West pushes for Syria sanctions

24 August 2011 Last updated at 09:58 GMT President Assad says his security forces are tackling "armed criminal gangs" The US and several European nations have called for the UN to impose sanctions against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and his ruling circle.

But the draft resolution circulated at UN headquarters in New York faces opposition from veto-wielding members of the Council like Russia and China.

The UN says more than 2,200 people have died since protests began in mid-March.

A UN report has also said Mr Assad's regime could be guilty of crimes against humanity.

The draft resolution put forward on Tuesday names President Assad along with 22 members of his ruling circle, as well as Syria's General Intelligence Directorate.

It calls for targeted sanctions against those "responsible for or complicit in ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing, violent repression against the civilian population in Syria," the AFP news agency reports.

But the US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, said the resolution contained no military threat, as the Syrian people "have been very clear they don't want any foreign military intervention".

Ms Rice told CNN that Mr Assad "needs to know that he is on a dangerous and immoral course that will have significant consequences for his leadership".

'Dialogue needed'

However Russia - a close ally of Mr Assad and which has veto power in the Security Council - has said it sees no need for further action beyond a council statement on 3 August condemning the violence.

China, which also has veto power, said Mr Assad and the Syrian opposition "should seek to peacefully and properly resolve the issue through dialogue and consultations".

"The future of Syria should be decided by Syria itself," said foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu in Beijing.

Both China and Russia voted against a UN Human Rights Council resolution on Tuesday calling for an independent investigation into violence by the Syrian government, including allegations of the use of tanks and snipers against unarmed civilians. The motion eventually passed with 33 votes in favour.

The Security Council said the inquiry would establish the facts in Syria and where possible "identify those responsible with a view of ensuring that perpetrators of violations, including those that may constitute crimes against humanity, are held accountable".

Syria's ambassador said the vote had been unbalanced.

Also on Tuesday, the European Union widened its sanctions against Syria, adding 15 people and five institutions to those already targeted.

Syria's protests first erupted in mid-March and have continued despite the crackdown. The demonstrators are demanding the removal of President Assad, whose family have been in power for 40 years.

As well as civilians, human rights groups say 500 soldiers have been killed and thousands arrested since March. The government has blamed the unrest on "armed criminal gangs".

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'Tank fire' in Syria protest city

1 May 2011 Last updated at 13:50 GMT Security forces have been acting to quell six weeks of anti-government protests Syrian soldiers and tanks have been firing in the city of Deraa, a centre of protests against President Bashar al-Assad's rule, residents say.

They say soldiers have made arrests and fired to keep people indoors.

Opposition websites are showing footage purportedly of a soldier who says he deserted after being ordered to fire on unarmed protesters in Damascus.

Activists say nearly 600 people have died in the crackdown on protests, which began in mid-March.

At least 66 protesters were reported to have been killed, most of them in Deraa, on Friday.

Activists said another six were killed on Saturday when the army seized control of a mosque which had become a centre for anti-government protests in the city.

Deraa has been the focus of government action against the protesters for the last week. Water, electricity and phone lines to the city have been cut.

State television said security forces came under attack on Saturday by "armed terrorists" in Deraa and Homs, Syria's third city.

President Assad's government blames militants and "external forces" for the unrest, which it says have left nearly 80 security personnel dead.

Foreign journalists are not being allowed into the country, and the exact picture of what is happening remains unclear.

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Hague 'concerned' at Syria deaths

30 April 2011 Last updated at 16:59 GMT Mr Hague said those responsible for the violence would be held personally to account Foreign Secretary William Hague has expressed concern at "credible" reports that more than 500 people have been killed in ongoing violence in Syria.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says 539 people have been killed since protests calling for political reform began on 15 March.

Mr Hague said the Syrian government needed to respond with "reform not repression".

President Bashar al-Assad's government blames extremists for the unrest.

Activists say at least six people were killed by security forces in the southern city of Deraa on Saturday.

They also said more than 60 protesters were killed across the country on Friday - more than half of them in Deraa.

Officials said the number of dead was far lower, and included four soldiers. They say 80 security personnel have been killed in the unrest.

Foreign journalists are not being allowed into the country, and the exact picture of what is happening remains unclear.

International community

In a statement released on Saturday, Mr Hague said he was "extremely concerned by ongoing violence and repression."

Continue reading the main story

I welcome the EU's decision to accelerate work on targeted measures against those responsible”

End Quote William Hague Foreign Secretary "There are credible reports that over 500 people have been killed in recent weeks," he said.

"The Syrian government has failed to heed repeated calls by the international community for restraint. As I have stressed it is vital to respond with reform not repression."

On Friday, the UN Human Rights Council condemned the violence, in a US-led resolution by 26 votes to nine with seven abstentions.

The council, based in Geneva, said it would ask the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to dispatch a mission to investigate "all alleged violations of international human rights law and to establish the facts and circumstances of such violations and of the crimes perpetrated".

Nations demanded that President Assad's government stops the violence, releases political prisoners and lifts restrictions on the media and access to the internet.

Mr Hague welcomed the UN resolution and also the European Union's decision to launch an arms embargo against Syria and to review all EU co-operation with the country.

"We will continue to work with our partners to ensure that those responsible for the violence are held personally to account," he added.

"In this context, I welcome the EU's decision last night to accelerate work on targeted measures against those responsible. The United Kingdom will again be in the forefront of pushing for such measures."

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Protesters defy Syria crackdown

29 April 2011 Last updated at 14:28 Anti-government protests in Syria have grown over the past six weeks Renewed anti-government protests have broken out in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and in cities around the country, reports say.

Large numbers of armed troops and security forces were said to be on the streets of Damascus to quell protests, with tear gas used as prayers ended.

Rallies were reported in Homs, in the north and in coastal cities.

Activists had called for a "day of rage" and solidarity with victims of a recent crackdown in the city of Deraa.

A resident of Deraa, where protests have been strongest, told the BBC two people had been killed there on Friday, but this could not be independently confirmed.

The city has endured days without power and is reported to be "locked down".

In Deraa, troops were said to have fired in the air and were intimidating residents to stay indoors.

"They will open fire if you leave your house," one resident told Reuters news agency.

Syrian state media said four soldiers had been killed and two others captured in a "terrorist" attack on their post in Deraa on Friday. The report cannot be verified.

Activists and human rights groups say the recent crackdown on anti-government dissent has left some 500 people dead.

There has been growing international criticism of the response to protests against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

'Chant for freedom'

EU officials are meeting in Brussels on Friday to discuss sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad's regime, while the UN Human Rights Council is holding an emergency meeting in Geneva on Syria.

Continue reading the main story Jim Muir BBC News, Beirut

The situation in Deraa is clearly becoming increasingly desperate. Around 120,000 people are trapped there.

Since Monday, they've been isolated by thousands of government troops and dozens of tanks. Water, electricity and phones have been cut off all that time. There are no medicines, and no access to medical facilities.

Demonstrations and shootings are reported from other parts of the country, with some Syrians even fleeing into Lebanon on foot to get away.

As has become typical during months of protests in a number of Middle East countries, Friday was billed as a "day of rage" in Syria.

Protests flared in several Damascus suburbs, including Daraya, and tear gas was used as crowds left the Zein al-Bedin mosque in the capital's Median area, according to reports.

Unverified video posted online showed people marching in the city of Homs.

There were also reports of protests in the Kurdish city of Qamishli in Syria's north, and in the coastal towns of Latakia and Baniyas, which have seen regular marches in recent weeks.

The BBC's Jim Muir, in Lebanon, said two people were reportedly wounded in Latakia.

But the impression was the government was trying to avoid major bloodshed as the UN rights body held its meeting.

Ahead of the protests, a notice on the Facebook page Syrian Revolution 2011 called for a "Friday of Anger".

"To the youths of the revolution, tomorrow we will be in all the places, in all the streets," it said.

"We will gather at the besieged towns, including with our brothers in Deraa."

Protests were backed this week by the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist organisation crushed by President Assad's father in the 1980s and banned ever since.

"Do not let the regime besiege your compatriots," said the statement, thought to be the first direct appeal by the group.

"Chant with one voice for freedom and dignity. Do not allow the tyrant to enslave you."

'Corpse clubbed'

In Deraa, at least 50 people are reported to have been shot dead in recent days.

Some bodies are still in the streets as snipers are said to be targeting anyone who tries to retrieve the dead.

Unverifiable video footage posted on the internet showed security forces clubbing a dead body in the street before dragging it away.

Witnesses said water, communications and power had been cut off.

Deraa is the southern city in which political protests began in Syria six weeks ago.

A military crackdown was launched there on Monday, with security forces backed by tanks forcing their way into the centre of the city.

Syrian authorities say they are acting to restore security.

Foreign journalists have been banned from Syria and reports from inside the country are difficult to verify.

There are unconfirmed reports of divisions within the security forces and of soldiers refusing orders to fire on protesters.

On Wednesday, 200 members of Syria's ruling Baath party resigned after issuing an angry public statement denouncing the repression.

The resignations - mostly from around Deraa - follow those of 30 Baath officials from the coastal city of Baniyas, north-west of Damascus.

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Syria state of emergency 'to end'

16 April 2011 Last updated at 16:48 GMT Bashar al-Assad said he thought the law would be lifted within a week

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says he expects a state of emergency to be lifted next week, after weeks of anti-government protests.

He made the comments in a televised speech to his newly formed cabinet.

The lifting of the 48-year-old emergency law has been a key demand of the protesters.

On Friday, tens of thousands of demonstrators rallied in the capital, Damascus, in one of the biggest turnouts since protests began.

While he repeated his view that his country was facing a conspiracy, Mr Assad said he did not believe the lifting of the state of emergency would destabilise Syria.

The Syrian leader told the cabinet a legal commission asked to examine the lifting of the law had come to its conclusions.

"I think the commission has finished its work, on Thursday, and the recommendations will be given to the government so that they become law immediately. I don't know how many days it will take you and I think that the maximum deadline for the lifting of the state of emergency will be next week," he said.

The law bans public gatherings of more than five people.

Continue reading the main story Owen Bennett Jones BBC News, Beirut

This is new language, but it's only language at this point. It sounds like the emergency law will be lifted - that's a very clear commitment President Assad has made - but it has taken quite a long time to get here.

So when you think of much more far-reaching measures, like multi-party democracy - which, as he said, would completely transform the political situation in Syria - then surely that is going to be a much more difficult pill for the regime to swallow.

And you would imagine that while he is asking the government to study the proposal, it is the sort of thing that would be extremely difficult for them to do.

The question now is whether the protesters think they've achieved something by getting rid of the emergency law and head home, or whether they see that their time on the streets has forced this change from the government, and decide to stay on the streets to get more.

New security legislation would be introduced in place of the emergency law, he said, adding that the new government should also study ideas for a multi-party system and greater press freedom.

The question now is whether the measures will be enough to persuade the demonstrators to go back to their homes, says the BBC's Owen Bennett Jones in neighbouring Lebanon, or whether they will simply encourage more protests in the hope of securing more reforms.

Batons and tear gas

Friday's protests in Damascus and other cities were among the largest in a month of unrest that has reportedly seen some 200 people killed.

The unrest is the biggest challenge to the rule of Mr Assad, who inherited power from his father in 2000.

Security forces used tear gas and batons to disperse tens of thousands of protesters - some calling for reform, others calling demanding the overthrow of Mr Assad - in Damascus.

Thousands of people reportedly demonstrated in a number of other Syrian cities - including Deraa, Latakia, Baniyas and Qamishli - where violence has been previously reported.

Mr Assad formed a new government on Thursday and pronounced amnesty for an undisclosed number of people detained in the last month.

He has also sacked some local officials and granted Syrian citizenship to thousands of the country's Kurdish minority - satisfying a long-held demand.

The United Nations and a number of Western governments have decried President Assad's use of force to try to quash the protests.

Human rights campaigners say hundreds of people across Syria have been arrested, including opposition figures, bloggers and activists.

Mr Assad blames the violence in recent weeks on armed gangs rather than reform-seekers and has vowed to put down further unrest.

US officials have said Iran is helping Syria to crack down on the protests, a charge both Tehran and Damascus have denied.

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