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Syria feels squeeze from UN and the West

Syrian President Bashar al Assad’s international image suffered a black eye on Tuesday, as his violent crackdown against protesters brought a slap from western countries at the UN and European Union. It followed a day when Syrian tanks and troops entered several southern villages amid heavy gunfire,传奇私服 and the military sealed off areas where they conducted house-to-house raids seeking people on wanted lists. The international backlash was felt in Geneva, where Syria reportedly lost the battle for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council. In Brussels, the European Union slapped sanctions on key members of the regime, including Assad’s brother Maher. For Assad, who casts himself as a “young reformer” hampered by a conservative regime, 传世私服 the latest blows will hit home. “The Syrian people deserve that Human Rights Council seat, but this regime would only abuse it,” said Abdalla Rifai of the Washington-based Syrian Emergency Task Force, which will file a U.S. lawsuit against regime members on Wednesday, for human rights abuses. Kuwait is expected to fill the prestigious UN seat Syria was set to win by acclamation before the uprising began. Diplomats, who refused to be named because an official announcement had not been made, told reporters on Tuesday that Syria would withdraw its candidacy before the May 20 election, 诛仙私服 under pressure from western countries who have been waging a weeks-long campaign to oust Damascus. “It would be a clear signal to Syria that it needs to change course,” said Peggy Hicks, Human Rights Watch’s global advocacy director in New York. “Syria’s policy of violent repression has raised international concern.” Western-educated Assad, who cultivates a benign international image, has lost credibility in Syria as killings and assaults on protesters mounted. He has portrayed himself as a fighter against “terrorist gangs” and “foreigners” who are undermining Syria’s stability, 传奇私服 新开传奇私服 while keeping foreign journalists from covering the uprisings and restricting communications inside the country. But with the mounting violence, the protesters’ calls for reform have been replaced by growing demands that Assad step down. Syria’s National Organization for Human Rights said it had documented the deaths of 757 civilians killed by the Assad regime in the seven weeks since protests began. It said thousands have been detained and 9,000 are still behind bars. However, Syrian forces on Tuesday released 300 people who had been arrested in Banias since tanks stormed residential areas in the coastal city last week. In an apparent last-ditch attempt to buff his international image,魔域私服 Assad allowed a New York Times reporter into the country for an interview with an adviser, who said the regime had now weathered the storm of the protests. “I hope we are witnessing the end of the story,” the adviser said. But Assad’s cousin, tycoon Rami Makhlouf, told the newspaper the regime was prepared to fight to the end. And he said Israel’s stability was at stake if it lost, raising fears of a provocation from Syrian-backed Hezbollah along Israel’s border. The struggle for the Human Rights Council seat began weeks after the regional group of Asian nations had nominated Syria as one of four countries that would fill four uncontested seats in the 47-member body that monitors violations of human rights worldwide. But the January nomination was superseded by the violence,传奇私服 传奇私服发布网 and Syria was pressured to withdraw. It refused in the hope of riding out the opposition. But that hope appeared at an end Tuesday, as diplomats said that Syria would fail to get the necessary votes for council membership and was likely to withdraw.