Syrian Opposition Calls for UN Meeting on Assad ‘Massacre’ - Businessweek

Syrian Opposition Calls for UN Meeting on Assad ‘Massacre’ - Businessweek

clipped from article: (Updates with details in third paragraph.)

Dec. 21 (Bloomberg) -- The Syrian National Council, an opposition alliance seeking to topple President Bashar al-Assad, called for a United Nations’ Security Council meeting to address alleged “massacres” and “large-scale genocide.”

State forces have killed 250 people in the past 48 hours in the regions of Idlib, Homs and al-Zawiyah, the council said in an e-mailed statement. The regions should be be declared “safe zones,” it said.

Bloomberg is unable to verify the charges as the Syrian government restricts foreign media access in the country and places curbs on local journalists.

Assad has blamed the unrest on foreign provocateurs, and his forces have used tanks, armored vehicles and artillery to crush the uprising. The UN estimates that more than 5,000 civilians and army defectors have been killed in the unrest that started in mid-March.

The government agreed this week to an Arab League protocol to allow monitors into the country to verify compliance with an agreement to halt the violence. The Dec. 19 signing came as the Arab League moved closer to asking the UN to address the crisis.

Syria agreed to the monitors after the Arab group agreed to 70 percent of the amendments sought by the government, foreign minister Walid Al-Muallem said Dec. 19 without elaborating.-
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