Syria defies world to keep Homs under siege
A UN statement said Mr Annan would “provide good offices aimed at bringing an end to all violence and human rights violations, and promoting a peaceful solution to the Syrian crisis.”
Syrian forces launched a massive bombardment of rebel districts of Homs, defying a world outcry over the killing of two Western journalists and a citizen reporter who were among the few to bear witness to the civilian toll.
Activists spoke of “terrifying explosions” as encircling regime troops pounded the central city for a 20th consecutive day.
The UN Human Rights Council said it had a list of Syrian officials suspected of crimes against humanity after an inquiry found that the government had “manifestly failed” in its duty to protect its own people. But a defiant foreign ministry rejected all responsibility for the deaths of veteran American reporter Marie Colvin and French photojournalist Remi Ochlik, insisting they had entered the country both illegally and at their own risk.
The bombardment of Homs centred on the Baba Amr neighbourhood, where the two journalists were killed a human rights watchdog said.
“Baba Amr, as well as parts of Inshaat, have been shelled, while mortar rounds slammed into the Khaldiyeh neighbourhood,” said the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman.
From inside the city, activist Hadi Abdullah said terrifying explosions could be heard. He said the world outcry over the deaths of the journalists and 24 Syrian civilians in Homs on Wednesday appeared to have strengthened the regime’s determination to eliminate all opposition in the city.
“The more the condemnations pile on, the heavier the bombing becomes.” He said there was evidence that the makeshift media centre where the journalists were killed and two others wounded was deliberately targeted by regime forces.
The Syrian government made no denial that its forces had fired the lethal rounds but said that the journalists had been in the country at their own risk.
The ministry urged journalists to “respect laws of journalistic work in Syria and avoid breaking the law by entering the country illegally to reach trouble-hit areas that are unsafe”.
French newspaper Le Figaro said one of its reporters, Edith Bouvier, was wounded in the legs in the shelling of the press centre.
Rupert Murdoch, who owns The Sunday Times for which Colvin worked, said one of the paper’s photojournalists, Paul Conroy, was also injured. Syrian citizen journalist Rami al-Sayyed, who provided live footage online from Baba Amr, was also killed late on Tuesday when a rocket hit a car in which he was travelling.
Washington accused Damascus of “shameless brutality” in its bombardment of the press centre while Paris held the regime responsible.
On the eve of today’s international conference in Tunis, dubbed the “Friends of Syria”, which is to gather Western and Arab governments, a UN probe delivered a report on the regime’s human rights record.
“The human rights situation in the Syrian Arab Republic has deteriorated significantly since November 2011, causing further suffering to the Syrian people,” wrote the commission of inquiry after conducting 136 new interviews.
The UN Human Rights Council said it had a list of political leaders and military officers suspected of “crimes against humanity”.
It said investigators had left a sealed list of senior figures with the UN human rights commissioner.
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