Syria in favor of UN's "limited assessment"

UN Humanitarian Affairs chief Valerie Amos says the government in Damascus agreed that UN agencies should conduct "limited assessment" of the situation. According to Syrian opposition activists, 31 people were killed during the clashed in this Middle Eastern country on Friday. Syria in favor of UN's "limited assessment" Amos told a news conference in Ankara, Turkey, that the Syrian government was asked to allow unimpeded access for the delivery of humanitarian aid to the most vulnerable parts of the country, but that the authorites wanted more time to respond to this request. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people protested across Syria after traditional Friday prayers, a majority of opposition demonstrators gathering in the most populous city of Aleppo in the north, where security forces killed 19 people, reported AFP. According to opposition activists, forces loyal to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad killed 31 persons across the country today, including 10 demonstrators who died from mortar fire in Homs, the center of anti-regime protests. One activist said that the regime forces opened fire on a protest rally in the Bab Hud quarter and that a mosque in Bab Dreib was targeted, reported Reuters. Heavy artillery fire echoed again in several parts of Homs, after a few relatively quiet days during which Amos visited the town, and said that some of its parts were completely destroyed, including Baba Amr, which was under a one-month siege of the regime's forces before the rebels withdrew from it. UN and Arab League Kofi Annan is expected in Damascus on Saturday, in a bid to end the unrest in the country that has been ongoing for a year. More than 7,600 people died in clashes, said the UN. Meanwhile, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sent a message to King of Morocco Mohammed, in which he called for an end to violence in Syria and said that peaceful means for resolving the local crisis had no alternative, said the Kremlin press office. Medvedev reiterated that Russia was against outside interference, and in particular the use of force "under any pretext". Deputy Head of Russian Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, who presented the message in Rabat, said it was encouraging that Russia and Morocco coordinated their efforts on the international scene. Morocco was the country that proposed a draft resolution on Syria to the UN Security Council last month, which Russia and China vetoes, because the proposal did not exclude the possibility of foreign military intervention. "From the very beginning of the so-called Arab spring, we support the desire of countries of the Middle East and North Africa for socio-economic modernization, without pressure from outside and in strict compliance with state sovereignty," Medvedev's message reads. Russia will not agree with a UN Security Council resolution on Syria that would include the basis for the use of force against that country, deputy head of Russia's Foreign Ministery Gennady Gatilov reiterated in New York last night, where he is taking part in UN consultations on this issue. He stressed that Russia "does not agree with a resolution on Syria which contains the basis for using force" and that "ambiguities are not permitted". Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier that a solution for Syria did not require any new initiatives, as existing ones were quite sufficient, and that Russia and the Arab League agreed in principle. Lavrov will be in Cairo on March 10 and 11 for talks with counterparts from the countries of the Arab League. (Tanjug, file) Tanjug

Syria in favor of UN's "limited assessment"

Amos told a news conference in Ankara, Turkey, that the Syrian government was asked to allow unimpeded access for the delivery of humanitarian aid to the most vulnerable parts of the country, but that the authorites wanted more time to respond to this request.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people protested across Syria after traditional Friday prayers, a majority of opposition demonstrators gathering in the most populous city of Aleppo in the north, where security forces killed 19 people, reported AFP.

According to opposition activists, forces loyal to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad killed 31 persons across the country today, including 10 demonstrators who died from mortar fire in Homs, the center of anti-regime protests.

One activist said that the regime forces opened fire on a protest rally in the Bab Hud quarter and that a mosque in Bab Dreib was targeted, reported Reuters.

Heavy artillery fire echoed again in several parts of Homs, after a few relatively quiet days during which Amos visited the town, and said that some of its parts were completely destroyed, including Baba Amr, which was under a one-month siege of the regime's forces before the rebels withdrew from it.

UN and Arab League Kofi Annan is expected in Damascus on Saturday, in a bid to end the unrest in the country that has been ongoing for a year.

More than 7,600 people died in clashes, said the UN.

Meanwhile, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sent a message to King of Morocco Mohammed, in which he called for an end to violence in Syria and said that peaceful means for resolving the local crisis had no alternative, said the Kremlin press office.

Medvedev reiterated that Russia was against outside interference, and in particular the use of force "under any pretext".

Deputy Head of Russian Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, who presented the message in Rabat, said it was encouraging that Russia and Morocco coordinated their efforts on the international scene.

Morocco was the country that proposed a draft resolution on Syria to the UN Security Council last month, which Russia and China vetoes, because the proposal did not exclude the possibility of foreign military intervention.

"From the very beginning of the so-called Arab spring, we support the desire of countries of the Middle East and North Africa for socio-economic modernization, without pressure from outside and in strict compliance with state sovereignty," Medvedev's message reads.

Russia will not agree with a UN Security Council resolution on Syria that would include the basis for the use of force against that country, deputy head of Russia's Foreign Ministery Gennady Gatilov reiterated in New York last night, where he is taking part in UN consultations on this issue.

He stressed that Russia "does not agree with a resolution on Syria which contains the basis for using force" and that "ambiguities are not permitted".

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier that a solution for Syria did not require any new initiatives, as existing ones were quite sufficient, and that Russia and the Arab League agreed in principle. Lavrov will be in Cairo on March 10 and 11 for talks with counterparts from the countries of the Arab League.