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Subscribe to RSSAn aid convoy has been refused access to Baba Amr district of Homs, where residents have been without water for the last four days. Elsewhere in Syria, there have been anti-government protests following Friday prayers. Human rights campaigners claim that 13 people were killed when troops fired a mortar into a crowd of demonstrators in the town of Rastan. Britain's Channel Four News correspondent Carl Dinnen reports.
Armed forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad on Saturday bombarded the Jobar residential neighborhood of Homs, where a standoff continued between a Red Cross convoy and the government that has blocked the delivery of food, medical supplies and blankets to the thousands still stranded in the area.
Thousands of civilians from another area overrun by the army have taken refuge in the neighborhood, an opposition activist organization said.
"In an act of pure revenge, Assad's army has been firing mortar rounds and ... machine guns since this morning at Jobar. We have no immediate reports of casualties because of the difficulty of communications," the Syrian Network for Human Rights said in statement.
Jobar is adjacent to the district of Baba Amr in Homs, from where Free Syrian Army rebels pulled out this week after almost a month of army shelling. Activists reported mass executions by loyalist troops who subsequently entered the area.
The Local Coordination Committees activist network said mortars slammed into Khaldiyeh, Bab Sbaa and Khader districts of the city early Saturday.
Red Cross supplies arrived in the stricken Syrian city of Homs on Friday as evidence mounted of its humanitarian crisis after a month of bombardment from President Bashar Assad's forces. ITV's Paul Davies reports.
Abu Hassan al-Homsi, a doctor at a makeshift clinic in Khaldiyeh district of Homs, said he treated a dozen wounded.
"This has become routine, the mortars start falling early in the morning," he said. Several homes were damaged from the morning shelling, which he described as steady but intermittent. Most of those he treated were lightly wounded, al-Homsi added.
Aid convoy blocked
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Saturday it was still negotiating with Syrian authorities who have denied its aid convoy access to the shattered Baba Amr district.
An ICRC convoy of seven trucks carrying food and other life-saving relief supplies, joined by Red Crescent ambulances to evacuate the sick and wounded, has been stalled in the city of Homs since arriving there on Friday.
Red Cross convoy prevented from entering former Syrian rebel stronghold
"The ICRC and Syrian Red Crescent are not yet in Baba Amr today (Saturday). We are still in negotiations with authorities in order to enter Baba Amro. It is important that we enter today," ICRC spokesman Hicham Hassan told Reuters in Geneva.
ICRC President Jakob Kellenberger, in a statement issued on Friday after waiting all day for Syrian authorities to grant entry to the team, said the delay was "unacceptable" as civilians had waited for weeks for emergency assistance.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday he had received "grisly reports" Syrian government forces were arbitrarily executing, imprisoning and torturing people in the battle-scarred city of Homs after rebel fighters had fled.
PhotoBlog: The fear of carnage to come
'Terrorist' suicide bombs
Meanwhile, the Syrian state news agency Sana reported Saturday that a suicide bomber killed two people and wounded several others in the southern town of Deraa.
"The terrorist explosion led to the martyrdom of two citizens," the agency said.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported that at least two people were killed and several others wounded in the explosion.
Syrians flee to northern Lebanon
Syria has seen a string of suicide bombings, the last on Feb. 10, when twin suicide bombs struck security compounds in the government stronghold city of Aleppo, killing 28 people and bringing significant violence for the first time to the city.
The capital Damascus, another stronghold of Assad's, has seen three suicide bombings in the past two months.
The regime has touted the attacks as proof that it is being targeted by "terrorists." The opposition accuses forces loyal to the government of being behind the bombings to tarnish the uprising.
Saturday's bombing in Deraa marked the first time a suicide bombing struck an opposition stronghold. Daraa is the birthplace of the nearly year-old uprising against Assad. The revolt has killed more than 7,500 people, according to most recent U.N. estimates.
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Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Leave a Comment:
Why does this not suprise me.
Syria, another $hithole in the making.
If Quran burning can do so much damage in Afghanistan, can anyone guess the level of insanity of followers of Islamic cult?
Assad is the best among the bad lot! These Sunnis can't even tolerate a non-Sunni ruler!
Assad should eliminate all the al-Qaida supported Sunni rebels.
GO JONATHAN you make more sence than everybody in our gov. and all the paid off T.V reporters. i like to know how much all of them getting from the saudies and qatar . if these countries do not have oil and money no body will bother to spit on them . thanks keep our troops home may god bless them.
Assad should instruct his military to let the ICRC proceed into the Baba Amr district. The "rebel" fighters have fled the district. Allowing the aid in to help the civilians would definitely help his image with the people i the district, showing that he cares about them and that is they keep the "rebel" fighters out of the area, the government will take care of them.
The problem I have with all the calls by world leaders for Assad to step down is that we might not like who replaces Assad any more than we like Assad. In fact we might go from the proverbial frying pan into to fire. The different rebel factions are all nothing more than different sects of Islam who want power for themselves. Assad is for the most part a secularist and has allowed the relatively free exercise of different religions within Syria. The odds are that whomever replaces him will not be as much of a secularist. It is far more likely to see the rise of yet another Islamic republic where if you do not follow their version of Islam you are seen as an infidel to be exterminated. The reason the "rebel" factions have not been able to unite into a single force to fight against Assad is that they hate each other as much as they hate Assad. This is the problem with many of these Muslim sects, they each feel that they are the only valid form of Islam and anyone who does not go along with their particular views is an infidel to be killed. Having Assad leave will not make things in Syria any better and it could very well make things worse. I do not support Assad or condone what he is doing in any way. All I am saying here is that to a certain degree I understand why he is doing it. Assad my be an SOB, but I fear that he is far better than the alternative.
The different sects of Islam and their underlying attitudes towards each other is the reason why real democracy will never work in the Middle East. The only way to unify a country where the people practice different flavors of Islam is through a strong hand. It takes a strong ruler with might and the willingness to use it in order to keep the varying sects in line and keep them from fighting with each other. Iraq is a prime example of this. Now that the US has left, the entire country has descended into sectarian violence with the different Islamic groups are attacking each other and fighting for power. It is impossible to get them to come to the table and work together in unison because each feels the other should not even exist and because of this they refuse to share power with each other. You see it is not just non-Muslims that these fanatics hate, it is anyone who does not adhere to their particular brand of Islam. I believe that there are something like 17 or 19 major different branches of Islam, some more violent and less tolerant than others, but each feels that they are the only true Muslims.
JS in SD buddy you right about alots things and what is more important that assad allow the christian to live and practice their relg. freely unlike them dumb saudies and qatari you cannot even wear a cross , look hat happend to the christian in iraq and egypt and to mention libya and even turkey. our gov. does not tell us the truth. christian are bieng massecared in syria now where the innocents rebles are . they alquida and muslim brootherhood . they belong to saudia arabia and qatar . the saudies till this day finnance them . we must living in a dream land wake up people . please
the biggest news is not being reported; Obama says he will order attack on Iran, if he finds they are attempting to build a nuclear bomb; he has no, zero authority to start a war without congress approval, he is out of control, where the hell is congress.
my turn: Thanks a lot sir! These appreciations keep a writer going.
For opposing any more wars, especially Syria and Iran, I have been getting brickbats.
If I had done those during 1991 and 2003 Iraqi wars, I would have been lynched as a traitor! Everyone was gung ho in those days!
A stage comes, when even likes of I give up!
Never gave it much attention, but wow. They are using total war on their own neighbor hoods. The only buildings that don't look like swiss cheese are high rises.
Baloney. A 500mm machinegun? That means a machinegun firing a round 19 inches in diameter. The main guns on our battleships are only 16 inch (406mm). Such a machinegun does not even exist in the wildest imaginations of weapons designers.
If MSNBC got this so wrong, what else did they get screwed up?
i dont see 500 mm in the article, please explain where.?
"In an act of pure revenge, Assad's army has been firing mortar rounds and ... machine guns sinc..."
ROFLMSAO.. they corrected it in the last 10 minutes. Your welcome MSNBC.. now where is my check for doing the job your fact checkers should be doing?
BSNBC is the new comedy channel.
Hello Barabas, Pax is absolutely right, MSNBC will spin and manipulate a story through several revisions during the posted life of the story. The presstitutes are doing what they do best, lie and deceive.
Hey MSNBC wouldn't you guys and gals enjoy being able to report the news as it actually happens instead of what your corporate masters direct you to report. All that education for what? It's not to enlighten society. One question for you, who is acting as the Dr. Paul Joseph Goebbels at MSNBC when the stories are revised, not corrected, spun and revised in most cases?
The UN and nato set a bad example when they killed a lot of innocent people while bombing Libya. They continued there campaign even though there was collateral damage to women annd children. The Syrians are just following their lead.
Bad examples started from 1991 and 2003 Iraqi wars!
Gee.. but I thought Obama was bombing Libya to stop civilians from getting killed! (snicker)
Still not sure why protecting Libyan civilians, who might be under threat, is so much more important than Syrian citizens who ARE, without any doubt, being killed. Could it be because Libya has oil, and Syria does not? Nah.. of course not.. surely a democrat president would not spill blood for oil, right?
That's odd....Every week or so on TV I see at least 3 or 4 protestors pretty P.O'd that the UN, NATO and the west in general haven't stepped up like they did in Libya.
Actually, many of them are mad at Russia and China for failing to condemn the actions of the Syrian government. Giving them a "license to kill."
the syrian are protecting thier people how about if bunch of alquida came here and took over one of wah. suburbs . i wonder if we just let them stay thier and kill our people , thats what happening there and our media bring us the reports from people living in london and fabricate all the facts .and guess what we are buying all the Bs.Anderson cooper Wolf blitzer you should be ashamed
Just so you know. In a Muslim country it is the Red Circle, not the Red Cross.
Just so YOU know, in Muslim countries it is the Red CRESCENT, not cross, and for sure not circle.
But, while you got your description incorrect, you made a good call on MSNBC getting another fact screwed up.
And THAT little fact MSNBC got wrong in about a dozen places in the article. MSNBC, you need to check with your buddies at Al Jazeera.. they got the headline right. "Middle East Red Crescent medics reach Homs"
It could be only Red Cross. It is not the first time that "Red Cross" has been mentioned. It has been mentioned for sometime.
Can that Al Jazeera get any thing right like most of the Muslims?
You can bet that Saudis, Muslim Red Crescent will not be there. They will be watching Al Jazeera from a safe distance as in the past.
One might think so, but it is the Red Crescent. A video report came out yesterday telling about the bodies they were bringing out of the two reporters who were killed, and the markings on the ambulance, and report, both had it right... it was the Red Crescent. One can be forgiven, I guess, for making that mistake... but to have it in the headline itself (and repeated a few dozen times in the article).. kinda embarrassing I would think.
I understand that the Red Cross and Red Crescent are two different things here. But MSNBC might just say Cross because many Americans have never heard of the Red Crescent. I see it all the time on foreign news websites. They have a bad habit of replacing the word "coffee" with "tea" whenever reporting a story in the U.S. where coffee is somehow involved. Lol
Probably true, but they are not gonna make anyone better informed by perpetuating ignorance.
That's because illiterate Americans are ignorant about the world, so MSNBC has to downgrade the facts and make them understandable for the masses. Kind of like our economics - it's ok to spend trillions cause' that will help us out of our mess. I do the same thing at home, steal others identities and spend on their credit cards. If the government can steal from us, place us in debt and enslave us without our say so, then I can do the same.
Oh, where is "it's Bush's fault?" The crazies have forgotten that again. Some poster said Obama had allowed the bombing of Lybian civilians. How dare you question the pure motives our our gut, I mean fearless leader? Just because he intervened with millions of dollars of ordnance in Lybia and is now letting way more Syrian innocents get massacred doesn't mean anything at all. You see, Syria is close to Israel so that makes it Bush's fault. Can't intervene that close to those Zionist haters of the peaceful, pro-democracy, religion of peace arab world.
Hail to BO! 4 more years of twisted facts! Monopoly money for all! Open the borders! Give BO a second Nobel Peace (of stupidity) Prize for saving Syrian soldiers' lives from nasty American bombs!
(The above rant is an editorial from that Nazi news source Fox.) Only right-wing morons would believe anything other than what MSNBC says.
Pax Americana: You can't put some seventh century desert mindset dress with all coatings and scents around and market it by jumping all around as Islamic Red Crescent.
What is the track record of Islamic Red Crescent till now since it was established?
Why are they not noticed in Somalia and Afghanistan refugee camps?
Muslims track records in charities are limited to:
1. Ramadan Style soap operas.
2. Rape and kill even the hungry Muslim girls and women as is being done Somalia. Many a times, they do trafficking of them too. All it takes is to give a label: infidel!
Talk about savages: history has not seen many such ones!
funny, no liberal rhetoric here. oh, thats right if they protest here they are allowed to, so guess American Democrat liberals are too busy tearing down their own country and its human failures. Busy taking our liberties away to leave the door open for these sorts of revolutions in the name of self righteous Democrat socialist mantra.
WHO CARES ?
Isaiah 17
A Prophecy Against Damascus
1 A prophecy against Damascus:
“See, Damascus will no longer be a city
but will become a heap of ruins.
2 The cities of Aroer will be deserted
and left to flocks, which will lie down,
with no one to make them afraid.
3 The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim,
and royal power from Damascus;
the remnant of Aram will be
like the glory of the Israelites,”
declares the LORD Almighty...........
On the road to Damascus, Jesus Christ said, in effect, to Paul, "If you oppose Me, you cannot win, and it
will be painful if you try." And I think that applies to Assad as well. The people of Syria, God bless them,
are in my prayers. A good broadcast last night on their plight by NBC's Brian Williams and I am
amazed by their resolve. Godspeed!!!
Was that written before,or after,one of the several destruction's of Jerusalem,I can't remember,hmmm. Just encase anyone was interested,Damascus is said to be the oldest inhabited city in the world.
hey barabas. do you believe the glory israelites are the same isreal today , if you you just like the rest these braind washed christian that belive that jews are god choosen people ? its funny these killed our lord and we believe in him. but people think they are god chosen . you know what i tell these people, they need to become jews and leave christanity for us . isreal caused us more troubles, lives and money more than any other country in the world . because they got our money to buy our gongress and senate . its very sad when natanyhye gets more standing ovation than our pres. in the our senate and huse chamber , and he makes fun and challange everybody that disagree with him, hey !! there is something wrong there buddy .
By bickering, you all are lending to the problem.
Jesus the Only Way time is running out...make a difference for the glory of the Lord Our God of Israel.
According to those who created the term "the Lord God of Israel" Jesus is not the only way. But of course, most humans think that their way is the only way, and everyone else is just ruining the universe for them.
The only way????
Actually there are a few other equally stupid ways to @!$%# up the world besides being a jesus-freak, but it's as good as any.
Hell with them the Red Cross should be in Henryville,IL.
When will we see that we can not help barbarians? I know there are people who are in need of help that the Red Cross can give BUT why do we need to continue to sacrifice our own people for those who seek to kill us along with themselves? They have done this over the centuries.
Assad should eliminate the rebels in Islamic style: slowly and piece by piece.
Assad should now and then withdraw; draw in those al-Qaida fighters and then bomb the whole place.
Why should his forces take too many losses?
This way he can make sure that Sunni Saudis and the Arab League beastly and bigoted rulers don't do their desert dances now and then in Syria and in other places.
i am putting my money on the syrian army. kinda like mussolini asking the pope how many divisions the vatican had.
I think that comment came from Stalin.Churchill said something about upsetting the Pope over some war issue.And Stalin asked,sarcastically,"How many divisions does the Pope have",and Churchill shut up.
Is there any other animal on the planet that treats their own species like we do each other. This is done for greed? For power? Religion? Maybe I am just stupid, but I just can't figure out us humans...
That son of a bitch dictator butcher Assad should be put up against a wall and shot.
So shoud all the islamist extremists fighting against him. They are not little angels, but butchers who hijacked the Syrian revolution. They are going out kidnapping, raping, torturing, and executing Christian women, men, and even children. I hope Assad destroys these filthy islamist scum and send them packing back to Saudi Arabia and the rest of the scum islamists. You are supporting al qaeda and their goals by supporting these rebels. Like it or not, Assad is much better than any islamist.
What does this have to do with the subject??
Like the dictatorship that replaces assad is going to be any better?
Maybe the Red Cross should leave it to the Red Crescent and get their collective butts back to the United States to help Americans after devastating Tornado's....
Why do fellow Arabs/Muslims allow Assad to kill his own citizens. Wow, when a non-muslim interferes with thier country, they all band together???!!!, Saudi Arabia and Jordan should band together to stop the bloodshed.
usafeveteran: you can't fix uneducated, impoverished and brainwashed Jihads....... best to let Allah help them in the next life.
You can't deal with these people, just pull out & let them kill themselves.
That's it Obama, just sit on this one like Clinton always did and when the new president takes over in 2013, they can clean up your mess for 8 years and get all the blame!
The Syrian government would never agree to a truce of any kind because it would lend credence to the idea that these protesters are anything more than common "criminals."
Actually,I've heard its the rebels that reject a ceasefire.The only reason I can see that the Red Cross/Red Crescent ,and the west are making those statements is to embarrass the Syrian government.In reality with fighting going on in the area,they'd be fools to let these aid groups get caught in the middle of a shootout.A lot of them would get killed or taken as hostages and that would be even worse for the government side.They should let them setup out of harms way.Then tell the rebels to do a ceasefire and let the civilians come out for help.
It is about Iran now but the media here does not make it easy to post anything about it.
Iran and Syria need to stick together in order to have any chance at all. You figure if they don't act now Obama and Hilary will wipe them all out. So we may see something real soon. They do not want to become our slaves I would assume.
the red cross wants to sell coffee and donuts. I was in the navy in the early sixties and there were lots of hurricanes at that time, one time we went ashore to help the people dig out we were there for a couple days and very short on food and supplies for our men when a red cross truck showed up needless to say about twenty of us headed to the truck for some food and water when we got there we found out that they were selling coffee and donuts. none of us had any money of course we had to leave all personal items on our ship. one of our officers a thirty year man who was in WW2came over to see what was going on and when he found out that they were selling food he told them to leave the area. when they started to argue we were told that we should shoot them if they did not leave. In a month thousands for navy people heard this story and as today those thousands of sailors would not give the red cross the sweat off their balls. also in those days we could shoot looters on sight and no problems.
We had a similar incident happen in the 70s, when I was in the Navy. Odds are if the Red Cross is there, there is a buck to be made.