" of people dead or wounded. A 3-year-old child died in the collapse of the building, SANA said.

Two law enforcement personnel were killed -- one in Daraa and one in Homs, the SANA reported.

Throughout the uprising against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, Syria has blamed the violence on "armed terrorist groups."

Some recent attacks have taken place near government buildings, but dissidents accuse the Syrian regime of staging attacks to smear the opposition and to try to link rebels to terrorist groups such as al Qaeda.

The United Nations estimates that at least 9,000 people have died in the 14-month crisis, while opposition groups put the death toll at more than 11,000.

CNN cannot independently verify reports of deaths and violence because the Syrian government has severely restricted access by international media.

18 May 2012 Last updated at 17:03 Share this pageEmail Print Share this page


Thousands of people have taken to the streets in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, activists say, in the biggest protests there since the revolt began.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said several people were injured by tear gas and live ammunition.

Protests were reported elsewhere, a day after activists called for rallies in solidarity with students in Aleppo.

Observers say anti-government sentiment is rising there, after security forces killed students in a raid in early May.

Videos posted by activists show hundreds of people taking part in anti-government rallies in various parts of Aleppo.

Syria's second city has so far not experienced the violence seen in other cities during the uprising and has remained largely loyal to the government of President Bashar al-Assad since protests began in March 2011.

Analysts say its ability to keep control of Aleppo is one of its key tests.

Separately, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said that Islamist militants from al-Qaeda must be behind two deadly suicide car bomb attacks in the capital on 10 May.

Mr Ban also said the death toll in the Syrian crisis now stands at 10,000 people.

'University of revolution'

Syrian activists reported protests on Friday in Damascus, Homs and Idlib.

On Thursday, activists at Aleppo University streamed their rally live on the internet.
State TV said government forces had foiled an attempt to blow up a booby-trapped car carrying approximately 600 kg of explosives in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor on Friday.

The Friday protests in Aleppo came a day after students held a large rally at the city's university.

Activists streamed their rally live on the internet on Thursday. They were demanding the removal of Mr Assad and his government during a visit by UN observers.

Footage showed scores of demonstrators chanting loudly. A YouTube clip apparently from the same rally shows students climbing on top of a UN vehicle.

A voice could be heard in the background saying in English "the university of the revolution".

Another YouTube video, filmed through the windscreen of a car, appears to show a demonstrator being beaten by a group of men wielding sticks.

'Dampening effect'

Nearly 260 unarmed UN observers have been deployed in Syria to monitor a ceasefire, which has largely collapsed since it was brokered in March by UN and Arab League representative Kofi Annan.

The UN secretary general said their deployment had some "dampening effect" on the violence, but not enough to halt it.

"We are trying our best efforts to protect the civilian population," Mr Ban added.

Last week's suicide car bomb attacks in Damascus killed 55 people and injured 372 - the deadliest attack on the city since the uprising against President Assad began.

Syrian officials have blamed "foreign terrorists" for the twin bombings.

Earlier this month Syria sent a list of 26 names to the United Nations of foreign nationals it had apprehended, claiming most of them were members of al-Qaeda.

20 May 2012 Last updated at 19:35 Share this pageEmail Print Share this page

351ShareFacebookTwitter.Syria: Hama shelling 'kills 34' The UN team, led by Maj Gen Mood, met Syrian security officers in Hama earlier this month Continue reading the main story
Syria CrisisOpposition divisions exposed
Syria's squeezed moderates
Who are the Alawites?
Pressure builds

Shelling by Syrian forces has killed 34 people according to the British-based group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The organisation says there are children among the dead in the town of Souran in the central province of Hama.

It cited residents saying: "The army shelled the town and then stormed it," according to Reuters.

In a separate incident there was an explosion near a convoy carrying the head of the UN mission in Syria.

There are no reports of casualties in that case and it is not clear if it was a bomb or a rocket-propelled grenade.

Front blown off

Maj Gen Robert Mood's vehicle was at an army checkpoint in the Douma district of Damascus when the blast happened.

Journalists who were in Gen Mood's convoy say the front of a nearby Toyota pick-up vehicle was blown off in Sunday's incident.

There is so far no comment from the mission itself.

Violence between armed rebels and the Syrian army has been escalating despite a truce negotiated by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights called the deaths in Hama a "massacre" and urged the UN mission to deploy observers to the area immediately.

Clashes had been reported in Douma earlier in the day. Reuters news agency says gunmen wounded 29 members of the security forces.

The BBC is unable to confirm reports due to tight restrictions on the movements of journalists in Syria.

Douma, on the outskirts of the capital Damascus, was one of the first areas to join the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad last year.

Earlier this month Gen Mood, a Norwegian officer, was in another convoy which avoided an explosion near the city of Deraa.

In that case a Syrian military truck which was escorting the vehicles was hit just seconds after UN staff had passed by.

There are 257 unarmed UN observers in Syria and that number is expected to increase to 300 by the end of May.

At least two people have been killed and 18 injured in clashes overnight in the Lebanese capital Beirut.

The clashes, between Sunni pro- and anti-Syrian groups, followed the shooting dead on Sunday of two anti-Syrian sheikhs.

The violence is the first in Beirut since the conflict began in neighbouring Syria in March last year.

The BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut says the incident shows how divided the Lebanese are over the Syrian crisis.

It follows a week of clashes in the northern city of Tripoli between anti-Syrian Sunnis and Alawites who support the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Syrian and Lebanese politics have been deeply intertwined throughout the history of the two states.

Syria, the dominant partner, had a large military presence in Lebanon for 29 years, finally withdrawing soldiers in 2005, but maintaining a strong influence. Political factions in Lebanon have often defined themselves as pro- or anti-Syrian.

Burning tyres

Sunday's violence was triggered by the shooting dead of two Sunni sheikhs linked to the anti-Syrian Future movement, headed by opposition leader Saad al-Hariri, at a Lebanese army checkpoint in the north on Sunday.

Supporters of Mr Hariri responded by blocking main roads with burning car tyres, but security forces intervened to clear them.

In Beirut's southern district of Tariq al-Jadideh, offices of a local pro-Syrian leader came under attack by gunmen.

Rocket-propelled grenades and machine-gun fire were heard for much of the night.

But the clashes died away after the leader, Shaker Berjawi, left the area, and the Lebanese Army moved in.

Sunni religious and political leaders have called for the utmost restraint, and an investigation has been launched into the killing of the two sheikhs.

Correspondents say there are fears of a return to the violence seen in clashes between Sunni and Shia Muslims in 2008 which brought the country close to civil war.

May 22, 9:19 AM EDT


Bomb kills 5 in Syrian capital

By BASSEM MROUE
Associated Press







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BEIRUT (AP) -- A bomb that apparently struck a restaurant in the Syrian capital killed at least five people, the state-run news agency said Tuesday, as activists reported intense clashes between army defectors and soldiers in the restive north.

It was not clear what the exact target of the blast was, although authorities in Damascus said it appeared to be a police station. But photos of the scene released by the state news agency, SANA, showed what looked like a restaurant. The area was considered too dangerous for journalists to access.

SANA said the bomb went off late Monday in the Damascus neighborhood of Qaboun, which has seen frequent anti-government protests.

The revolt in Syria began 15 months ago, and there are fears that extremist groups could be trying to enter the fray and exploit the chaos. The U.N. estimates the conflict has killed more than 9,000 people since March last year.

The conflict already has spilled across the border into neighboring Lebanon. The countries share a complex web of political and sectarian ties and rivalries, which can turn violent.

Lebanese Sunni groups supporting and opposing the Damascus regime fired rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns early Monday in the Lebanese capital, killing at least two people in the most serious outbreak of violence in Beirut since the uprising began next door.

The spark for the violence was the killing of Sheik Ahmed Abdul-Wahid, an anti-Syrian Sunni cleric, and his bodyguard Sunday in northern Lebanon. A Lebanese soldier shot the men, apparently after they failed to stop at an army checkpoint. The killing fueled deep anger over the perceived support of some of Lebanon's security forces for the Syrian regime.

Earlier this month, the arrest of Shadi Mawlawi, an outspoken Lebanese critic of Syrian President Bashar Assad, set of several days of clashes in northern Lebanon that killed eight people. Mawlawi was accused of belonging to a terrorist group.

On Tuesday, he was released from jail - a move that could help defuse tensions.

Judicial officials said Mawlawi was released on about $330 bail and will not be allowed to leave the country.

During a news conference in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, Mawlawi said he was "subjected to psychological pressure and torture" following his May 12 arrest and was forced to give false confessions that he was connected to terror groups.

Mawlawi said he denies any link to such groups.

As he spoke, supporters at the news conference lashed out at the Syrian regime, saying "Assad is the enemy of God."

Meanwhile, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human rights reported intense clashes Tuesday in Syria between troops and defectors in the towns of Atareb in Aleppo province and Kfar Rouma in Idlib.

There was no immediate word on casualties.

The U.N. has an observer mission in the country with about 270 unarmed monitors. Their presence has not stopped the violence although the level of bloodshed has dropped compared to previous months.

U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous toured the central city of Homs, the flashpoint of the uprising, on Monday and met U.N. observers in the city as well as the governor.

"The first goal is to obtain a reduction in the level of violence and this you have clearly done here in Homs," Ladsous said in a statement released Tuesday. "Now there is a need to establish bridges to help solve the practical functions of everyday life and gradually establish degree of confidence between the government and opposition."

Amateur videos posted online Tuesday showed residents welcoming observers in the northern town of Maaret Musreen in the restive province of Idlib. They spray-painted two of the observers' cars with the words: "Down with Assad" and "Freedom Forever."

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24 May 2012 Last updated at 12:23 Share this pageEmail Print Share this page

The Syrian army and security forces are responsible for most of the serious human rights abuses committed in the country since March this year, according to a UN-commissioned report.

The report also mentions opposition tactics, with evidence captured soldiers have been tortured and killed.

The UN investigators say the conflict is becoming increasingly militarised.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says at least 10,000 people have died in the uprising, which began in March 2011.

In its latest report, covering March, April and part of May, a commission on Syria appointed by the UN Human Rights Council documented cases of torture and summary execution committed by both the Syrian army and opposition forces.

"Most of the serious human rights violations documented by the Commission in this update were committed by the Syrian army and security services as part of military or search operations conducted in locations known for hosting defectors and/or armed persons, or perceived as supportive of anti-government armed groups," their report said.

"The army employed the wide range of military means, including heavy shelling of civilian areas," it added.

Continue reading the main story
Report's main points
Both armed forces and and anti-government armed groups committing human rights abuses
Situation has become
increasingly militarised
Executions and torture continue

"State security forces continued to use lethal force against anti-government demonstrations in Idlib, Homs, Aleppo, Hama, Damascus and Deraa and in numerous villages throughout the country."

Despite April's ceasefire, and the deployment of UN monitors in Syria, the investigators of the Independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria say the conflict has become increasingly militarised.

"Whereas government forces had previously been responding primarily to demonstrations, they now face armed and well-organised fighters - bolstered by defectors who joined them," the report says.

'Families executed'

The report says there is a pattern of serious violations, in which Syrian security forces blockade villages, and carry out house-to-house searches looking for opposition force.

In some of these operations, the report says, entire families have been executed. The investigators also say torture in detention, including of children, continues.

But the report has criticism of opposition tactics too - revealing evidence that captured Syrian soldiers have been tortured and killed.

Burhan Ghalioun has stepped down as leader of the SNC
Opposition forces are also increasingly resorting to hostage-taking - in some cases to get their own prisoners released, in others, to extort money to buy weapons.

The Syrian government has refused the team entry to Syria, but the investigators carried out interviews in neighbouring countries with more than 200 eyewitnesses.

Meanwhile the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) says it has accepted the resignation of its president, Burhan Ghalioun, who has led the movement since it was established last September.

Last week, Mr Ghalioun, whose leadership of the SNC has been criticised by other opposition activists, said he would step down if a replacement leader could be found.

But it is not clear who that new leader will be, says the BBC's Jonathan Head in Istanbul.

The SNC - which is based in Turkey - is more of a coalition than a unified movement, embracing a diverse range of opposition groups, and finding someone acceptable to all of them was difficult, our correspondent says.

Many of the armed insurgent groups operating loosely under the umbrella of the Free Syrian Army have refused to accept the authority of the exiled SNC leadership.

The SNC has also been criticised for its failure to win greater international support for the Syrian uprising. But one of the factors cited by sympathetic governments for not giving it more recognition is the lack of unity and its inability to control the forces fighting inside Syria, our correspondent adds.

At least 50 people, including 13 children, have been killed in Syria's restive Homs province, opposition activists say, calling it a "massacre".

They said scores were wounded in the violence in Houla, as government forces shelled and attacked the town.

If the toll is right, it would be one of the bloodiest attacks in one area since a nominal truce began in April.

Meanwhile, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said the opposition controlled "significant parts of some cities".

In a letter to the Security Council, Mr Ban said the situation remained "extremely serious" and urged states not to arm either side in the conflict.

At least 20 others were killed in violence elsewhere in Syria on Friday, according to activists, after tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets after prayers.

'Mangled bodies'

In Houla, Syrian forces used tanks, mortars and heavy machine guns, according to both the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees activist groups.

The BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut says unverifiable video posted on the internet by activists showed the bloodstained and mangled bodies of many children huddled on a floor in the dark, with the commentator shouting that there were too many to count.

Activists said several whole families were slaughtered by security forces on the edge of town. Some died in heavy shelling, while others who were caught were summarily executed, our correspondent says.

In one instance, six members of a family were killed when their house was shelled, the Observatory said.

International media cannot report freely in Syria and it is impossible to verify reports of violence.

The BBC's correspondent Paul Wood and cameraman Fred Scott report from the rebel stronghold of Rastan
Earlier, a spokesman for UN-Arab League peace envoy Kofi Annan said he was planning to visit Damascus.

The spokesman declined to give a date, but diplomats in Geneva told AFP that the former UN secretary general would make the trip early next week.

'Evidence of shelling'

In his letter, Mr Ban also said that, judging from the sophistication of the attacks, "established terrorist groups" could have been behind some of the recent bomb blasts in Syria.

Earlier this month, a bombing in Damascus left 55 dead in an attack which the government blamed on al-Qaeda. The attack came amid mounting fears that the terrorist group was taking advantage of the conflict to gain a foothold.

Mr Ban said UN efforts to end the conflict had seen only "small progress", adding that the "overall situation in Syria remains extremely serious".

Mr Ban said Syria "has not ceased the use of, or pulled back, their heavy weapons in many areas" - one of the requirements of Mr Annan's peace plan.

"On several occasions, UNSMIS has heard the sound, or seen evidence, of shelling in population centers," he said.

On Thursday, a UN-mandated panel said Syrian security forces were to blame for most abuses in the conflict, which has continued despite the presence of UN observers, which now total 260.

Mr Annan's six-point peace agreement ordered a cessation of violence on 12 April. While casualties appeared to fall after the truce, the fighting quickly resumed to previous levels.

The UN says at least 10,000 have been killed since an uprising began in March 2011 against President Bashar al-Assad's rule.

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1:42pm UK, Saturday May 26, 2012

Human rights activists have told Sky News that 96 people, including 25 children, have been killed by Syrian government forces in the western area of Houla.
If confirmed, it would mark the single bloodiest attack since a ceasefire brokered by the United Nations and the Arab League was put into effect across the country last month.

Up to 250 UN observers are in Syria to monitor the ceasefire - and on Saturday a team arrived in the Houla region, which is made up of several villages in the province of Homs, after reports of a massacre.

Amateur videos posted on YouTube showed graphic images of dead children lying on a floor.



The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said: "A team of UN observers arrived in the village of Taldau (on the outskirts of) Houla, to document the crimes committed in the past 24 hours, in violation of the ceasefire."

Earlier, Walid Saffour, from the Syrian Human Rights Committee, said President Bashar al Assad's forces were "continuing their onslaught" in Houla.

"The inaction of the international community helps the Syrian authorities to perpetrate these massacres on a large scale," he told Sky News.

France's foreign minister Laurent Fabius condemned the alleged massacre and said he was "making immediate arrangements for a Friends of Syria group meeting in Paris".

Meanwhile, the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) again called for the Friends of Syria group of nations to carry out airstrikes on the forces of President Assad.

Syria's main opposition bloc has also urged the UN Security Council to convene an emergency meeting to examine what happened in Houla.



UN observers have been sent to monitor the peace plan in Syria

"Some of the victims were hit by heavy artillery while others, entire families, were massacred," Bassma Kodmani, of the Syrian National Council, said.

The reports and death tolls across Syria could not be independently verified.

The latest violence comes as tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets, and tanks were reportedly deployed to counter public action after Friday prayers.

For the first time since the uprising against President Assad's regime erupted 14 months ago, army tanks rumbled through Aleppo, the London-based Syrian Observatory said.

Meanwhile, a report by current UN leader Ban Ki-moon said that groups fighting President Assad now control "significant" parts of some cities and there is "considerable physical destruction" across the country.

"There is a continuing crisis on the ground, characterised by regular violence, deteriorating humanitarian conditions, human rights violations and continued political confrontation," the report said.

The report is to be debated by the UN Security Council next week.


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