Syrian forces launched a pre-dawn raid on Friday against the rebellious city of Homs where dozens have been killed as Western and Arab nations rush to unveil a draft UN resolution that would condemn the deadly crackdown. The assault on Homs, and reports of similar offensives against Hama and other cities, came hours after the UN said it could no longer keep track of the death toll in the Syrian unrest, which it had put at more than 5,400 over a month ago. The Homs raid began late on Thursday in the Karm al-Zeitoun neighbourhood with the Syrian Human Rights Observatory reporting 33 people killed in Syria’s third-largest city, 160 km (100 miles) north of the capital, bringing the day’s total to 62 dead across the country.
The Local Coordination Committees, which organise protests on the ground, said that by Friday regime forces had pounded the Bab Seba neighbourhood with heavy artillery and rocket fire. Sounds of intense fighting were also heard from the Baba Amro neighbourhood. The LCC said three people were killed early Friday in Homs and said two more were killed in Idlib province in the northwest and one in the Damascus suburbs. The Observatory said another flashpoint central city, Hama, also came under assault in the early hours of Friday, with intense firing from heavy machine guns and loud explosions heard.
The Syrian National Council, the country’s biggest opposition umbrella group, on Friday condemned the offensives against opposition strongholds and said the group was in contact with members of the UN Security Council to press for strong condemnation of Syria. The latest wave of the government’s crackdown, now in its 11th month, comes as the West tries to ride diplomatic momentum sparked by last weekend’s surprise call by the Arab League for President Bashar al-Assad to step down. The UN Security Council was to discuss the Syria crisis later Friday when Western and Arab nations were to hold talks on a draft resolution denouncing the Assad regime that has been blocked by strong resistance from Damascus allies Beijing and Moscow.
The council’s five permanent members — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — held talks Thursday on the new resolution and, in a sign that some sort of breakthrough took place, a meeting for later Friday was announced by French diplomats. “A draft resolution could be sent to all members of the council tomorrow (Friday),” a Security Council diplomat said. A new resolution, that supporters hope can be put to a vote next week, would give strong backing to the Arab League’s initiative to end the Syria crisis and was drawn up by Britain, France, Germany and Arab nations, including Morocco and Qatar.
With diplomacy intensifying, Arab League secretary general Nabil al-Arabi and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani, who has been especially vocal in denouncing Syria, are to brief the council on Monday or Tuesday. UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged the Security Council to speak with one voice on Syria. “We have to seize this moment, we have to help these people. They have been oppressed for so long,” Ban said.
