Syrians attend a mass funeral for people whom anti-government protesters said were killed by Syrian security forces, in this March 26, 2012 file photo. (Reuters)
By AGENCIES
Arab news
Published: Mar 31, 2012 23:13 Updated: Mar 31, 2012 23:17
DAMASCUS/BEIRUT/BAGHDAD: Violence across Syria killed at least seven people yesterday as security forces fired at a Damascus funeral for protesters who died the previous day during demonstrations, monitors said.
Syria's regime declared yesterday it has defeated those seeking to bring it down while reiterating support for a UN-Arab peace plan, as its troops reportedly shelled rebels in the city of Homs.
The United States and Gulf Arab states yesterday urged envoy Kofi Annan to produce a "timeline for next steps" in his peace plan for Syria if President Bashar Assad fails to stop the bloodshed.
The Syrian Army will withdraw from urban areas "once peace and security prevail," Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdisi said in comments carried by state media yesterday.
Meanwhile, forces opened fire as thousands paid tribute to two protesters in the capital's Kfar Sousa district after they were gunned down on Friday during anti-regime rallies, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
At Kafaroma, in the northwestern region of Idlib, security forces killed a civilian who chanted anti-regime slogans when they arrested his father and brother during a raid, the group said.
The town was the site of a massive protest on Friday to denounce the Arab world's inaction in the face of Assad's bloody crackdown on the year-old uprising.
Elsewhere in the same province, scene of fierce clashes between troops and rebels in recent weeks, a civilian and his sister were killed during an assault on the town of Jisr Al-Shughur, said the Observatory.
In the central city of Homs, focus of the embattled Syrian regime's military campaign to crush armed rebels, rocket fire killed a child in the neighborhood of Bayada.
Shells pounded the Homs district of Khaldiyeh, where most of the rebels are holed up, at the rate of around one a minute, it added.
Random gunfire killed two civilians in Talbisseh, a town about 10 km from the border with Lebanon, the Britain-based monitoring group said. In Daraa province, where the uprising broke out in March 2011, one soldier was killed in a rebel attack on an armored personnel carrier, triggering clashes between the two sides.
Heavy fighting was also reported at dawn in Jarmana, Damascus province, following hours of clashes in the district of Jobar, according to the monitors.
Syria said the yearlong revolt against Assad is now over, but that it would retain its right to use its forces to "maintain security" before withdrawing from cities in line with a UN-backed peace plan.
Makdissi told Syria TV that United Nations-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan had acknowledged the government's right to respond to armed violence. Makdissi said that handling this was a Syrian matter.
He said Syria would cooperate with the United Nations to "remove any excuses" for further international pressure. "The battle to topple the state is over. Our goal now is to ensure stability and create a perspective for reform and development in Syria while preventing others from sabotaging the path of reform," Makdissi told the state news channel late Friday.
He said Syria's conditions on its acceptance of Annan's proposals included recognition of the government's sovereignty and its right to security.
"The other requirement is not to harm Syrian stability ... When security can be maintained for civilians, the army will leave. It is not waiting for Kofi Annan to leave, this is a Syrian matter."
Annan's spokesman has said the plan makes clear Syria must be first to withdraw troops and stop violence, saying "the deadline is now." His proposal says Syria must stop putting troops into cities and begin taking them out.
The United States and Gulf Arab states yesterday urged Annan to produce a "timeline for next steps" in his peace plan for Syria if Assad fails to stop the bloodshed.
The Iraqi prime minister's spokesman said Iraq may not participate in the "Friends of Syria" conference in Istanbul today as it wants to maintain its ability to serve as a mediator.
"We want to maintain our mediation role, and the role of mediator sometimes requires not participating in this conference or that," Ali Mussawi said
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog"
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
01042012
___________
CSVN là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
No comments:
Post a Comment