Syria Presses Crackdown on Protestors After China Urges an End to Violence
Syrian security forces maintained their crackdown against opponents of President Bashar al-Assad’s rule after China urged an end to the violence.
At least 13 people were killed yesterday, following a toll of 31 on Feb. 17, the U.K.-based opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in an e-mailed statement today. The Syrian army resumed shelling residential districts of Homs, Al Jazeera reported, citing opposition groups. A fuel storage depot at the refinery in the besieged city was bombed overnight by “an armed terrorist group,” the official Syrian Arab News Agency said.
China’s vice-foreign minister, Zhai Jun, visited Damascus yesterday, where he urged Syria to halt the fighting and restore stability. Zhai, speaking in the capital after a meeting with Assad, backed the Syrian leader’s proposed referendum on a new democratic constitution, set for Feb. 26, according to the Chinese state news agency Xinhua.
Syrian forces stepped up their efforts to crush the rebellion after China and Russia vetoed a resolution at the United Nations Security Council earlier this month calling on Assad to step down in favor of an interim government that would hold elections. The UN estimates more than 5,400 Syrians died last year as Assad cracked down on protests that began in March.
The unrest aims “at partitioning” the country and hurting its position in the Middle East, Assad was cited by SANA as saying during the meeting with Zhai. The government has blamed the violence on “terrorists” and foreign provocateurs.
Damascus Rally
Syrian forces stormed the city of al-Sokhna in the center of the country, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said today in an e-mailed statement. Government forces opened fire yesterday in the Maza neighborhood of Damascus when thousands rallied in the capital for the funerals of civilians killed a day earlier, the group said yesterday. Another nine people were killed by security forces today, Al Jazeera reported.
The U.S., European Union and Arab League, which backed the resolution vetoed by China and Russia, will attend a “Friends of Syria” meeting in Tunisia this week aimed at coordinating support for the opposition to Assad.
To contact the reporters on this story: Glen Carey in Riyadh at gcarey8@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net
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