Deaths mount in Syria as West, Russia make ‘progress’

DAMASCUS: Fresh bloodshed swept Syria as the West and Arab League kept up their push for quick United Nations (UN) action to stop the regime’s “killing machine,” but holdout Russia vowed to veto any “unacceptable” proposal.

Wrangling at the UN on Wednesday came as fierce clashes across Syria killed 59 people, mostly civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

In New York City, Britain’s envoy said that some progress had been made in talks to persuade Russia to back a tough UN Security Council resolution condemning the violence.

“We have made some progress today,” Britain’s UN ambassador Mark Lyall Grant told reporters after a threehour meeting of council members.

Russia’s envoy Vitaly Churkin said, “We have a much better understanding of what needs to be done to reach a consensus . . . I think it was a pretty good session.”

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that Security Council members had to decide whether to side with the Syrian people or a “brutal dictatorial regime.”

“Every member of the council has to make a decision: Whose side are you on?” she told reporters in response to a question about Russian opposition to an Arab- and Westernbacked resolution condemning President Bashar al-assad.

Earlier on Wednesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov appeared to snuff out hopes of a quick vote.

“Attempts are being made to find a text that is acceptable to all sides and would help find a political solution for the situation in Syria. Therefore there is going to be no vote in the next days,” he told Interfax news agency.

But French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said in Paris that Russia had a “less negative” attitude toward the resolution and said that a vote could take place “perhaps” next week.

“For the first time, the attitude of Russia and the BRICS [China, India and South Africa on the Security Council] is less negative,” Juppe told French lawmakers.

The draft resolution, introduced by Morocco, calls for the formation of a unity government leading to “transparent and free elections.”

It stresses that there will be no for- eign military intervention in Syria as there was in Libya, which helped to topple Muammar Qaddafi.

New draft expected

A new draft was expected to be prepared following Wednesday’s talks and submitted to Council members on Thursday for new discussions, diplomats said.

In Rabat, Foreign Minister Youssef Amrani said that Morocco, the only Arab country currently on the Security Council, was “committed with all our partners to achieving a consensus on this resolution.”

On Tuesday, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al-thani told the Council that “bloodshed continued” as the Assad regime cracked down on its opponents and that the “killing machine is still at work.”

Russia, a long-standing Assad ally and one of his top arms suppliers, has declared that the UN body does not have the authority to impose a resolution that calls for regime change in Syria, a position supported by China.

“If the text is unacceptable then we will vote against,” Churkin was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti news agency.

Russia would not approve a text it viewed as “incorrect” and that would “lead to a deepening of the conflict,” he said.

The Britain- based Observatory said that Wednesday’s heaviest toll was in Damascus province, where 24 civilians were killed.

Fifteen soldiers were reported killed in the central city of Homs and six Army deserters lost their lives in Damascus.

There were also reports of fierce fighting between the Army and dissidents in Damascus, Homs and Idlib provinces.

The Al- Watan newspaper listed dozens of deaths in clashes in Homs and elsewhere in central Syria over the past two days.

It said that 37 rebels were killed in the Homs district, four soldiers in Bab Dreib and 15 rebels and two members of the security forces in clashes in Rastan, another central town.

Against that background, the rebel Free Syrian Army’s Turkeybased commander Col. Riyadh alAsaad told Agence France- Presse that half the country was now effectively a no-go zone for the security forces.