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24Feb12
West to send aid to Syria in 48 hours if assault stops
According to an updated draft declaration obtained by Reuters they will also call on Damascus "immediately to cease all violence" and pledges to deliver humanitarian supplies within 48 hours if Syria "stopped its assault on civilian areas and permitted access".
The meeting in Tunisia, the country where the Arab Spring erupted more than a year ago, brings together foreign ministers from more than 50 countries in the first gathering of the "Friends of Syria" after almost a year of protests against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad.
The group includes the United States, European Union countries and Arab and Muslim nations. Russia and China, which have both vetoed measures against Damascus at the United Nations, are not attending.
Activists say the army is blocking medical supplies to parts of Homs, where hospitals, schools, shops and government offices are closed. The International Committee of the Red Cross has been trying to get the government and rebel forces to agree daily two-hour ceasefires.
A senior diplomat denied that provision of military supplies had begun or was even being discussed between the Western powers. "There are lots of people saying that the Qataris and Saudis are talking about it, but I'm not even aware of that", the diplomat said.
"Western powers still considered a military solution was 'going to take a long time and a high cost', and that attempts to bring it to an end through pressure on the regime, including from Russia, were still the best hope", he added.
In the absence of plans for military intervention, ministers are likely to focus on humanitarian support, but the draft statement also commits countries to enforce sanctions aimed at pressuring Syrian authorities to halt the violence.
Those measures include travel bans, asset freezes, halting purchase of Syrian oil, ceasing investment and financial services relating to Syria, reducing diplomatic ties and preventing arms shipments to the government.
The draft praises the main opposition Syrian National Council (SNC), which will be present in Tunis, but falls short of a full endorsement, recognising it as "a legitimate representative of Syrians seeking peaceful democratic change".
In a pointed reference to the divisions between the SNC's mainly exile figures and the grassroots activists driving the protests against Assad, it commends the "courage and determination of Syrians on the ground, who are the vanguard of the Syrian people seeking freedom and dignity".
"The group agreed to increase it engagement with and practical support for the Syrian opposition," the statement said, without specifying what that support might entail.
The updated draft, which a diplomat said may still be altered, dropped an earlier passage which encouraged the Arab League to resume a much criticised monitoring mission suspended in January after violence escalated in Syria.
The latest version simply "noted" the Arab League's request to the United Nations Security Council to issue a resolution to form a joint Arab-U.N. peacekeeping force following a cessation of violation by the regime as outlined above".
United Nations investigators earlier accused the Syrian regime of crimes against humanity, indicating President Bashar al-Assad himself should face prosecution.
A commission of inquiry answering to the UN Human Rights Council said it had compiled a confidential list of those "up to the highest levels" who had ordered the shooting dead of unarmed women and children, shelling of residential areas and torturing of wounded protesters in hospital.
It released its findings on Thursday as Western and Arab League diplomats and Syrian opposition figures gathered in Tunis to hammer out proposals to put pressure on President Bashar al-Assad to quit.
Kofi Annan, the former UN chief and Nobel Peace Prize winner, was appointed joint envoy for the talks.
One option reportedly under consideration by the "Friends of Syria" was presenting a 72-hour ultimatum to Mr Assad that diplomats said would include as yet unspecified punitive measures, likely to include toughened sanctions.
According to a leaked draft declaration, the meeting will call on Syria to implement an immediate ceasefire to allow aid groups to deliver relief supplies to areas worst hit by the violence.
It also "recognised the Syrian National Council as a legitimate representative of Syrians seeking peaceful democratic change", a phrase which appeared to fall short of full endorsement of the most prominent group opposed to Mr Assad.
Tunisia's presidential spokesman meanwhile said the host country would propose a political solution to the crisis involving a peacekeeping force.
Adnan Mancer, a presidential spokesman, said Tunisia would propose to the "Friends of Syria" conference for a Yemen-style transition, where the president stepped down.
He said Tunisia was ready to take part in the peacekeeping force to back "a political solution because we totally oppose a foreign military intervention."
Urgent discussions on precisely what challenge to present to Damascus continued throughout the day on the sidelines of the London Conference on Somalia between William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, and officials from about a dozen of the more than 70 nations and international organizations expected at the Tunis meeting.
Although more than 7,000 people are believed to have been killed since the uprising against Mr Assad 11 months ago, Britain and the US continue to insist that military intervention is not on the agenda, despite the pleas of Syrian opposition exiles.
Mr Hague said he would be arguing for more specific measures to be taken, without providing details, adding to speculation that the provison of arms or logistical assistance to the rebels was beginning to be discussed.
"I think part of that has to be tightening a diplomatic and economic stranglehold on the Assad regime," Mr Hague told the BBC.
At least 52 people were killed yesterday in Syria, the youngest being a four-year-old girl. Tanks were seen advancing into Baba Amr, the district where Marie Colvin, the Sunday Times journalist, and Remi Ochlik, a French photographer, were killed on Wednesday, signalling the possible beginning of a ground offensive to reclaim the district from the lightly-armed rebels holding it.
[Source: The Telegraph, London, 24Feb12]
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