Syrian forces kill 10 as agreed pullout fails to happen

SYRIAN security forces killed 10 people in Homs yesterday, activists said, and there was no sign yet of troops leaving cities under an Arab League agreement to end bloodshed after seven months of protests against President Bashar al-Assad.

Syria, under mounting pressure to halt a crackdown that the United Nations says has killed over 3,000 people, had agreed on Wednesday to an Arab League plan to pull the army out of cities, free political prisoners and hold talks with the opposition.

The authorities blame the violence on Islamist militants and armed gangs who they say have killed 1,100 soldiers and police.

Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby briefed members of the opposition National Council on the plan in Cairo.

“We did not talk with the secretary-general about a dialogue with the regime,” council member Samir Nashar was quoted by Egypt’s MENA news agency as saying after the meeting. “We discussed entering negotiations with the authorities to move from a totalitarian to a democratic system, and demanded that President Assad leaves power.”

Assad’s critics have dismissed his past offers of dialogue, with some saying bloodshed must stop first and others saying only his resignation can end the conflict.

Paris-based Burhan Ghalioun, a leading National Council member, questioned whether Syria would implement the plan.

“The regime has accepted the Arab initiative out of fear of Arab isolation, its weakness and lack of options. But its acceptance does not mean it will respect its clauses,” he wrote.

In Syria, some demonstrators celebrated the Arab League initiative, but residents and activists said troops remained in cities and security operations continued, especially in Homs. Tanks fired heavy machine guns and anti-aircraft guns in that city’s Bab Amro district, a hotbed of protests and scene of operations by the military against insurgents hiding there.

Activists said at least 10 civilians had been killed in the bombardment of Bab Amro and in violence elsewhere in Homs, a central Syrian city of one million, where army snipers were shooting from rooftops and soldiers fired from checkpoints.

“We slept late because there were overnight street rallies celebrating the Arab initiative. This morning we woke up to rain and shelling,” Samer, an activist in Bab Amro, said by phone.