Diplomatic inaction fuelling Syria crackdown: UN

The UN human rights chief blamed disagreement in the Security Council on Monday for encouraging the Syrian government to step up attacks on opposition strongholds in its campaign to crush an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's 11-year rule.
Russia and China on February 4 vetoed a European-Arab draft resolution condemning the crackdown and endorsing an Arab League plan for the Syrian leader to step aside.
"The failure of the Security Council to agree on firm collective action appears to have emboldened the Syrian government to launch an all-out assault in an effort to crush dissent with overwhelming force," the High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay told the UN General Assembly.
"I am particularly appalled by the ongoing onslaught on Homs," she said. "According to credible accounts, the Syrian army has shelled densely populated neighbourhoods of Homs in what appears to be an indiscriminate attack on civilian areas."
An Arab League proposal to boost support for the uprising and to send in foreign peacekeepers has also drawn a guarded international response even as Syrian forces bombarded rebellious districts of Homs and attacked other cities.
Mortar rounds and tank fire pounded Baba Amro district but casualties could not be tallied because communications were cut off, activist Mohammad al-Hassan told Reuters from Homs.
Activists said 23 people were killed on Sunday, adding to a toll of more than 300 since the assault on Homs, strategically located on the highway between the capital Damascus and second city Aleppo, began on February 3.
Russia, Assad's close ally and main arms supplier, said it could not support a peacekeeping mission unless both sides ceased the violence first. Some felt the moves might only fan the flames of war.
"We feel the decisions are taking a grave turn for Syria and for the region," Lebanon's Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour said in Beirut. Other observers said it was just the start of a long and complex process to resolve what is potentially the most dangerous of the Arab Spring revolts.
World powers meanwhile digested Arab League proposals calling for a joint UN-Arab peacekeeping force for Syria. The United States and Europe are reluctant to get dragged in militarily, fearing that given Syria's position in the Middle East's religious, ethnic and political faultlines, this would be more risky and complicated than the NATO-led air support that helped Libyan rebels oust Muammar Gaddafi last year.
US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said more time was needed to discuss the proposals. "We look forward to being able to continue to consult with them on their precise idea for a peacekeeping force but we would note that there are a number of challenges with regard to this proposal ..." she said.
In Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made clear Russia would not support the peacekeeping plan unless there was a halt to violence by both government forces and their armed opponents.
"The tragedy is that the armed groups that are confronting the forces of the regime are not subordinate to anyone and are not under control," he said.
China backed what it termed the Arab League's "mediation" but offered no clear sign of support for the peacekeeper call.
"Relevant moves by the United Nations should be conducive towards lessening tension in Syria...rather than complicating things," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said any peacekeeping troops should come from non-Western countries: "I don't see the way forward in Syria as being Western boots on the ground in any form, including in any peacekeeping form."
France was also unenthusiastic. "We think that any external military intervention would only make the situation worse...," Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said.
A peacekeeping mission would in any case require the cooperation of Syria, which dismissed the League's resolution as a "hostile act that targets Syria's security and stability".
The Arab League effort has also highlighted regional rivalries. Its moves have been driven by Saudi Arabia and other Sunni-ruled Gulf monarchies who have long resented Assad's close ties to Shi'ite regional rival Iran.
Beirut-based political commentator Rami Khouri said that although the Arab plan was fraught with difficulty, it was also "incredibly bold and incredibly daring". "It is the beginning of a very complex process driven by the Arab League," he said.
In Homs, government troops concentrated their fire on Baba Amro in the south and al-Waer in the west, which borders the Military College, a main assembly point for tanks and government troops, opposition campaigners said.