الرئيسية
Homs residents, fighters gear for onslaught
* U.N. condemns "appalling brutality" of attack
* Makeshift hospitals overflowing with wounded
AMMAN, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Tanks amassed outside
opposition neighbourhoods in Homs on Friday as Alawite-led
forces bombarded the Syrian city for the fifth day and residents
expected a major push to subdue the centre of revolt against
President Bashar al-Assad's rule.
Assad, bolstered by Russian support, ignored appeals from
world leaders to halt the carnage.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the
"appalling brutality" of the operation to stamp out the revolt
against Assad, and Turkey's ambassador to the European Union
warned of a slide into civil war that could inflame the region.
Diplomats from Western and Arab powers, lining up meetings
that could mean some decisions soon, condemned Assad in strong
language. But having ruled out military intervention, they were
struggling to find a way to convince him to step down.
Syria's powerful ally Russia, meanwhile, said no one should
interfere in the country's affairs.
Activists in Homs said tank reinforcements sent in the past
two days raised the possibility of a major push to storm large
Sunni residential areas, where hundreds of thousands live.
Outgunned rebels loosely grouped under the Free Syrian Army
have been preparing to counter the onslaught.
A spokesman for the rebel army said it was difficult to
predict when a major attack would come but claimed Assad did not
have sufficient loyalist forces to control the city.
"Assad's forces are relying on shelling because they do not
have the numbers. We are talking about large residential areas
with a big population they would have to subdue," Major Maher
al-Naimi said from Turkey.
Naimi said the Free Syrian Army will defend the city "to the
last drop of its blood". He declined to give details of the
military balance but said that the fighting core of Assad's
force was a small proportion of his forces in Homs.
"Military defections have taken their toll. This is why we
see large numbers of 'shabbiha' (militiamen) and security police
among his forces in Homs," Naimi said.
In Homs, activist Mohammad Hassan said a brief respite in
the shelling had allowed him to leave his basement and survey
the extent of the damage.
"There isn't one street without two buildings or more that
are badly damaged from the shelling," he said by satellite
phone.
* U.N. condemns "appalling brutality" of attack
* Makeshift hospitals overflowing with wounded
AMMAN, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Tanks amassed outside
opposition neighbourhoods in Homs on Friday as Alawite-led
forces bombarded the Syrian city for the fifth day and residents
expected a major push to subdue the centre of revolt against
President Bashar al-Assad's rule.
Assad, bolstered by Russian support, ignored appeals from
world leaders to halt the carnage.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the
"appalling brutality" of the operation to stamp out the revolt
against Assad, and Turkey's ambassador to the European Union
warned of a slide into civil war that could inflame the region.
Diplomats from Western and Arab powers, lining up meetings
that could mean some decisions soon, condemned Assad in strong
language. But having ruled out military intervention, they were
struggling to find a way to convince him to step down.
Syria's powerful ally Russia, meanwhile, said no one should
interfere in the country's affairs.
Activists in Homs said tank reinforcements sent in the past
two days raised the possibility of a major push to storm large
Sunni residential areas, where hundreds of thousands live.
Outgunned rebels loosely grouped under the Free Syrian Army
have been preparing to counter the onslaught.
A spokesman for the rebel army said it was difficult to
predict when a major attack would come but claimed Assad did not
have sufficient loyalist forces to control the city.
"Assad's forces are relying on shelling because they do not
have the numbers. We are talking about large residential areas
with a big population they would have to subdue," Major Maher
al-Naimi said from Turkey.
Naimi said the Free Syrian Army will defend the city "to the
last drop of its blood". He declined to give details of the
military balance but said that the fighting core of Assad's
force was a small proportion of his forces in Homs.
"Military defections have taken their toll. This is why we
see large numbers of 'shabbiha' (militiamen) and security police
among his forces in Homs," Naimi said.
In Homs, activist Mohammad Hassan said a brief respite in
the shelling had allowed him to leave his basement and survey
the extent of the damage.
"There isn't one street without two buildings or more that
are badly damaged from the shelling," he said by satellite
phone.