* Pillay: Syrian army implementing "shoot-to-kill" policy
* Syria rejects international peacekeeper idea
* Arab League proposal faces big obstacles at U.N.
* Renewed shelling in Homs - activists
(Adds details, quotes from Homs, Pillay, Nasser quotes, details
throughout)
AMMAN/UNITED NATIONS, Feb 13 (Reuters) - The U.N.
human rights chief accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of
launching an "indiscriminate attack" on civilians to end
pro-democracy protests and said he had been emboldened by the
failure of the Security Council to condemn him.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said the
Feb. 4 veto by Russia and China of a draft Security Council
resolution condemning the Syrian government and endorsing an
Arab League plan for Assad to step aside had only encouraged
Damascus to intensify the attacks.
"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," Pillay told the 193-nation
U.N. General Assembly.
"I am particularly appalled by the ongoing onslaught on
Homs. ... According to credible accounts, the Syrian army has
shelled densely populated neighborhoods 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
response, even as Syrian forces bombarded opposition
strongholds.
The central Syrian city of Homs came under army bombardment
for a ninth day on Monday, with Syrian forces resuming shelling
hours after Pillay's speech, activists said. At least seven
people were reported killed on Monday.
"The shells are falling at random," activist Hussein Nader
said by telephone from Homs.
Mohammad al-Homsi, another activist, said the humanitarian
situation was getting worse, describing how three doctors
crossed into Baba Amro during a lull in the shelling.
"Army roadblocks are increasing around opposition districts
but there is a pattern to the bombardment now. It is heavy in
the morning, then gives way to an afternoon lull and resumes at
night," Homsi said from the city.
Shelling was also reported in the town of Rastan on Tuesday.
Reports of action on the ground are difficult to verify because
Syria restricts access by journalists.
At the United Nations, diplomats said a draft General
Assembly resolution which "fully supports" the Arab League plan
and introduces a call for the appointment of a joint U.N.-Arab
League envoy, could be put to a vote later this week.
The resolution, seen by Reuters, is similar to the vetoed
Security Council draft, however there are no vetoes in General
Assembly votes and its decisions are not legally binding.
"The situation on the ground is unbearable," the Qatari
president of the General Assembly, Nassir Abdulaziz al-Nasser,
told Al Jazeera Television. "There is an idea for an Arab draft
resolution, which I think will be distributed to the member
countries today or tomorrow and will be voted on this week."
He added: "The time has come for the United Nations ... to
look at the situation seriously either at the Security Council
or the General Assembly."
WEIGHING NEXT MOVE
World powers meanwhile digested Arab League proposals
calling for a joint U.N.-Arab peacekeeping force for Syria.
The United States and Europe are reluctant to get dragged in
militarily. Given Syria's position in the Middle East's
religious, ethnic and political faultlines, they fear this would
be more risky and complicated than the NATO-led air support that
helped Libyan rebels oust Muammar Gaddafi last year.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in Washington
that the peacekeeper proposal would be tough to get through
given Russian and Chinese support for Damascus.
"There are a lot of challenges to be discussed as to how to
put into effect all of their recommendations and certainly the
peacekeeping request is one that will take agreement and
consensus," Clinton said.
Russia, Assad's close ally and main arms supplier, said it
could not support a peacekeeping mission unless both sides
ceased the violence first.
China however backed what it termed the Arab League's
"mediation" but offered no clear sign of support for the 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.
Clinton and China's top diplomat Dai Bingguo earlier
discussed Syria in a phone call, China's Foreign Ministry said.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said any
peacekeepers should come from non-Western nations whereas French
Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said: "We think that any external
military intervention would only make the situation worse..."
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".
OVERNIGHT SHELLING
In her speech, Pillay said the Syrian army was implementing
a "shoot-to-kill" policy. "Extensive reports of sexual violence,
in particular rape, in places of detention, primarily against
men and boys, are particularly disturbing," Pillay said.
Activist said the ferocity of the attack on Homs had fuelled
public outrage inside Syria, prompting more demonstrations
against Assad in the last few days.
YouTube footage showed what appeared to be thousands of
people protesting at a street rally in the town of Kernaz in the
countryside to the north of the city of Hama. "God salutes the
Free Syrian Army," they chanted.
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.
Activist Hassan said al-Waer, scene of large pro-democracy
demonstrations for months, had come under attack in the last
several days from pro-Assad militia known as shabbiha.
"We heard that the Free Syrian Army has started responding
by attacking roadblocks being manned by shabbiha. Communications
with al-Waer have been cut off and the sound of shelling can be
now heard," Hassan said.
Earlier in the city of Hama, 50 km (30 miles) north of Homs,
government forces backed by tanks and armoured vehicles killed
at least one man when they raided neighbourhoods on Sunday near
the countryside where the Free Syrian Army has been active.
"It is the third day of such incursions," activist Fady
al-Jaber said from Hama. "They fire heavy machineguns and
anti-aircraft guns at random, then they go in and raid houses
and arrest dozens of people."
(Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Beijing, Steve
Gutterman in Moscow, Erika Solomon in Beirut and Louis
Charbonneau at the United Nations; Writing by Angus MacSwan;
Editing by Maria Golovnina)
There are no comments yet