Hillary urges concerted push; raging violence kills 77
Syria’s army sent reinforcements to a rebel town near Damascus as clashes raged south of the capital Friday, hours after talks on the conflict between the US, Russia and UN ended without a breakthrough.
Meanwhile, UN chief Ban Ki-moon yesterday said any use of chemical weapons by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to combat the revolt would be an “outrageous crime”.
“If it is the case, then it will be an outrageous crime in the name of humanity,” Ban told a news conference after visiting a Syrian refugee camp in the Turkish border town of Islahiye.
Ban’s visit came amid international warnings to Assad’s regime not to use chemical weapons to suppress the rebellion.
Inside Syria, activists feared a new ground assault on Damascus suburbs where military reinforcements poured in, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
“The army bombed orchards surrounding Daraya where military reinforcements are heading,” said the Observatory, citing activists on the ground.
Troops also bombarded the southern districts of Damascus.
Analysts say the Assad regime wants to ensure it hold on the capital so that it can be in a position to negotiate a solution to the nearly 21-month conflict.
The Observatory said at least 77 people were killed on Thursday across the country, half of them in Damascus and its suburbs.
Amid the unrelenting violence, a 40-minute meeting in Dublin on Thursday between US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and UN-Arab League peace envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi ended with with “no sensational decisions”.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday called on all parties with influence in Syria to make a “concerted push” together to halt the conflict.
Hillary said there had been no “great breakthrough” during talks in Dublin on Thursday with her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov and the UN peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, but said there would be further meetings.
It is likely the United States will move towards recognising the opposition National Coalition, set up in Qatar early last month, as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people at the meeting.
Source: The Daily Star