DAMASCUS — Syria’s main opposition group on Wednesday urged the UN Security Council and Arab League to hold emergency meetings into “the bloody massacres” as it reported 250 people killed in the past 48 hours.
Washington warned of new international measures against Syria, and said if Damascus did not fully implement an Arab League plan to contain the violence, “the international community will take additional steps to pressure the Assad regime to stop its crackdown.”
President Bashar al-Assad’s regime accused the opposition of pushing for foreign intervention and trying to sabotage an Arab-brokered deal for observers, but ignoring calls for talks.
Reacting to reports of hundreds of civilians killed this week, the Syrian National Council (SNC) called for an “emergency UN Security Council session to discuss the regime’s massacres in Zawiyah mountain, Idlib, and Homs, in particular.”
It also appealed for an “emergency meeting for the Arab League to condemn the bloody massacres… and cooperate with the United Nations in taking the necessary measures to protect Syrian civilians.”
The SNC, a major umbrella group of factions opposed to Assad, reported “250 fallen heroes during a 48-hour period.”
It urged the Security Council to declare the cities and towns under attack “’safe zones’ that enjoy international protection; and force the regime’s forces to withdraw from said areas.”
The United Nations estimates that more than 5,000 people have been killed in the crackdown since mid-March.
A White House statement said Assad’s regime had “flagrantly violated their commitment to end violence and withdraw security forces from residential areas.
“The United States is deeply disturbed by credible reports that the Assad regime continues to indiscriminately kill scores of civilians and army defectors, while destroying homes and shops and arresting protesters without due process,” it said.
“Time and again, the Assad regime has demonstrated that it does not deserve to rule Syria. It’s time for this suffering and killing to stop.”
National Post
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