WRAPUP 4-Syria’s “friends” try to twist screw on Assad (original) (raw)

* Clinton accuses Assad of breaking ceasefire promise

* Syrian media scorn conference as ill-intentioned

* Friends of Syria to voice support for Annan mission

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis and Missy Ryan

ISTANBUL, April 1 (Reuters) – Western and Arab nations

stepped up pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on

Sunday, mistrusting his acceptance of a plan to end a year of

bloodshed, but were not expected to arm rebels or fully

recognise an opposition council.

Opening a “Friends of Syria” conference in Istanbul, Turkish

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told foreign ministers and other

officials from some 70 countries that the “legitimate demands of

the Syrian people must be met, right here, right now”.

In her prepared remarks, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary

Clinton urged members of Assad’s government to halt operations

targeting civilians, or face “serious consequences”.

She said the United States was providing communications gear

and other aid to Syria’s civilian opposition, and denounced

Assad for failing to follow through on his agreement to a peace

plan proposed by U.N.-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan.

“Nearly a week has gone by, and we have to conclude that the

regime is adding to its long list of broken promises,” she said.

The United States and its Gulf Arab allies, suspecting Assad

of playing for time, urged Annan on Saturday to set a timeline

for “next steps” if no ceasefire materialised.

A Western diplomat said the “Friends of Syria” would declare

support for Annan’s mission, but stress it cannot be open-ended.

The diplomat said their communique would promise additional

measures to protect the Syrian people, and say the U.N. Security

Council, where Russia and China have twice blocked resolutions

on Syria, should play an important role in ending the conflict.

“The wording is constructively ambiguous,” the diplomat

said.

Violence has raged unabated despite Annan’s mediation.

Opposition activists reported at least 35 people killed on

Sunday, many of them in clashes between the army and rebels in

northwestern and eastern Syria.

Syrian media derided the Istanbul meeting, which the Baath

newspaper described as “a regional and international scramble to

find ways of killing more Syrians and destroying their society

and country, to reach the broad goal of weakening Syria”.

Around 50 Assad supporters protested outside the conference

centre, waving Syrian, Russian and Chinese flags and brandishing

pictures of the Syrian leader. “Allah, Syria, Bashar, that’s it”

and “Down, down USA” they chanted, before police removed them.

ANNAN’S PLAN

Annan will brief the U.N. Security Council on Monday on his

efforts to calm a conflict in which Syrian security forces have

killed more than 9,000 people, by a U.N. estimate, while rebels

have killed 3,000 troops and police, according to Damascus.

His six-point plan demands that Assad order his military to

cease fire, withdraw troops from cities and open daily windows

for humanitarian aid, but does not require him to step down.

The rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) said on Saturday it would

stop shooting if Assad pulled heavy weaponry out of urban areas,

but Damascus said its forces must stay to maintain security.

Gulf Arab countries within the “Friends of Syria” group have

pushed for more support to be given to the FSA, formed to fight

back after months of violent repression of unarmed protesters.

But Western countries fear strident opposition from Russia

and China, which did not attend the Istanbul meeting, as well as

the prospect of being sucked into an intractable conflict.

They have slapped sanctions on Syria, but these have failed

so far to soften the government’s crackdown on its opponents.

Wary of military intervention and unsure of the credibility

of the fractious opposition Syrian National Council (SNC),

Western powers have yet to discover how to unseat Assad.

Clinton urged the Syrian opposition to translate its vision

for a democratic post-Assad era into a “political action plan to

win support among all of Syria’s communities”.

SNC leader Burhan Ghalioun pressed the “Friends of Syria” to

strengthen the rebel army and open humanitarian aid corridors.

He chided foreign powers and the Arab League for failing to

reach a political agreement against Assad. “For this reason the

Syrian regime has carried out more massacres and has been

encouraged by this, but enough is enough,” Ghalioun declared.

CAUTIOUS PLEA

In a separate statement, the SNC requested communications

and other non-lethal equipment for the FSA, and possibly arms.

“The provision of arms is not our preferred option. We know

it carries high risks of escalation into civil war but we cannot

stand back and watch our people being massacred,” it said.

At a reconciliation meeting in Istanbul last week, the SNC

agreed to become more transparent and inclusive. Critics say the

Muslim Brotherhood wields undue influence over the body, even

though it is led by Ghalioun, a secular Paris-based academic.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said France shared

Turkey’s desire for the SNC to be recognised as “the legitimate

representative body of the Syrian people”, but acknowledged a

lack of consensus among the “Friends”.

The forum was to discuss setting up a “trust fund” for the

opposition, though a Western diplomat said it was not clear if

nations would contribute without clarity on its purpose.

Western countries want any such funds to be used for

humanitarian efforts, but doubt the need for this, given that

U.N. agencies stand ready to provide relief.

The SNC wants to support the FSA’s efforts to protect

civilians, and pay recruits who defect from Assad’s forces.

Diplomats say Gulf states are ready to fund such efforts.

If Annan’s plan fails, the next steps could include a return

to the Security Council for a binding resolution, with increased

pressure on Assad’s allies Russia and China, which have endorsed

Annan’s mission, to get tough with Damascus.

If Annan signals progress, Council diplomats say work could

start on a resolution to send 200 to 250 unarmed U.N. observers

to Syria to monitor an eventual ceasefire.

In Syria, five rebels, four soldiers and a civilian were

killed in fierce clashes in the town of Quriya in Deir al-Zor,

the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Defectors also attacked an army convoy near the village of

Janoudiya in Idlib province, close to the Turkish border,

killing at least four soldiers and wounding 11, it said.

Another 21 civilians, rebels and soldiers died elsewhere,

including in the southern province of Deraa, where the uprising

erupted a year ago, and in Homs, where activists said government

forces continued to bombard parts of the city.

The British-based Observatory said 53 people, including 10

soldiers, were killed across Syria on Saturday. The state news

agency SANA said military funerals took place the same day for

20 soldiers and security men killed by “armed terrorist groups”.

Originally Published: April 1, 2012 at 1:00 AM CDT