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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.
Saudi Arabia said that Syrians have a right to take up arms to defend themselves against the regime and accused the Damascus government of "imposing itself by force" on Sunday, as concerns mounted over a humanitarian crisis there.
In a rare televised news conference, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said the kingdom welcomed international efforts to broker a ceasefire in Syria but added that they have "failed to stop the massacres."
"Is there something greater than the right to defend oneself and to defend human rights?" he asked, adding that the Syrian people want to defend themselves. "The regime is not wanted by the people. The regime is insisting on imposing itself by force on the Syrian people."
UN: 2,000 refugees flee Syria for Lebanon amid shelling
Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been discussing sending military aid to the Syrian opposition, but the U.S. and others have not advocated arming the rebels, in part out of fear it would create an even more bloody and prolonged conflict.
Sunni Saudi Arabia is wary of the wave of Arab Spring uprisings, particularly in nearby Bahrain, where a Shiite majority is demanding greater rights from its Sunni rulers. However, the kingdom strongly backs the largely Sunni uprising in Syria.
Syria rebels: Let us have the weapons to finish Assad
On Sunday Red Cross teams handed out food, blankets and medical kits in central Homs province, but the government blocked access to the worst-hit district of Baba Amr.
The humanitarian group was trying to help families who fled Baba Amr after a monthlong siege and took shelter in nearby villages, ICRC spokesman Hicham Hassan said in Geneva.
"The needs are so far mainly in the forms of food and also blankets because of the cold," Hassan said.
With broken leg, journalist fled Syria via rebel tunnel
Government forces have blocked humanitarian access to Baba Amr since Friday, the day after troops seized it from rebels. Opposition fighters had been in control of the neighborhood for several months, and a regime offensive on Homs that began in early February aimed to retake rebel-held neighborhoods inside the city.
Relentless shelling
Syrian troops managed to take control of Baba Amr after nearly a month of intense and relentless shelling, and activists say hundreds were killed in the daily bombardments that led up to the final battle on Thursday. Some Baba Amr residents were killed when, in desperation, they dared to venture out of their homes to forage for food.
The humanitarian disaster in Homs, Syria, is getting worse by the day as attempts to bring in aid are being blocked by the government. NBC's Ayman Mohyledin reports.
Activists have said residents face a humanitarian catastrophe in Baba Amr and other parts of Homs, Syria's third-largest city with a population of 1 million. Electricity, water and communications have been cut off, and recent days have seen frigid temperatures and snowfall. Food was running low, and many residents were too scared to venture out.
The government had said it would allow the Red Cross into Baba Amr on Friday but then blocked their access, citing security concerns. In the meantime, activists accused Syrian forces of killing dozens of residents execution-style and burning homes in revenge attacks against those believed to be supporting the rebels.
As the brutal siege of Homs dragged on, Western pressure on President Bashar Assad intensified. The U.S. has called for Assad to step down, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said he could be considered a war criminal. The European Union committed itself to document war crimes in Syria to set the stage for a "day of reckoning" for the country's leadership, in the way that former Yugoslav leaders were tried for war crimes in the 1990s by a special U.N. tribunal.
Clinton: Syria's Assad could be war criminal
While they continue to appeal for unfettered access to Homs, Red Cross workers were focusing on distributing aid in the village of Abel, about two miles from Homs. They hope to distribute aid in the neighborhoods of Inshaat and Tawzii on Monday.
Homs has emerged as a central battleground in the conflict, which started last March with protests calling for the ouster of authoritarian President Bashar Assad in some of the country's impoverished hinterlands.
The protests spread as the government waged a bloody crackdown on dissent, and many in the opposition have taken up arms to defend themselves and attack government troops. The U.N. says more than 7,500 people have been killed in the uprising.
Syrian activists also reported clashes between rebel fighters and government troops in the northern Idlib province. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said one soldier was killed and that the army was raiding homes in nearby villages following the rebel capture of an intelligence officer.
The bodies of two Western journalists who were killed two weeks ago in a government rocket attack in Homs arrived in France. The body of French photographer Remi Ochlik would remain there, while that of American reporter Marie Colvin would be sent to the U.S., the French Foreign Ministry said.
China to send envoy
Meanwhile, China said on Monday it will send an envoy to Syria in a fresh bid to help staunch violence there that has divided Beijing from Western and Arab powers demanding stronger action to rein in Assad's forces.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said Li Huaxin, the country's former ambassador to Syria, will visit there for two days from Tuesday, promoting a six-point plan that Beijing issued on the weekend as the basis of a solution to the violence.
While announcing ambassador Li's visit, the foreign ministry spokesman, Liu Weimin, sounded a somber warning about the fighting that has sent refugees spilling into Lebanon.
"Currently the situation in Syria continues to heat up and become more serious," Liu told a daily news briefing in Beijing.
China has also long been reluctant to back international intervention in domestic turmoil. That wariness was reignited last year when NATO forces cited a U.N. resolution to protect civilians in warring Libya as authority for an air bombing campaign that was crucial to eventually ousting Moammar Gadhafi.
China abstained that from Libya resolution, but later suggested NATO powers exceeded the U.N. mandate through their expanding bombing campaign.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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At first I thought this was surprising until I remembered that those rebelling were Sunni which is the same as the oppressive Saudi Government.
By contrast, when the Shiite majority in Bahrain rose against their kingdom's Sunni monarchs last year, Saudi Arabia sent troops to crush the uprising and assist in the arrests, tortures and murders that ensued.
If you weren't aware of the laughable double standard, it may be because the mainstream media didn't have much to say about Bahrain---certainly not as much as they currently have to say about Syria!
Could it be because Bahrain is the home of the United States Fifth Fleet? Could it be because Bahrain is an oil-rich territory whose unelected leaders have their lips planted firmly on Washington's arse? Nah. Of course not! That would just be a silly conspiracy theory!
I have to say, my jaw just dropped. Is there anything greater than the hypocrisy of Saudi Arabia, our greatest enemy on earth?
When is the U.S. going to officially recognize that it was Saudi Arabia that attacked us on 911? When are we going to destroy them like we did Iraq? When are we going to face the shame that we allowed a President of the United States to commit an act of blatant treason to the point that he publicly KISSED one of the leaders of the country that made war on us, and gave safe transport to family members of the general who led that act of war?
Hello folks, when will we discard our Imperialistic mindset? We’ve caused enough trouble around the world. If you can't see that we are the instigators in most of the world's wars and displacement of millions of people who are fleeing our aggression, than you are in denial and are not paying attention. If you don’t think we have been in Syria covertly arming the rebels you are in denial and forgetting about Libya. We need to stay out of other country’s civil disputes. I hope we aren’t going to go against the United Nations vote earlier this month and unilaterally go into Syria under the pretext that we need to stop the violence like we did in Libya. General Wesley Clark has stated that a Syria invasion has been pre-planned for quite awhile.
General Wesley Clark: "America will take out 7 countries in 5 years"
According to Former NATO supreme allied commander, former presidential candidate and 4 star US General Wesley Clark that they had received a memo that America is going to take out 7 countries in the Middle East starting with Iraq, Libya, Syria Lebanon Sudan and Somalia, seeing what's going on today in Libya but also in Syria where violent protests are ongoing, it is amazing how these things that were planned years ago are being achieved in front of our eyes.
Why is it other countries feel like they have to defend their territory? Could it be that they know we have no problem invading their sovereignty just as we have done to countless other countries. Since World War II, 90% of the casualties of war are unarmed civilians. 1/3 of them children. Our victims have done nothing to us. From Palestine to Afghanistan to Iraq to Somalia to wherever our next target may be, their murders are not collateral damage, they are the nature of modern warfare. They don't hate us because of our freedoms. They hate us because every day we are funding and committing crimes against humanity. The so-called "war on terror" is a cover for our military aggression to gain control of the resources of western Asia.
This is sending the poor of this country to kill the poor of those Muslim countries. This is trading blood for oil. This is genocide, and to most of the world, we are the terrorists. In these times, remaining silent on our responsibility to the world and its future is criminal. And in light of our complicity in the supreme crimes against humanity in Iraq and Afghanistan, and ongoing violations of the U.N. Charter in International Law, how dare any American criticize the actions of legitimate resistance to illegal occupation.
We are going into Syria for a couple of reasons (yes we are in Syria with our Drones at a minimum), one, we are trying to dislodge Russia from there because they have a foothold in the Middle East via two military bases in Latakia and Tartus in Syria. Two, Syria is a strong ally of Iran. If we invade Syria we take out a strong ally and maybe incite Iran to assist giving the U.S. the reason they are looking for to attack Iran. The ultimate goal is to surround, weaken and to invade Iran. The petro dollar is at stake as other countries are switching to other forms of currency in buying Iran’s oil.
Since the Russian war in 1828, Iran has never attacked another country. We on the other hand have attacked to name a few:
Libya, Iran, Nicaragua, Haiti, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Angola, Mozambique, Honduras, Chile, Congo, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Somalia, Angola, Columbia, Peru, Panama, Yemen, Pakistan, Grenada, Mexico, etc..
Wake up people we are being herded down the Military Industrial Complex gauntlet again to another false war to enrich the greedy Corporations and distract the American people. Did we not learn anything from the Iraq war where we have killed well over 1 million Iraqi people, lost thousands of American lives and God knows how many hundreds of billions of dollars?
Who do you support, humanity or the greedy elite?
Many of our soldiers don't fight for America, they fight for their lives and their buddies beside them, because we put them in a war zone. They're not defending our freedoms, they're laying the foundation for permanent military bases to defend the freedoms of Exxon Mobil and British Petroleum.
Face it we're Imperialists pure and simple. The elite look down on all of us as expendable chattel.
"Military men are dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns for foreign policy" Henry Kissinger
I’m not asking you to hate war but to love peace. War, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing!
The sunni's are the West's enemy, not the Persians.
Saudi Arabia said that
"The regime is not wanted by the people. The regime is insisting on imposing itself by force on the Syrian people."
Pot, kettle....
The Syrian revolt may be turning into a proxy struggle between the Iranian dictatorship, backed by Communist China and Vladimir Putin on the one hand, and the rest of the world, led by Saudi Arabia and the US on the other.
Mike chrisaitn, the Perisans are not our enemy, but Ali Khamenei is. Sunni Muslims are not our enemy, but Ayman al Zawahiri is.
The big difference between Syria and Saudi Arabia is that the Saudis are our allies. That counts for a lot. Hell, that counts for almost everything.
Well, that, and they haven't started shelling civilian areas yet. That's also pretty important.
They didn't need to,Bahrain is a small country.And when they sent their troops to crush the protesters they didn't need to shell towns.
the Saudis are a little late it would appear, and toothless lip service.
Continuing on as it is, Syria may turn out to be the bloodiest of all the uprisings if it isn't so now. Time is counted in bodies per minute in contests such as this. Remember trench warfare?
Hardly. In the Fallujah siege in Iraq ( not a decade ago ) we killed something like 6000 civilians in reducing the city to rubble. And that was just one city in Iraq. Maybe it is because we kill 'humanely' that you have that impression.
Bob, READ !!! I referred to an uprising. Fallujah was NOT an uprising.
The Syrian regime is committing atrocities against its own people and must be stopped. But I find the statement by the Saudi foreign minister a bit hypocritical when he says: "Is there something greater than the right to defend oneself and to defend human rights?" Doubtless if the Saudi people rebelled against their repressive regime there would be lots of bloodshed. The Saudi government has just bought them off.
Well, they just killed 6 people in protests two weeks ago so this is being more than hypocritical. The fact that he gets a platform here in the US just shows how beholding even the American left is to the Saudis.
There is Oil in Saudi Arabia so we will now act
the author of this article just have expressed what he/she want to say to mislead good people . it is deliberate that he hide something from the facts.
i donot trust this kind of person who in a certain degree introduced and expedite the violence, bloodshed and war to the syria people casusing disaster for syrian people
So Saudi Arabia send the Syrian rebels some Lawyers,Guns,and Money..........
It's simple.
What the hell right do we have to clean their dirty laundry when we have so much? When we execute our own citizens summarily? When we invade other's sovereignty randomly and for no good reason to kill a few people then laugh it off?
We have NO RIGHT to inter fear in their affairs. Sure, they are bloody, but so are we. We lock up people for life for minor victim-less crimes. We destroy lives over a speeding ticket. We give our police forces total immunity for any law-breaking they may do, so that 'they can do their job' (rofl).
We have no right.
Actually, we do have a right. As a highly-respected and influential national body, we have the right and incentive to intervene in other countries' affairs if it affects our national interests, principles, or international stability.
I liked your little rant against police, though. Very quaint. Doesn't quite have anything to do with foreign policy, though.
"Actually, we do have a right. As a highly-respected and influential national body, we have the right and incentive to intervene in other countries' affairs if it affects our national interests, principles, or international stability."
I figure the Russians,Chinese,and Iranians feel the same way.They have important national interests in the Syrian affair.Russia has a military base and large trade interests there.Iran is the supporter of Syria's Shia government.And the Chinese feel that letting countries interfere in other countries internal affairs is bad for the world,and especially for them.
Oh and for any of you who think the uprising and brutal crackdown won't come to Amerika, keep dreamin' that amerikan dream, fools.
Yes but there'll be NO discontent or marching and rioting in the streets here. The government on state and federal levels will pass laws to stop it. You'll never see anything on the level of when Vietnam protesting took place. The government will oppress it quickly.
Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister has got chutzpa . Human Rights in Saudi Arabia are non-existent. Ask the former journalist Hamza Karghazi for questioning Prophet Muhammed- apostasy-penalty by beheading. Shiite minority in the east- no rights-crackdowns with no Human Rights or Civil Rights- any other religion allowed in Saudi Arabia- no,none. Funding and exporting ultra-fundamentalist religion-absolutely with the petrodollars. If one reads Saudi Arabia's own government website prior to 9/11- especially on 9/10/2001 the affidavits by 2 former US Senators in a lawsuit against Saudi Arabia make all the sense you need to make an unbiased judgement. When it comes to Syria- the brutality,the killings,the shellings,the refugee crises are horrible. Cease fire- absolute cease fire to stop the ever escalating civil war. Question remains- why didn't US/Obama adm. and EU back the internal Syrian opposition instead of backing the Saudi/Qatar external oppostion ?(SFA,SNC) These external oppositon 'members' do not have the best interest of Syria in their plans. Do Syrians- Copts,Assyrians,Kurds,Armenians,Christians,Alewites,middle class Sunnis have a Human Right not to be forced into bondage of Wahhabism /Salafism. Who are the foreign fighters in Syria- Al Queda affiliated veteran Libya/Afghanistan/Iraq fighters-non Syrians to boot- funded,armed,transported by Qatar and Saudis and Turkey's ruling party.
A Monarchy giving lessons on Democracy? Saudi financed terror and wahabbi bigotry? What next from these primitive desert dwellers?
This article is hysterical and it is kind of funny that MSNBC is "recommending" it.
1. As many posters have pointed out no one said much when the Saudis invaded Bahrain last year and crushed the protests by the majority Shia population. Even though Bahrains number one money maker is a US Naval Base.
2. I loved the post that claims the Syrian revolt "may be the bloodiest of all uprisings" - oh, really. Perhaps you need to watch Ken Burns epic doc on the American Civil War. If you think Assad and his forces are brutal, they have nothing on Lincoln and Sherman.
Not a fan of Assad. But not a fan of our involvement in Syria either. We need to stay out of there. What we did in Libya has been a disaster for the people in that country. Really not a fan of the Saudis. Nothing but religious crazies and a corrupt royal family.
Well then, ... it looks like they aren't any/much crookeder, ... than our own Polititions and Gov't. Besides I heard that they are all Cousins too, who by the way all poop inna same pot.
Orr did'ja ever think that it's mebbe because they don gottz nuff CZARS over there, >>> like whuttz we got here in Meximerica. (are we not lucky?)
What a hoot of a statement from probably the most repressive regime in the area. It is fascinating how they demand 'freedom' for the Syrian people, but in regards their own people not a chance. However, their word games could easily come home to bite them if and when their own restive population ( serfs ) decides to rock their boat.
I keep seeing that picture in my head of GW Bush walking and holding the king's hand.
Would you prefer to see Obamma bending over for him instead? If so, watch this vidio. Obamma almost touched his toes with his nose.
The US doesn't want to arm the rebels b/c that exact strategy backfired in their face in Libya.
Vote Ron Paul and save yourselves.
send lots of ammo. but no weapons.
Actually, it worked spectacularly in Libya.
They're having trouble now, sure, but that's the nature of armed rebellions.
We don't want to do it in Syria because we can't plausibly give them substantial military support that they'll probably need to win. Why incite more warfare if it's not going to accomplish anything?
Very nice choice: stand by and watch an oppressive regime attack its people, or help the rebels set up another muslim theocracy which will oppress the people just as badly, only in the opposite direction.
So, if Saudi Arabia thinks it is OK for the rebels to fight Assad, why are THEY not helping instead of crying that 'someone in the west' should help?
They are helping. This is a case of our enemies killing our enemies. please send more ammo.
Saudi Arabia should change itself first and then they can talk about other countries. Shame on them.
Saudi Arabia ... wait until your people start feeling taken by the monarch's claim to it's country's oil wealth ... then either you pay them off with "their own" oil money or call for the US of A to come to help. It's our "national security and best interest" that gives this country of mine unscrupulous "right" to do what ever is necessary. This world of ours is the same all around. Then these legal monkeys make money similar to the right hand feeding the left hand. Then it's tax time again.
The Sunnis control about 20 country's. the Shiites control 4. No wonder Iran is always so nervous.
Soon to be 3, if this mess ever sorts itself out.
Less than 15% of Muslims are Shiite. But they are the right wing of Islam. Much more fanatical.
"Less than 15% of Muslims are Shiite. But they are the right wing of Islam. Much more fanatical."
I don't see that.Yes,they are very religious in form.But they are the one's usually being murdered by the Sunni.And except for Hezbollah,all the violent groups are Sunni.Taliban,Hamas,Al Qaeda,the Wahhabi supported Chechen's are all Sunni.Now the Libyan militias ,Iraqi Jihadis,Muslim Brotherhood,and Syrian Rebels,that have joined them are also Sunni.
Why is it that I have this feeling that we get along better with the Sunni's than the Shiites? I mean Al Queada seems to be more in line with Sunni's of course, but it seems like it's easier to find a Sunni that wants to be aligned with USA. But everytime I think of Shiites, I just get this sick feeling because of Iran.
I believe God loves us all. "Glory to his name"
Jesus said there is one commandment that covers all the others, To love God with all our heart mind and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. If this was practiced throughout the world, we would have no more war, hate or indifference towards our neighbors.
I love this verse: "God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son , so that whoever would believe in Him shall have everlasting life" John 3:16 God's loving sacrifice for mankind.
If the world began to care about their neighbors, no matter if they are Christian, Jew or Muslim, this world would begin a healing process. If one religion is partly true and the others are partly true, love would begin to sew the truth together, possibly there are of errors in each.
God is the only real Truth.
Love is the key that will bring peace, to a world that is full of hate.
True peace be unto you.
For me this is in Christ my Lord.
His Servant.
It's great the Saudi's are verbally on the side of the Syrian people, downsizing the Russian ambassador and supporting the rebels BUT it is a little too late. No one did anything. Yeah, the US probably should have, and as usual, not only do we lead, but we end up doing it alone. But, that said, where was Europe? As usual, doing nothing. Why would theh? They did nothing when Bosnia was the start of another Nazi Germany. it took the US, under the NATO banner, to go in and save those people EVEN THOUGH the Chinese, as usual, were bithching about their poor little embassy. OK, so if Europe did nothing, and maybe they shouldn't have to, WHERE THE HELL are the Arab countries: Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the one who could have done something, Turkey. Iran won't because they are Assad's buddy. Lybia can't because they are still trying to straighten out their own problems after taking care or Khaddfi. It's too late now. Assad has and will murder everyone he can. Another 50 years of this monster and his party.