Syria on the agenda at Istanbul conference

Dozens of countries today sought to set conditions for a new Syria, pushing for tighter sanctions and diplomatic pressure to further isolate president Bashar Assad, while urging the opposition to offer a democratic alternative to his regime.

Yet the show of solidarity at the “Friends of the Syrian People” conference in the Turkish capital Istanbul was marred by the absence of China, Russia and Iran – key supporters of Assad who disagree with Western and Arab allies over how to stop the bloodshed.

A peace plan by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan has so far failed to take hold amid fresh reports of deadly violence.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was among those attending the one-day meeting, which followed an inaugural forum in Tunisia in February.

Syrian opposition figures, including the Syrian National Council, also attended, attempting to convince international sponsors that they can overcome their differences and shape the future of a country whose autocratic regime has long denied the free exchange of ideas.

The delivery of humanitarian aid to Syria’s beleaguered civilians, a key provision of Annan’s plan, was also discussed.

But a solution did not appear imminent without the co-operation of the Syrian government, whose military assaults on towns and cities have forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes. Syrian rebels, including army defectors, are fighting regime forces, but have been unable to consolidate their hold on territory because they are heavily outgunned.

Tens of thousands of Syrian refugees have fled to neighbouring Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan, and Turkey has floated the idea of establishing a buffer zone inside Syria if the flow of displaced people on to its territory becomes overwhelming. There are concerns that foreign intervention, even if it has a humanitarian goal, could widen the conflict by dragging in other countries and triggering a surge in sectarian tensions.

Some Gulf countries want to arm the Syrian rebels, though there is uncertainty about the composition of rebel groups and their lack of cohesion. The United States says allies are considering the provision of non-lethal aid to opposition forces, but says military force against the Syrian government is a last resort.

The group meeting in Istanbul aims to create a sanctions working group that will share information on who is shipping arms and money to Assad, thereby avoiding harsh sanctions aimed at forcing his regime to stop its crackdown. The United Nations estimates more than 9,000 people have been killed since the uprising to oust Assad began a year ago.

There is also a move to document the killing in Syria, collecting witness records that can be used to bring perpetrators of human rights abuses to account in a post-Assad era, whether inside Syria or through international courts.

The Syrian regime attacked today’s gathering in Istanbul before it even got under way.

A front-page editorial in the official Al-Baath newspaper called the conference a “regional and international scramble to search for ways to kill more Syrians, sabotage their society and state and move toward the broad objective of weakening Syria”.

Damascus has consistently dismissed the country’s uprising as a foreign-engineered plot.

Mr Annan is pushing to end the violence with a six-point plan that calls on the government to immediately pull its forces out of cities and towns and abide by a two-hour halt in fighting every day to allow humanitarian access and medical evacuations.

The plans also calls for a more comprehensive ceasefire so all sides can talk about a political solution.

Syria has said it agrees to the plan but has dismissed what it actually requires Damascus to do.

Foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdessi said the government would not withdraw its force from towns and cities engulfed by unrest before life returns to normal there.

Leaders of Syria’s scattered opposition have also rejected dialogue with the regime, accusing it of stalling for time and saying it has killed too many people to be considered serious about peace.

Activists said violence continued inside the country today.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said rebels killed four government soldiers in an attack on their convoy in the northern Idlib province.

Activists also reported government shelling in the central city of Homs and clashes outside of Damascus.