US and Britain increase pressure on Syria

The US closed its Syrian embassy and Britain recalled its ambassador to Damascus in a dramatic escalation of Western pressure on President Bashar Assad to give up power, just days after diplomatic efforts at the United Nations to end the crisis collapsed.

The US evacuated all its diplomats from the country as Syrian forces intensified a shelling assault on the restive city of Homs. The offensive began on Saturday, the same day that Russia and China vetoed a Western and Arab-backed resolution aimed at trying to end the brutal crackdown on dissenters.

“We have been relentless in sending a message that it is time for Assad to go,” US President Barack Obama said last night. “This is not going to be a matter of if, it’s going to be a matter of when.”

British foreign secretary William Hague told lawmakers that Britain is using multiple channels to express its “abhorrence” at the violent crackdown, and has summoned Syria’s ambassador to the Foreign Office to convey that message.

“This is a doomed regime as well as a murdering regime,” Hague said. “There is no way it can recover its credibility internationally.”

The onslaught on Homs has reinforced opposition fears that Assad will unleash even greater violence to crush dissent, now that protection from China and Russia against any UN- sanctioned action appears assured.

Already, more than 5,400 people have been killed since the Arab Spring-inspired uprising began in March, according to the UN

The decision to close the embassy is the most dramatic US move so far after 11 months of a violent crackdown by Assad’s regime.

The US vowed to step up pressure on Assad to quit, but ruled out military intervention. Obama said a negotiated solution in Syria is possible and it should not be resolved by foreign military intervention.

The State Department warned last month it would close the embassy unless Assad’s government stepped up its protection. It cited concerns about the safety of personnel and recent car bombs.

In Homs, shells slammed into a makeshift medical clinic and residential areas, killing at least 50 people in the third day of a new offensive on Homs, activists said. Another 10 people were reported killed elsewhere.

In Cairo, Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby said he was “extremely alarmed and concerned” at the use of heavy weapons by regime forces. The League has been an important diplomatic force trying to stem the bloodshed, and its proposal for a transition to democracy in Syria was the basis for the UN Security Council resolution that Russia and China blocked in a vote on Saturday.

The government denied shelling Homs, however, and said “armed terrorist groups” were attacking civilians and police in several neighbourhoods.

The state-run news agency also said gunmen killed three soldiers and captured others at a checkpoint in the Jabal al-Zawiyah region of Idlib province, which borders Turkey.

Syria has blocked access to trouble spots in the country and prevented independent reporting, rendering it almost impossible to verify accounts from either side as the conflict spirals out of control and turns increasingly violent.

Homs, which many refer to as “the capital of the Syrian revolution,” has become a flashpoint of the almost 11-month-old uprising against Assad. Several neighbourhoods in the city are under the control of rebels.

UN ambassador Susan Rice says China and Russia are running the risk of suffering the same sort of international isolation as Assad because of their veto.

Moscow and Beijing “will come to regret” their votes, Rice said. Hague warned both countries would “have blood on their hands.”