In this image from a Syrian state television interview broadcast Sunday Aug 21 2011, President Bashar Assad says his security forces are making gains against a 5-month-old uprising and says his government is in no danger of falling. He repeated plans to introduce reforms to Syria, one of the most authoritarian states in the Middle East. He said a committee to study reforms would need at least six months to work. He said the situation in Syria “may seem dangerous … but in fact we are able to deal with it.” (AP Photo/ Syrian state tv via APTN)
In this image from a Syrian state television interview broadcast Sunday Aug 21 2011, President Bashar Assad says his security forces are making gains against a 5-month-old uprising and says his government is in no danger of falling. He repeated plans to introduce reforms to Syria, one of the most authoritarian states in the Middle East. He said a committee to study reforms would need at least six months to work. He said the situation in Syria “may seem dangerous … but in fact we are able to deal with it.” (AP Photo/ Syrian state tv via APTN)
A Syrian girl shouts in support of Syrian President Bashar Assad after he gave an interview on state-run TV, in Omawiyeen Square, Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Aug. 21, 2011. Assad said Sunday his regime was in no danger of collapse and warned against any foreign military intervention in his country as the regime tries to crush a 5-month-old popular uprising. (AP Photo/Muzaffar Salman)
Syrians carry national flags depicting President Bashar Assad, after Assad’s interview on state-run TV, in Omawiyeen Square, Damascus, Syria, Sunday, Aug. 21, 2011. Assad said Sunday his regime was in no danger of collapse and warned against any foreign military intervention in his country as the regime tries to crush a 5-month-old popular uprising. (AP Photo/Muzaffar Salman)
FILE – In this March 22, 2005 file photo, Syrian President Bashar Assad, left, talks to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi prior the 17th League of Arab States’ summit in Algiers. As rebels swarmed into Tripoli, Libya, late Sunday, Aug. 21, 2011, and Gadhafi’s son and one-time heir apparent Seif al-Islam was arrested, Gadhafi’s rule was all but over, even though some loyalists continued to resist. And, thousands of anti-government protesters took to the streets across Syria on Monday after a televised appearance by Assad, shouting for him to step down and chanting “Gadhafi is gone, now it’s your turn Bashar!” (AP Photo/Nabil, File)
BEIRUT (AP) ? A Syrian dissident says some members of the opposition have formed a national council with the aim of presenting a united front for the fragmented movement opposing President Bashar Assad.
Obeida al-Nahhas spoke to The Associated Press by phone from Istanbul, Turkey, where a group of regime opponents have been meeting for several days. He refused to discuss details of the council, saying they are still being worked out.
The Syrian uprising began more than five months ago. Assad’s regime has been shaken but is in no imminent danger of falling. The protest movement has been working to form a united voice, but infighting has slowed the process.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
BEIRUT (AP) ? Syrian security forces killed at least seven people in the restive central city of Homs soon after a U.N. humanitarian assessment team left the area because the security situation was deteriorating, activists said Tuesday.
Monday’s bloodshed came as the overall death toll from President Bashar Assad’s crackdown on the 5-month-old uprising in Syria reached 2,200, the United Nations said.
The U.N.’s top human rights body voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to demand that Syria end its crackdown and cooperate with an international probe into possible crimes against humanity.
The U.N. assessment team had been advised to leave Homs for security reasons when “a protest situation developed,” U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Monday in New York.
“The mission did not come under fire,” he said.
Syria has banned foreign media and severely restricted local coverage, making it nearly impossible to confirm events on the ground. Amateur videos posted by activists online showed crowds of people thronging cars with the blue U.N. flag, flashing banners that read: “We will never stop until we get our freedom.”
The protesters chanted for freedom and the downfall of the regime.
Syria granted a U.N. team permission to visit some of the centers of the protests and crackdown to assess humanitarian needs, but activists and a Western diplomat have accused the regime of trying to scrub away signs of the crackdown.
Residents and activists said it was quiet until the team left, after which troops opened fire on an anti-government protest, killing four. Gunmen also killed three others elsewhere in Homs, which has become a hotbed of dissent against Assad.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Embassy in Syria said that Ambassador Robert Ford visited the country’s south after getting permission from the Syrian foreign ministry. An official at the embassy described it as a “short and routine” trip to the village of Jassem near the southern city of Daraa. The area has been witnessing large anti-government protests.
A trip last month by the U.S. and French ambassadors to the central city of Hama to express support for protesters drew swift condemnation from the Syrian government, which said the unauthorized visits were proof that Washington was inciting violence in the Arab nation.
The Syrian foreign minister then warned both ambassadors not to travel outside the capital without permission.
The Local Coordination Committees and the London-based Observatory for Human Rights, two activist groups with a wide network of sources on the ground, reported that security forces stormed several villages in the southern and northern parts of the country, arresting scores on Tuesday.
Assad, who has tried in vain to crush the revolt, blames the unrest on Islamic extremists and thugs.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday criticized Assad for failing to halt a military crackdown on dissent despite a pledge he made to the U.N. chief by phone on Wednesday that all military and security operations would end.
“It is troubling that he has not kept his word,” the U.N. chief told reporters in New York.
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Zeina Karam can be reached on http://twitter.com/zkaram
Associated Press
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