Western and Arab nations stepped up pressure on Syrian president Bashar al-Assad today, doubting his acceptance of a plan to end a year of bloodshed.
Opening a "Friends of Syria" conference in Istanbul, Turkish prime minister Tayyip Erdogan told foreign ministers and other officials from some 70 countries that the "legitimate demands of the Syrian people must be met, right here, right now".
In her prepared remarks, US secretary of state Hillary Clinton urged members of Dr Assad's government to halt operations targeting civilians, or face "serious consequences".
She said the US was providing communications gear and other aid to Syria's civilian opposition, and denounced Assad for failing to follow through on his agreement to a peace plan proposed by UN-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan.
"Nearly a week has gone by, and we have to conclude that the regime is adding to its long list of broken promises," she said.
The United States and its Gulf Arab allies, suspecting Dr Assad of playing for time, urged Mr Annan to set a timeline for "next steps" if no ceasefire materialised.
A Western diplomat said the "Friends of Syria" would declare support for Mr Annan's mission, but stress it cannot be open-ended.
The diplomat said their communique would promise additional measures to protect the Syrian people, and say the UN Security Council, where Russia and China have twice blocked resolutions on Syria, should play an important role in ending the conflict.
"The wording is constructively ambiguous," the diplomat said.
Violence has raged unabated despite Mr Annan's mediation. Opposition activists reported at least 35 people killed today, many of them in clashes between the army and rebels in northwestern and eastern Syria.
Syrian media derided the Istanbul meeting, which the Baath newspaper described as "a regional and international scramble to find ways of killing more Syrians and destroying their society and country, to reach the broad goal of weakening Syria".
Around 50 of Dr Assad’s supporters protested outside the conference centre, waving Syrian, Russian and Chinese flags and brandishing pictures of the Syrian leader. "Allah, Syria, Bashar, that's it" and "Down, down USA" they chanted, before police removed them.
Mr Annan will brief the UN Security Council tomorrow on his efforts to calm a conflict in which Syrian security forces have killed more than 9,000 people, by a UN estimate, while rebels have killed 3,000 troops and police, according to Damascus.
His six-point plan demands that Dr Assad order his military to cease fire, withdraw troops from cities and open daily windows for humanitarian aid, but does not require him to step down.
The rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) said it would stop shooting if Dr Assad pulled heavy weaponry out of urban areas, but Damascus said its forces must stay to maintain security.
Gulf Arab countries within the "Friends of Syria" group have pushed for more support to be given to the FSA, formed to fight back after months of violent repression of unarmed protesters.
But Western countries fear strident opposition from Russia and China, which did not attend the Istanbul meeting, as well as the prospect of being sucked into an intractable conflict.
They have slapped sanctions on Syria, but these have failed so far to soften the government's crackdown on its opponents.
Reuters