Syrian forces pressed their military offensive in the northern province of Idlib, driving 1,000 refugees across the Turkish border as the bloody revolt against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad entered a second year with no sign of political solution.
Forty-five civilians were killed in the frontier province, including 23 whose bodies were found with their hands tied behind their backs, as well as five army deserters, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.
The bloodshed and continued flow of refugees prompted Turkey to suggest it might support a “buffer zone” inside Syria, a move likely to enrage Damascus.
Four members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) announced the closures of their embassies in Syria in protest against the crackdown, the Saudi Press Agency said, quoting a statement by GCC Secretary-General Abdullatif al-Zayani.
Kuwait, Oman, United Arab Emirates and Qatar were to close their embassies, after Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, the other two council members, announced embassy closures on Wednesday.
In an orchestrated show of support for al-Assad, huge crowds took to the streets of Syria’s cities on Thursday, the first anniversary of unrest which started as largely peaceful protests against four decades of iron rule by the al-Assad family.
Opposition activists said pro-al-Assad forces shot at crowds in various locations when they tried to protest against the 46-year-old leader, but residents reported that demonstrators did gather in the smart Shaalan District of Damascus to voice their anger.
UN-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan was scheduled to brief the UN Security Council yesterday about his talks in Damascus and proposals to end the violence.
“The door of dialogue is still open. We are still engaged with Syrian authorities over Mr Annan’s proposals,” Annan’s spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said in Geneva. “He has been in telephone contact with the Syrian foreign minister during the course of the day ... as well as with international actors, member states with influence.”
Western diplomats expressed pessimism in private over Annan’s chances of success.
Syria said on Wednesday that it had given a “positive” response to Annan’s approach. A Middle Eastern diplomat characterized the reply from Damascus as “not a ‘No.’” However, a senior Western diplomat in the region said Damascus had spurned Annan’s ideas.
Official media announced government forces had cleared “armed terrorists” from the city of Idlib, suggesting the army was gaining ground against the uprising, which has resulted in the death of at least 8,000 people and crippled the economy.
UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos said Syria had agreed to a joint mission to assess the humanitarian needs of various cities and towns this weekend, but she indicated this was not enough.
“I repeat my calls to the government of Syria to allow humanitarian organizations unhindered access, so they can help people in need, in a neutral and impartial manner,” she said.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia