Violence resumes in Syria as unrest tops agenda at U.S. presidential debate
Shelling has resumed in the flashpoint Syrian city of Homs early Thursday after a night of intense shelling across the country pushed the issue to top the agenda at the United States presidential debate on Wednesday.
The deaths of 11 people, including an eight-year-old child, have been reported by Local Coordinating Committees after security forces shelled the northeastern city of Deir al-Zour and the town of Meng in Aleppo early morning Thursday.
Speaking at the U.S. presidential CNN debate on Wednesday night, Republican candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich lent their support to the idea of arming the Syrian opposition in its fight to oust the embattled Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
Gingrich said that U.S. allies − which he did not name − were covertly helping destroy the Assad regime, and that there were weapons available in the region to arm the opposition.
“There are plenty of Arab-speaking groups that would be quite happy. There are lots of weapons available in the Middle East,” he said, taking a swipe at the Obama administration’s policy on Syria.
The United States and its allies hope that a conference in Tunis this week will allow them to begin drawing up a plan for Syria after Russia and China vetoed a Western-backed Arab League peace plan at the U.N. Security Council.
The bombardment on Thursday came a day after heavy shelling of Baba Amro, under siege since Feb. 4, killing at least 92 people in assaults on villages and an artillery barrage on the restive city of Homs, including two Western journalists.
The neighborhood of “Baba Amro, as well as parts of Inshaat have been shelled since 07:00 am (0500 GMT), while mortar rounds slammed into the Khaldiyeh neighborhood,” the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, told AFP.
“We hear terrifying explosions,” said activist Hadi Abdullah.
Abdullah, a member of the General Commission of the Syrian Revolution, said that the international outcry over Wednesday’s deaths appeared only to have strengthened the regime’s determination to eliminate all opposition in the city -- Syria’s third largest.
“The more the condemnations pile on, the heavier the bombing becomes,” he told AFP.
Meanwhile, at least 60 bodies, victims of earlier Syrian security force shelling during the unrest, were found in Baba Amro on Wednesday, according to Al Arabiya TV.
The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama opened the door slightly Tuesday to international military assistance for Syria’s rebels, with officials saying new tactics may have to be explored if President Bashar Assad continues to defy pressure to halt a brutal crackdown on dissenters that has raged for 11 months and killed thousands.
The White House and State Department said they still hope for a political solution. But faced with the daily onslaught by the Assad regime against Syrian civilians, officials dropped the administration’s previous strident opposition to arming anti-regime forces. It remained unclear, though, what, if any, role the U.S. might play in providing such aid.
Syria and Iran
Gingrich said that U.S. allies − which he did not name − were covertly helping destroy the Assad regime, and that there were weapons available in the region to arm the opposition.
“There are plenty of Arab-speaking groups that would be quite happy. There are lots of weapons available in the Middle East,” he said, taking a swipe at the Obama administration’s policy on Syria.
The United States and its allies hope that a conference in Tunis this week will allow them to begin drawing up a plan for Syria after Russia and China vetoed a Western-backed Arab League peace plan at the U.N. Security Council.
Syrian government forces on Wednesday killed at least 92 people in assaults on villages and an artillery barrage on the restive city of Homs, including two Western journalists.
Meanwhile, at least 60 bodies, victims of earlier Syrian security force shelling during the unrest, were found in Baba Amro on Wednesday, according to Al Arabiya TV.
The administration of U.S. President Barack Obama opened the door slightly Tuesday to international military assistance for Syria’s rebels, with officials saying new tactics may have to be explored if Assad continues to defy pressure to halt a brutal crackdown on dissenters that has raged for 11 months and killed thousands.
The White House and State Department said they still hope for a political solution. But faced with the daily onslaught by the Assad regime against Syrian civilians, officials dropped the administration’s previous strident opposition to arming anti-regime forces. It remained unclear, though, what, if any, role the U.S. might play in providing such aid.
Syria and Iran
Meanwhile at the debate, Romney added that international support was needed to turn Syria away from Iran at a critical time when Tehran was possibly trying to develop nuclear weapons.
“Syria and Iran is an axis,” said former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, who is trying to bypass Mitt Romney to be the frontrunner in the Republican race to take on Democratic President Obama in November’s elections.
“Syria is a puppet state of Iran. They are a threat not just to Israel, but they have been a complete destabilizing force within Lebanon, which is another problem for Israel and Hezbollah,” said the Christian conservative.
Hitting out at Obama, he added: “This president obviously has a very big problem in standing up to the Iranians in any form... he’s afraid to stand up to Iran.”
Romney, struggling to fend off Santorum’s poll surge, said: “I agree with both these gentlemen... You’re seeing on the Republican platform a very strong commitment to say we’re going to say no to Iran.
“It’s unacceptable for them to have nuclear weapons. Syria is their key ally, the only ally in the Arab world, also their route to the sea. Syria provides a shadow over Lebanon.”
He added: “We have very bad news that’s come from the Middle East over the past several months, a lot of it in part because of the feckless leadership of our president.”
“One piece of good news − the key ally of Iran, Syria, has a leader that’s in real trouble,” Romney said, adding that the West should grab the opportunity to press for a change of leadership in Damascus.