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By Flavia Krause-Jackson and Bill Varner
Aug. 1 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. and European allies today are seeking to resuscitate efforts at the United Nations to pressure Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to halt the bloodiest crackdown yet on anti-government protesters.
In response to a German call, the UN Security Council will meet today at 5 p.m. in New York to discuss the escalating violence in Syria, where security forces killed more than 150 people over the last two days. China, Russia, Brazil, South Africa and India -- which has taken over the council’s rotating monthly presidency -- have blocked adoption of a draft resolution first circulated on May 25.
The attack on Hama, accounting for the bulk of the deaths, is among the most vicious episodes in the uprising that began more than four months ago and was unleashed at the start of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. The Security Council must urgently respond to the ongoing crackdown by referring the situation to the International Criminal Court, Amnesty International said today in a statement.
“I would like to see a UN Security Council resolution to condemn this violence,” U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague told BBC Radio 4. Still, getting the UN’s decision-making body to act will be “difficult work,” he said.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said that “in these horrifying circumstances, France hopes more than ever that the United Nations Security Council will shoulder its responsibilities by speaking out loud and clear, as the United Nations secretary-general has done several times.”
President Barack Obama, in a strongly phrased criticism of Assad, said yesterday that the U.S. will “increase our pressure on the Syrian regime, and work with others around the world to isolate the Assad government.”
Russia Toughens Stance
In a sign of that Russian opposition to some form of UN action may be thawing, the Foreign Ministry in Moscow put out its toughest statement yet on Syria, saying the use of force against civilians and government representatives is “unacceptable” and “should be stopped.” Officials in Moscow have been reluctant to speak on what they see as a domestic matter.
“There is no real change in the Russian position on Syria, but this statement serves as a kind of insurance policy for Moscow to take further steps at the UN,” Fyodor Lukyanov, an analyst at the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy in Moscow, said by telephone.
Ramadan
Government forces resumed their assault on Hama today on the first day of Ramadan, shelling it early this morning and destroying four buildings, while also attacking the eastern city of Deir al-Zour and the town of Bukamal, Mahmoud Merhi, head of the Damascus-based Arab Organization for Human Rights, said by telephone.
At least 10 people were killed today, Merhi said, while Syrian state television said yesterday that an army colonel and two other soldiers were killed by armed men in Deir al-Zour.
The latest assault came as opposition forces vowed to step up their campaign against Assad during Ramadan. Family and community groups typically gather for evening meals during the month to break their fasts and more people attend special services at mosques. That may make it easier for opposition leaders to organize daily rallies along the lines of those held for the past four months after Friday prayers.
The government “has been very frightened by Ramadan’s onset,” Joshua Landis, a Syria specialist who directs the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, said in a telephone interview. “The unfolding crackdown is going to fuel people’s anger.”
No Military Intervention
German Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer told reporters in Berlin that it remained to be seen whether the violence over the weekend will prompt reluctant partners to change their position.
“There is no prospect of a legal, morally sanctioned military intervention; therefore we have to concentrate on other ways of influencing the Assad regime and trying to help the situation in Syria,” Hague told the BBC. “It is a very frustrating situation.”
At least 2,000 protesters have been killed since the demonstrations began in mid-March, according to Merhi and Ammar Qurabi of the National Organization for Human Rights.
The unrest poses the biggest challenge to Assad’s rule since he inherited power from his father, Hafez al-Assad, 11 years ago. Assad has blamed the protests on foreign-inspired plots, while conceding that some demonstrators have legitimate demands and pledging political changes.
The European Union imposed an asset freeze and travel ban on five Syrians “responsible for and associated with repression,” Catherine Ashton, the EU’s foreign-policy chief, said in an e-mailed statement, without identifying the people.
--With assistance from Brian Parkin in Berlin, Massoud A. Derhally in Dubai, Ilya Arkhipov in Moscow, Patrick Henry in Brussels and Gregory Viscusi in Paris. Editors: Terry Atlas, Leslie Hoffecker
To contact the reporters on this story: Flavia Krause-Jackson at the United Nations at fjackson@bloomberg.net; Bill Varner at the United Nations at wvarner@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Silva at msilva34@bloomberg.net
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