Syrian troops on Thursday attacked rebel strongholds in Deraa where the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad erupted nearly a year ago, and the UN chief said crimes against humanity had almost certainly been committed in Syria. The assault on Deraa followed a thrust against rebels in the cities of Hama and Homs, which has faced nearly two weeks of bombardment from Assad's forces, in an apparent campaign to crush the revolt against his repressive rule.
Assad has intensified a crackdown on protesters and insurgents, while also setting a February 26 referendum on a draft constitution that would formally end the Baath Party's monopoly on power, to be followed by a multi-party parliamentary election. Syria's opposition and Western powers dismissed the promised reforms and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, speaking before a non-binding vote at the United Nations on a draft resolution aimed at increasing pressure on Assad, said crimes against humanity had almost definitely occurred in Syria.
"We see neighbourhoods shelled indiscriminately, hospitals used as torture centres, children as young as 10 years old jailed and abused. We see almost certain crimes against humanity," he told reporters in Austria. Ban later had talks with French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe during which the UN leader said the top priorities were to stop the violence and establish humanitarian access, a UN statement said.
He said all relevant UN agencies were co-ordinating efforts to provide relief to the Syrian people. China, which along with Russia blocked a draft resolution at the UN Security Council on February 4 backing an Arab call for Assad to step down, said it was sending a senior envoy to Syria.
"(China) does not approve of the use of force to interfere in Syria or the forceful pushing of a so-called regime change," Vice Foreign Minister Zhai Jun said. Juppe said agreement at the Security Council was possible with Russia to halt the bloodshed, and that France was ready to work on a new resolution to provide humanitarian aid to Syrians. "We can possibly reach a compromise on a short-term objective which is to end the massacres," Juppe said. "We must do everything so that the violence ends and that a lot of humanitarian aid is given to the Syrian people."
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was non-committal after meeting Juppe in Vienna. "I cannot express my opinion on the French proposal because I received none," he said. "The minister told me they are thinking of a new resolution which will be intended to help delivery of humanitarian assistance... with the consent of all those who have arms on the ground."
An authoritative Chinese newspaper, apparently responding to criticism of Chinese and Russian UN vetoes, said on Thursday that meddling in Syria by foreign powers risked stirring up a hornets' nest of bloodshed and instability in the region. The commentary in the People's Daily, the mouthpiece of the ruling Communist Party, carried an author's pen name that is often used to state Beijing's foreign policy stance.
World powers must handle Syria and tensions elsewhere in the Middle East with a sense of realism, the paper said, adding that the spread of conflict would be a "catastrophe" in a crucial phase of global economic recovery. "The Middle East is the world's most important fuel depot. If gripped by chaos, oil prices would skyrocket, shocking the stock market, financial systems and economies," the paper said.
The European Parliament issued a resolution calling for the creation of humanitarian aid corridors in Syria, and said the EU should restrict diplomatic relations with Damascus. The move was largely symbolic as the parliament does not have policy-making powers in these areas.