* Russia and China vote against assembly resolution
* Ban Ki-moon sees crimes against humanity in Syria
* France says compromise possible with Russia
AMMAN/BEIRUT, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Syrian troops
attacked rebel strongholds in Deraa, cradle of the uprising
against President Bashar al-Assad, and the U.N. General Assembly
voted for an Arab League plan calling on him to step down.
At the assembly 137 states voted in favour, 12 voted against
and 17 abstained on Thursday on the non-binding resolution
endorsing the Arab League plan. Russia and China voted against,
after vetoing a similar text in the Security Council on Feb. 4.
Unlike Council resolutions, assembly votes have no legal
force. "Today the U.N. General Assembly sent a clear message to
the people of Syria - the world is with you," U.S. Ambassador
Susan Rice said in a statement.
"Bashar al-Assad has never been more isolated."
Assad has intensified a crackdown on protesters and
insurgents, while also proposing a Feb. 26 referendum on a draft
constitution that would formally end his Baath Party's monopoly
on power, followed by a multi-party parliamentary election.
Syria's opposition and Western powers have dismissed the
promised reforms. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said crimes
against humanity had almost definitely been committed 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 on Thursday.
Thousands of civilians have been killed by Syrian security
forces since the uprising began last March. The government says
more than 2,000 soldiers and police have been killed by
foreign-backed "terrorists".
Ban later had talks with French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe
during which the U.N. leader said the top priorities were to
stop the violence and establish humanitarian access, a U.N.
statement said. He said all relevant U.N. agencies were
coordinating efforts to provide relief to the Syrian people.
China 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.
Zhai, who will visit Syria on Friday, said China believed
"sanctions or the threat of sanctions are not conducive to the
appropriate resolution of this issue".
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."
Venezuela is emerging as a supplier of diesel to Syria,
potentially undermining Western sanctions and helping the Syrian
government fuel its military, trade sources told Reuters.
President Hugo Chavez has been a vociferous defender of Assad.
CORRIDORS
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.
Foreign minister Villy Sovndal of Denmark, which holds the
EU's rotating presidency, said EU states would not provide arms
to the Syrian opposition but could offer other help.
"The only thing I can exclude right now are any ideas about
military intervention in Syria," he said, when asked if EU
governments could offer rebels help such as communications
equipment.
"That might be a possibility," he told Reuters. "I would not
exclude anything but weapons."
The United States announced sanctions on Iran's Ministry of
Intelligence and Security, partly for supporting the Syrian
crackdown.
After bombarding Homs for nearly two weeks, the Syrian
military has begun a new offensive in Hama, a city with a bloody
history of resistance to Assad's late father, Hafez al-Assad.
Activists said at least 14 people were killed in bombardment of
the nearby town of Kfar Nubouzeh on Thursday.
The state news agency said security forces "chased and
fought an armed terrorist group in the Hamidiya neighbourhood of
Hama that has been terrifying citizens" and arrested some of its
members, who had assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.
Syrian forces arrested human rights activist Mazen Darwich
and several other activists on Thursday after breaking into his
office in central Damascus, another opposition figure said.
In Deraa, a city on the Jordanian border where the
anti-Assad revolt erupted nearly a year ago, the sound of
explosions and machinegun fire echoed through districts under
attack by government troops, residents said.
"The army bombardment started around dawn and after that
exchanges of fire occurred," Hussam Izzedine, a member of the
Syrian human rights organisation Sawasiah, told Reuters from
Deraa. He said the rebel Free Syrian Army had been providing
security for protests in some parts of the city.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said three members
of the security forces were killed in clashes with army
deserters.
There was no immediate comment from Syrian authorities, who
tightly restrict media access to the country.
An army offensive last April put down large demonstrations
in Deraa, which had been provoked by the arrest of several women
activists and the detention of schoolboys who had written
freedom slogans on walls.
(Writing by Dominic Evans; Editing by Andrew Roche)
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