Russia stays firm on Syria as regime pounds Hama

AFP – 9 hrs ago

Russia said on Wednesday it would consider "constructive proposals" to end bloodshed in Syria but was opposed to force or sanctions, as regime troops reportedly pounded the protest hub of Hama.

"We are open to constructive proposals that go in line with the set task of ending violence," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Moscow after meeting his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu.

Lavrov said any UN Security Council resolution backed by Russia "must firmly record that it cannot be used or interpreted to justify anyone's outside military intervention in the Syria crisis."

His comments came after Russian and US officials held talks in Moscow on how to stop the violence in Syria, which the United Nations estimates has killed more than 5,400 people since it erupted in mid-March.

Russia and China both blocked a previous Western attempt to have the Security Council formally condemn Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on dissent and impose stiff sanctions if he refuses to enter direct talks.

According to diplomats at the United Nations, European and Arab nations are in the process of hammering out a Security Council draft resolution condemning the crackdown.

Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Muallem on Tuesday warned against foreign "interference," which he said Russia, a Cold War ally with a naval base at Tartus on the country's Mediterranean coast, would never accept.

Western governments have capitalised on the Arab League's tough new stance to launch another drive for UN Security Council action despite resistance from Beijing and Moscow.

According to diplomats, European and Arab nations want a vote early next week on a resolution condemning the Syrian crackdown and hinting at sanctions against Assad's regime.

A first draft of the new resolution, obtained by AFP, notes Arab League sanctions ordered against Syria and "encourages all states to adopt similar steps and fully to cooperate with the League of Arab States in the implementation of its measures."

Russia's Lavrov made it clear on Wednesday that any resolution hinting at sanctions would be opposed by Moscow.

"We will not be able to back proposals under which unilaterally imposed sanctions against Syria -- sanctions that were declared without any consultations with Russia or China ... are blessed retroactively," he said.

Syria's Muallem on Tuesday informed Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi Damascus agreed to extend the bloc's observer mission for one month, until February 23.

Their numbers were depleted on Wednesday as the oil-rich Gulf states made good on their decision to withdraw their contingents.

Observers from Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates made no comment to reporters as they left their Damascus hotel, an AFP correspondent reported.

Arab League number two Ahmad bin Helli said the 55 representatives of Gulf states in the 165-strong mission would be replaced.

The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council withdrew its monitors, calling on the UN Security Council to take "all needed measures" to press Syria to implement the Arab League decisions.

Damascus signed up to a League peace plan last year that calls for the withdrawal of troops from population centres, the protection of civilians, the release of detainees and the opening of negotiations with the opposition.

But critics say there has been little tangible progress.

Activists said security forces were pounding the central city of Hama for a second straight day on Wednesday.

"The Syrian army is bombarding Hama with heavy weapons, using rocket-propelled grenades," said a statement from the Local Coordination Committees (LCC), which organises anti-regime protests on the ground.

Syria's Al-Watan newspaper, which is close to the authorities, said the military had launched an offensive aimed at retaking several districts in Hama that were controlled by insurgents.

"The competent authorities have decided to resolve the matter in a definitive manner in order to relieve the city of armed militias," it said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said three civilians were killed in Hama on Wednesday. It said six more civilians were killed in Damascus and Homs, including a mother and her 5-year-old child.

In Idlib in the northwest, provincial Red Crescent chief Abdelrazak Jbeiro was murdered by "a terrorist group," state media reported.

"The group opened fire with a machinegun, hitting him in the head," the official SANA news agency reported.

SANA said an "armed terrorist group" was also responsible for the death in Hama of priest Bassilius Nassar but the LCC said he was "martyred" during an army assault on the city's Al-Jarajmah neighbourhood.

The Syrian regime blames "terrorist gangs in the pay of foreigners" for the unrest that has swept the country since mid-March, rejecting the assertions of Western governments and human rights watchdogs that the protest movement has been largely peaceful.

Twilight Of The American Empire And The Pax Americana

Wednesday, January 25, 2012