13 Syrians die helping Briton flee terror city

THIRTEEN Syrian volunteers have been killed while smuggling a British photographer out of the besieged city of Homs.

The 26-hour operation to rescue wounded Sunday Times journalist Paul Conroy into Lebanon along a 20-mile smuggling route came despite continued shelling.

Three other journalists, including the badly injured French correspondent Edith Bouvier, were separated from the 47-year- old Briton by the intensity of Syrian army fire.

David Cameron yesterday said military intervention in Syria was too dangerous after defence chiefs warned a no-fly zone – as seen in Libya – could not be enforced because the country’s air defences are too strong.

The Prime Minister instead approved plans to lead a diplomatic offensive to secure a United Nations Security Council resolution to help evacuate the wounded from Syria.

The UN has confirmed Syrian forces have killed more than 7,500 civilians since the revolt against president Bashar al-assad began a year ago.

Mr Conroy, a father of three, was said to be in ‘good spirits’ as he received treatment in Beirut for leg wounds sustained last week during the shelling of a makeshift press cen- tre that killed veteran war correspondent Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik.

At their home in Totnes, Devon, Mr Conroy’s wife Kate said: ‘We are delighted and overjoyed at the news.’ His father Les added: ‘We’re all very relieved and happy that Paul’s out.’

Mr Conroy and his colleagues decided to try to escape with the help of Syrian volunteers during a break in the shelling on Sunday night.

They chose to take a smuggling route that had successfully taken 40 wounded Syrians to neighbouring Lebanon over the previous six days. The passage is used nightly to bring in medical supplies and food and to extract the wounded from Homs.

A spokesman for human rights group Avaaz said: ‘The activists got [the group of four journalists] all to the exit place. From that point the operation went wrong.

‘They were shelled. Three activists were killed, and Paul Conroy was the only one to get out. The others... turned back to Homs. They were shelled and more activists were killed. Paul went into hiding and we got him out after 26 hours from start to finish.’