Syria faces backlash over army crackdown

Updated at: 1731 PST, Tuesday, June 14, 2011
DAMASCUS: Syria was under sharp international pressure on Tuesday to halt its crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, as troops pursued a scorched earth campaign in northern mountains, sending thousands fleeing.

The United States stepped up its condemnation of the crackdown, which rights activists say has left at least 1,200 people dead since mid-March, and again called on its president to allow for a political transition or step aside.

"We have called on President Bashar al-Assad to cease the violence. We strongly condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the violence being perpetrated in Syria," said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

"President Assad needs to engage in political dialogue. A transition needs to take place. If President Assad does not lead that transition then he should step aside," Carney told reporters aboard Air Force One.

Refugees fleeing across the border into Turkey on Monday said that troops were burning crops and slaughtering livestock in villages near the town of Jisr al-Shughur, main focus of a crackdown which began at the weekend.

They and rights activists reported intermittent gunfire as troops launched search operations in the village of Uram al-Joz, east of Jisr al-Shughur and in the Jebel al-Zawiya mountains further south.

Those claims could not be confirmed, as Syria has prevented journalists from entering the area.

"What happened there over the weekend and what continues to occur is absolutely revolting, and we condemn these barbaric acts in the strongest possible terms," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.

Toner insisted the United States was exerting pressure on the Syrian government but stopped short of calling on Assad to resign.

European powers stepped up their campaigning meanwhile for a draft resolution condemning Syria's deadly crackdown, with one top envoy saying the delay in Security Council action has cost hundreds of lives.

Russia and China strongly oppose UN action against Assad and could veto any resolution.

The Europeans believe that if they can get a strong enough majority in favour it would increase pressure on Russia and China not to use their veto right.

Highlighting how negotiations have lasted more than two weeks, France's UN ambassador Gerard Araud said: "In that time 400 people, including women and children, have died, sometimes under torture. Thousands of refugees have fled Syria."

Araud made his comments to a leading Estado da Sao Paulo newspaper in Brazil, one of the countries the Europeans hope to sway.

The United Nations said more than 10,000 Syrians have fled into neighbouring countries to escape the crackdown.

There are 5,000 people in Lebanon and at least 5,000 in Turkey, said UN humanitarian affairs spokeswoman Stephanie Bunker. Turkey's Anatolia news agency on Monday estimated there are now more than 6,800 Syrians who have crossed into Turkey.

UN emergency relief coordinator Valerie Amos made a new appeal to the Syrian government to let a UN humanitarian team make a proper assessment.

Assad's government has refused to let UN aid experts visit stricken towns and blocked a human rights investigation team from entering the country.

Refugees arriving in Turkey said fighting had also broken out among Syrian troops on Sunday as soldiers bent on destroying the area were confronted by others trying to defend the townsfolk.

Elements from one tank division had even taken up positions by bridges leading into the town in a bid to defend it, they said.

"The troops are divided," said 35-year-old Abdullah, who fled Jisr al-Shughur on Sunday and sneaked over the border into Turkey to find food.

"Four tanks defected and they began to fire on one another," he added.

Ali, another Syrian refugee who made it to Turkey, told a similar story.

"There is now a split within the army and you have a group who are trying to protect the civilians," the 27-year-old told AFP.

Abdullah, who like many refugees would give only his first name, said troops had now reached Ziayni, a town just six kilometres (four miles) from the Turkish border.

"They torched all the crops, they slaughtered the goats, the cows," he said.

"In the town itself, all the bakeries and the supermarkets have been pillaged, there is nothing left. The doors have been smashed in."

Syria blames what it says are foreign-backed "armed terrorist gangs" for the unrest rocking the country, and says troops launched operations in Jisr al-Shughur at the request of residents and after 120 policemen were massacred there.

Rights activists say those being killed are unarmed protesters and deny a massacre in Jisr al-Shughur, saying bloodshed erupted during a mutiny by soldiers who refused to fire on the town's residents. (AFP)