Govt committee to debate Syria crackdown

A government committee is to hold an emergency debate on Syria in Dublin today.

President Bashar Al Assad is coming under increasing international pressure to step down, and stop the violent repression of anti-government protests in his country.

Last night a Western diplomat said concessions - reported to have been made by the Syrian President during a meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister in Damascus - "appeared to be window dressing".

Russia was one of two countries to veto UN plans to intervene in Syria, the other being China.

The Government's Foreign Affairs Committee has called an emergency debate on the crisis, to be held today.

The committee is also due to discuss Ireland's bid to joing the United Nation's Human Rights Council.

Fine Gael TD for Clare Pat Breen, who is chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, said: "Our application to join the Human Rights Council in Geneva is very important. We have a long tradition of promoting human rights. That's the cornerstone of the solution (in Syria)."