...

Assad accused of "trying to wipe out Homs" as ministers meet

Arab World Materials 20 April 2012 00:24 (UTC +04:00)
French President Nicolas Sarkozy accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of trying to obliterate the opposition stronghold of Homs as foreign ministers from the Friends of Syria group met in Paris on Thursday to discuss the crisis.
Assad accused of "trying to wipe out Homs" as ministers meet

French President Nicolas Sarkozy accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of trying to obliterate the opposition stronghold of Homs as foreign ministers from the Friends of Syria group met in Paris on Thursday to discuss the crisis, dpa reported.

Speaking to Europe 1 radio, Sarkozy compared Homs with the Libyan city of Benghazi, which world powers intervened to protect last year from a threatened massacre by forces loyal to late dictator Moamer Gaddafi.

"He (Assad) wants to wipe Homs off the map like Gaddafi wanted to wipe Benghazi off the map," Sarkozy accused, repeating his calls for the establishment of humanitarian corridors, where "the opposition can exist."

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and a dozen other top diplomats from Western and Arab states were meeting to discuss how to pressure Assad into respecting a shaky UN-brokered ceasefire.

Ahead of the meeting, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe backed UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon's calls for a 300-strong observer mission to be deployed across the country.

Juppe told reporters that "between 300 and 400" observers were needed in order for the mission to be effective.

Notable absences from Thursday's meeting were Russia and China, who were invited but declined to attend, according to the French. Russia has criticized the meeting, saying it will deepen divisions between Assad's regime and the opposition.

"I regret that Russia continues to shut itself away in a vision that isolates it more and more, not only from the Arab world but the (broader) international community," Juppe said.

Tags:
Latest

Latest