Residents flee Syrian town fearing escalation of violence

DAMASCUS — Hundreds of residents fled the flashpoint
town of Jisr al-Shughur in northern Syria on Wednesday, fearing bloody
reprisals for the alleged killing earlier this week of 120 police and troops.

Fears that the regime of President Bashar al-Assad could be
about to exact brutal revenge for what it said was a “massacre” on
Monday by “armed terrorists” appeared to galvanize efforts at the
United Nations.

Western powers pressed the UN Security Council to demand an
end to Syria’s “brutal protest crackdown”, although the draft
resolution was said to contain no mention of tougher sanctions against either
Assad or his regime.

Syrian refugees are seen at a refugee camp in the Turkish border town of Yayladagi in Hatay province June 9, 2011. More than 2,400 people have crossed Turkey’s borders fleeing violence in northern Syria, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Thursday. REUTERS/Osman Orsal

The new resolution demands that President Bashar al-Assad
end violence against the opposition and lift the siege of protesting cities. It
also calls for an arms embargo on Syria.

Britain’s ambassador to the United Nations, Mark Lyall
Grant, said he hoped the resolution, submitted by Britain, France, Germany and
Portugal, and backed by the United States, would come to a vote “in the
coming days.”

Ahead of the opening of Security Council discussions in New
York, British Prime Minister David Cameron issued an impassioned plea in
parliament in London, putting Russia and China on notice that they should not
try to veto.

“There are credible reports of 1,000 dead and as many
as 10,000 detained, and the violence being meted out to peaceful protesters and
demonstrators is completely unacceptable,” he said.

“If anyone votes against that resolution, or tries to
veto it, that should be on their conscience.”

The United States is expected to support the resolution
which condemns the “systematic violation of human rights, including
killings, arbitrary detentions, disappearances and torture of peaceful
demonstrators”.

The increase in diplomatic pressure on Damascus came as
hundreds of Syrians fled Jisr al-Shughur in fear a day after state media talked
up the threat of a military assault by Assad’s troops on the northern town.

Several hundreds crossed the border into Turkey since then.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres,
said he was deeply worried about the large number of Syrians fleeing amid the
Assad regime’s crackdown on protesters.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said earlier on
Wednesday that Ankara would keep its door open to Syrians fleeing repression and
renewed a call on Assad to introduce democratic reforms.

Syria’s anti-government protests erupted in March and more
than 1,100 civilians, including dozens of children, have been killed in the
ensuing crackdown, human rights groups say.

Damascus blames the unrest on “armed terrorist
gangs” backed by Islamists and foreign agitators.

Syrian state television blamed the same groups on Wednesday
as it ran images of the “massacres” in Jisr al-Shughur which it said
had resulted in the deaths of 120 police and troops.

But opposition activists say the deaths resulted from a
mutiny by troops who refused orders to crack down on protesters and that
convoys of troop reinforcements were heading towards towards the town.

Patrols had already reached the nearby village of Urum
al-Joz Uram and town of Ariha, the director of the Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, said.

At UN headquarters in New York, Britain’s Lyall Grant said
the resolution had been adapted in face of strong opposition from Russia and China
ahead of the Security Council consultations.

The new draft resolution takes account of the worsening
crackdown in Syria but pointedly does not threaten sanctions as the Security
Council did with Libya earlier this year, a diplomat said on condition of
anonymity.

U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters
Washington was “trying to convince others in the council” to back the
measure.

“We believe that such a resolution will bring added
pressure on Assad’s regime and advance the international community’s efforts to
end the brutal repression on Syrian people,” Toner said.

Russia on Thursday said it opposed the UN Security Council
adopting any resolution on Syria, risking a major dispute with the West over
the response to the crackdown on Syrian protestors.

“Russia is against any resolution of the UN Security
Council on Syria and this has been stated more than once at presidential
level,” foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich told reporters.

“The situation in this country, in our opinion, does
not pose a threat to international peace and security,” he said, quoted by
Russian state media.

A country with vibrant political, economic and military ties
to both Russia and China, Syria depends heavily on the two countries for arms.

However, Syria’s economic ties are primarily with its
regional neighbours such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

But its military relationships with Russia and China are
strong – particularly with Russia, relations between the two date back to the
former Soviet Union and the current president’s father, Hafiz al-Assad. During
the three decades under Hafiz al-Assad’s rule, the Soviet Union (and later
Russia) delivered some 25 billion dollars in arms to Damascus.

This has resulted in a Syrian military laden with largely
Soviet- and Russian-legacy materiel which continues to be serviced, maintained
and refurbished by the Russians in lucrative multi-billion-dollar arms deals.

Russia is also reportedly creating a naval base at the
Syrian port of Tartus, and possibly another at Latakia.

From 2002 through 2009, Russia signed 5.8 billion dollars
worth of arms agreements with Syria, and with China worth 800 million dollars.

China’s military trade with Syria is not as voluminous as
Russia’s, but it does provide Damascus with missiles and missile technology.

Syria’s traditional arms suppliers also include China, the
Czech Republic, Ukraine and North Korea.

Expressing his country’s opposition to the resolution,
Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters, “We are not persuaded
(the resolution) can help establish dialogue and reach a political
settlement.”

“We’re concerned it will have the opposite
effect,” he said.

The resolution, which has been “watered down” to
avoid vetoes from Russia and China, is sponsored by Britain and co-sponsored by
France, Germany and Portugal.

Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday sternly
warned Russia and China against blocking the resolution: “If anyone votes
against that resolution, or tries to veto it, that should be on their
conscience,” he said.

But Lukashevich insisted the situation in Syria was
“best dealt with by the Syrians themselves” and that even discussing
the resolution at the Security Council could be dangerous.

“The discussion of an anti-Syrian resolution at the
Security Council could lead to an even greater escalation of domestic
tensions,” he said.

The spokesman acknowledged that the situation in Syria
remained tense, but appeared to blame this on actions by extremists rather than
the regime itself.

“We need to give time for the realization of steps for
reform,” he said.

In a move hailed as a landmark moment in its relations with
the West, Russia in March abstained on the UN resolution that authorized air
strikes in Libya, essentially allowing the campaign to go ahead.

But Russian officials have since said they have felt
betrayed by the manner in which the air campaign was carried out and warned the
West not to expect such support for resolutions in the future.

Both Russia and China also fear that a strong yet ambiguous
Security Council resolution on Syria would provide a mandate for Western powers
to misinterpret it and launch military strikes – as it did with Libya.

President Dmitry Medvedev said last month that Assad should
“switch from words to actions” and conduct “real democratic
reforms” but Russian officials have also warned against comparisons with
Muammar Gaddafi’s Libyan regime.