Fighting, shelling reported in Syria despite cease-fire pledge

Los Angeles Times ^ | Saturday, March 31, 2012 | Raja Abdulrahim

[SunkenCiv]

Special envoy to Syria Kofi Annan says he expects Syria President Bashar Assad to implement an immediate cease-fire. But opposition groups report at least 45 people killed around the nation.

Clashes and shelling were reported across Syria on Friday, even as the former secretary-general of the United Nations said he expected an immediate cease-fire by President Bashar Assad's forces.

At least 45 people were killed nationwide in the violence, according to the Local Coordination Committees, a coalition of opposition activist groups. The killings, including 14 in the northeast city of Dair Alzour and 12 in the central city of Homs, took place amid large protests across the country by activists demanding action in the Arab world in support of their cause...

Assad had agreed to the six-point plan, endorsed by the U.N. Security Council, in a letter to Annan this week.

It calls for talks between the opposition and the government in an "inclusive Syrian-led political process," a cease-fire and troop withdrawal, humanitarian assistance in areas affected by the fighting, the release of those who have been arbitrarily detained, free access for journalists and respect for "freedom of association and the right to demonstrate peacefully."

But in Homs, activist Waleed Fares on Friday reported shells falling in the Old City every 10 to 15 minutes. "Big parts of the city are being destroyed," he said via the Skype communications system.

In Hama, Dair Alzour and the Damascus suburbs, clashes between Free Syrian Army rebels and government forces erupted within days after Assad agreed to the U.N.-backed peace plan.

[SunkenCiv]

Abdulrahim reported from Beirut. Special correspondent Rima Marrouch in Beirut contributed to this report.

This image from amateur video released Friday purportedly shows civilians moving with Syrian troops, possibly as human shields, in Idlib, Syria. The information cannot be verified. (Shaam News Network / March 30, 2012)

[SunkenCiv]

• Syria says it won't be first to lay down arms

  Syria rejected international envoy Kofi Annan's call for the regime to halt violence first just days after the government agreed to a cease-fire plan.

[U-238]

It is not going to end until the Russian and Iranian “advisors” leave.

[SunkenCiv]

It could take a year or more, depending on how much help they get. Libya took quite a while, really, even with the decisive air support by NATO, but even then the denouement was precipitous. As the Assad regime collapses, it will retreat town by town, not unlike Gaddafy’s forces did in Libya. The difference is, Assad is leveling the predominantly Sunni towns, which leaves the population with other concerns than protesting.

[U-238]

I do not think the Assad regime will collapse. As long as Assad is getting regular shipments of men and war material from Iran and Russia he is not going anywhere. Last night, China has agreed to buy Syrian oil meaning his cash supply will not dry up.

[Helvan]

Syria and Iran: Too Evil to Fail(tm).

[Flavius]

Ah yes the world has had cease fires since the apes left the caves.

[SunkenCiv]

Saudi Arabia is both loaded and motivated, and also by the 1990s had a stockpile of weapons so vast that there literally weren’t enough people in the country to use them all. Gosh, I wonder why they accumulated *those*, eh? :’)