Homs Residents Seek Cease-fire as Syria Attack Kills Journalists
February 23, 2012, 1:51 AM ESTBy Massoud A. Derhally and Glen Carey
Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Residents of Homs, the Syrian city under siege for almost three weeks, sought to negotiate a cease- fire with the army, according to activists, as two western journalists were reportedly killed by an artillery attack.
“Water and food are scarce, the situation is very dire in the Baba Amr neighborhood,” Mahmoud Merei, head of the Arab Organization for Human Rights, said by phone from Damascus today. He said families from Homs were trying to negotiate a temporary cease-fire with the government to be able to tend and evacuate the wounded, and collect and bury the dead.
The two journalists were killed when a rocket hit a house used by activists as a media center, Al Jazeera television reported. The London-based Times, citing Reuters, identified them as Marie Colvin of the Sunday Times and French photographer Remi Ochlik.
Syria’s assault on rebels in Homs and other strongholds including the northern province of Idlib left more than 100 dead yesterday, according to Merei and the Local Coordination Committees, an opposition group with a network of activists in the country. Ministers from the U.S., European Union and Arab nations will attend a summit in Tunisia this week to discuss how to assist the struggle to oust President Bashar al-Assad.
Merei said more than 8,500 people have been killed since the conflict began in March last year. The United Nations estimates that more than 5,400 were killed last year. About 40,000 members of Syria’s 270,000-strong security forces have defected, according to Turkish Foreign Ministry estimates.
Army Reinforcements
The shelling of Baba Amr resumed at around 7 a.m. today, the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The group said that the army is sending additional troops to the southern province of Daraa, and also carrying out raids in Idlib and the eastern town of Deir al-Zour.
EU governments are moving toward stiffer sanctions on Syria and considering trade restrictions and a freeze on central bank assets. The Arab League has already suspended Syria and imposed economic sanctions. Russia and China blocked a resolution at the Security Council this month, supported by the U.S., EU and Arab League, calling on Assad to step down in favor of an interim government that would hold elections.
Assad accused unidentified foreign interests of providing weapons and financial support to “armed terrorist groups” as they seek to destabilize Syria, the official Syrian Arab News Agency reported Feb. 20.
--Editors: Ben Holland, Karl Maier.
To contact the reporter on this story: Massoud A. Derhally in Beirut, Lebanon at mderhally@bloomberg.net; Glen Carey in Riyadh at gcarey8@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net
