Annan critical of Syrian regime as deadline to end clashes looms

THE SYRIAN government should fundamentally change what it was doing, United Nations and Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan has said.

Mr Annan’s remarks came as troops and armoured detachments loyal to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad continued assaults on several cities. On the day that heavy weapons were supposed to be withdrawn from urban centres, shelling continued, including on Homs and Hama, leaving at least 31 dead, according to the Syrian opposition.

Citing satellite images, a French foreign ministry spokesman endorsed that view and denounced the regime’s assurance of troop withdrawal as a “blatant lie”. The White House also saw no indication of a pullback: “Leaders of the Assad regime . . . make a lot of promises [that] overwhelmingly turn out to be empty,” said a spokesman.

Reporting by letter to the UN Security Council, Mr Annan said every effort must be made to ensure that government and opposition complied with tomorrow’s deadline to end the year-long conflict.

“The Syrian leadership should now seize the opportunity to make a fundamental change of course,” he told the 15-nation body. “It is essential that the next 48 hours bring visible signs of immediate and indisputable change in the military posture of the government forces throughout the country.”

Mr Annan added that the opposition should also cease fighting so as to “give no excuse for the government to renege on its commitments”.

Earlier, Syrian opposition spokesmen rejected government claims that troops had pulled out of population centres in some provinces in compliance with the Annan plan.

Instead, local activists said helicopter gunships overflew the north, tanks roamed the streets of Homs and Hama and arrest raids were conducted in Deraa province.

The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said gunmen killed 11 soldiers while the state news agency said an attack in the Aleppo region alone accounted for the deaths of nine members of the security forces and one civilian. It said 33 law enforcement officers were laid to rest.

The rebel Free Syrian Army and other groups have refused to observe a ceasefire until government forces pull out of population centres and halt hostilities. The Syrian National Council, an umbrella grouping of expatriate factions, said government forces killed 1,000 over the past eight days. This figure is unverified.

Under the Annan proposal troops, tanks and heavy weapons were to be withdrawn from urban centres by yesterday morning and government forces and rebels were to cease hostilities by Thursday morning.

After his tour of Syrian refugee camps, Mr Annan flew to Tehran to ask Iran’s leaders, close allies of the Syrian regime, to press Damascus to implement the plan. – (Additional reporting by Reuters and PA)