Western and Arab nations were set to demand yesterday that Syria allow aid to be delivered to desperate civilians in the absence of any international resolve to intervene to end a crackdown on a near year-old revolt against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Foreign ministers from more than 50 countries were in Tunis for the first meeting of the “Friends of Syria” group, against the backdrop of a surge in government attacks on the city of Homs and mounting world outrage over violence that has claimed thousands of lives during the uprising.
In Homs, Syrian government artillery fire killed five people in the city’s Baba Amro district, opposition activists said, as the bombardment of opposition-held neighborhoods entered its third week yesterday.
Photo: Reuters
“Baba Amro is being hit with 122mm artillery directed at it from surrounding villages. A father and his 14-year-old son were among those killed. They were trying to flee the shelling when shrapnel hit them in the street,” Mohammad al-Homsi said.
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has warned that Syria’s opposition would ultimately arm itself and go on the offensive if diplomacy failed, but with moves for tough action in the UN Security Council stymied by Russian and Chinese vetoes, and a lack of appetite for military action to end al-Assad’s crackdown, delegates in Tunis had limited options.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said: “It is very important that the first contact group is taking place today, because it sends a message to the Syrian people that we support them in their struggle for freedom.”
An updated draft declaration from the meeting called on Syria to “immediately cease all violence” to allow the UN access to Homs and to let agencies deliver aid to civilians affected by the violence.
The “Friends of Syria” pledged, in the latest version of the draft, to deliver humanitarian supplies within 48 hours if Syria’s government “stopped its assault on civilian areas and permitted access.”
In a sign the international community is seeking ways around the Security Council deadlock, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he would dispatch former UN chief Kofi Annan to Syria as a joint UN-Arab League envoy.
The draft communique did not mention any foreign military intervention along the lines of the NATO bombing campaign that helped force out former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi.
Instead, it called for further diplomatic pressure on al-Assad to step down and endorsed an Arab League plan that sees him handing power to a deputy as a prelude to elections.
Western diplomats said it had not yet been possible to recover the bodies of Marie Colvin, an American working for British newspaper the Sunday Times, and French photographer Remi Ochlik.
Two journalists wounded in the same attack were also awaiting evacuation from Homs, where activists say the army is blocking medical supplies and electricity is cut off for 15 hours a day.
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
TRUST: The KMT said it respected the US’ timing and considerations, and hoped it would continue to honor its commitments to helping Taiwan bolster its defenses and deterrence US President Donald Trump is delaying a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan to ensure his visit to Beijing is successful, a New York Times report said. The weapons sales package has stalled in the US Department of State, the report said, citing US officials it did not identify. The White House has told agencies not to push forward ahead of Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), it said. The two last month held a phone call to discuss trade and geopolitical flashpoints ahead of the summit. Xi raised the Taiwan issue and urged the US to handle arms sales to
BIG SPENDERS: Foreign investors bought the most Taiwan equities since 2005, signaling confidence that an AI boom would continue to benefit chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) market capitalization swelled to US$2 trillion for the first time following a 4.25 percent rally in its American depositary receipts (ADR) overnight, putting the world’s biggest contract chipmaker sixth on the list of the world’s biggest companies by market capitalization, just behind Amazon.com Inc. The site CompaniesMarketcap.com ranked TSMC ahead of Saudi Aramco and Meta Platforms Inc. The Taiwanese company’s ADRs on Tuesday surged to US$385.75 on the New York Stock Exchange, as strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications led to chip supply constraints and boost revenue growth to record-breaking levels. Each TSMC ADR represents
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
RSS