Syrian Opposition Asks Arab League to Stop Homs Violence - Businessweek

Syrian Opposition Asks Arab League to Stop Homs Violence - Businessweek

clip from article: Dec. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Syrian opposition leaders said the government is carrying out a full-scale assault on the city of Homs and urged the Arab League to intervene.

Army tank shells demolished 20 homes in one district of the city, killing about 45 people and wounding 245 people in the past five days, Al Arabiya reported, citing activists. The Arab League denied a report by the television channel that President Bashar al-Assad’s security forces wounded a member of its delegation in Syria, according to Egypt’s state-run Middle East News Agency.

The Syrian National Council, an umbrella opposition movement, said in a statement yesterday that 4,000 Syrian soldiers were massing at the city. Burhan Ghalioun, leader of the organization seeking to topple Assad, told Al Arabiya today that government forces are “annihilating” civilians in Homs.

“Residents are calling for help and warning of the imminent danger they face if the Arab League does not immediately send its observers there,” the council said.

Ambassadors to Syria should visit the city to witness “the crimes” carried out by the Assad’s security forces, Ghalioun told Al Arabiya. France asked Arab League monitors to visit Homs today, Agence France-Presse reported. [read more at link]