'Friends of Syria' to demand access for aid at once

Syria contact group featuring FMs of 50 countries meets in Tunis as 5 killed in Homs; former UN chief Annan named Syria envoy.

By REUTERS
Homs after shelling 390 (photo credit: REUTERS)
Homs after shelling 390
(photo credit: REUTERS)
TUNIS - Western and Arab nations will demand on Friday that Syria allow aid to be delivered to desperate civilians in the absence of any international resolve to intervene to end a crackdown on a near year-old revolt against President Bashar Assad.
Foreign ministers from more than 50 countries were in Tunis for the first meeting of the "Friends of Syria" group, against the backdrop of a surge in government attacks on the city of Homs and mounting world outrage over violence that has claimed thousands of lives during the uprising.
In Homs, Syrian government artillery fire killed five people in the city's Baba Amro district, opposition activists said, as the bombardment of opposition-held neighbourhoods entered its third week on Friday.
"Baba Amro is being hit with 122mm artillery directed at it from surrounding villages. A father and his 14-year-old son were among those killed. They were trying to flee the shelling when shrapnel hit them in the street," Mohammad al-Homsi told Reuters.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has warned that day Syria's opposition would ultimately arm itself and go on the offensive if diplomacy failed.
But with moves for tough action in the UN Security Council stymied by Russian and Chinese vetoes and a lack of appetite for military action to end Assad's crackdown, delegates in Tunis have limited options.
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German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle told Reuters: "It is very important that the first contact group is taking place today because it sends a message to the Syrian people that we support them in their struggle for freedom."
An updated draft declaration from the meeting called on Syria to "immediately cease all violence" to allow the United Nations access to Homs, and to let agencies deliver aid to civilians affected by the violence.
The "Friends of Syria" pledged, in the latest version of the draft seen by Reuters, to deliver humanitarian supplies within 48 hours if Syria's government "stopped its assault on civilian areas and permitted access."
UN humanitarian envoy Valerie Amos was expected to attend the meeting in Tunis, along with representatives from the International Committee for the Red Cross, which is trying to arrange daily ceasefires between the Syrian authorities and opposition to allow in humanitarian aid.
The Red Cross said Syria had not replied to its request for a truce to allow in aid and evacuate wounded.
In a sign the international community is seeking ways around the Security Council deadlock, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said he would dispatch former UN chief Kofi Annan to Syria as a joint U.N.-Arab League envoy.
The draft communique did not mention any foreign military intervention along the lines of the NATO bombing campaign that helped force out Libya's Muammar Gaddafi.
Instead, it called for further diplomatic pressure on Assad to step down and endorsed an Arab League plan that sees him handing power to a deputy as a prelude to elections.
The group will also commit to enforce sanctions aimed at pressuring Syria authorities to halt violence, according to the draft declaration.
These include travel bans, asset freezes, a halt to purchases of Syrian oil, ceasing infrastructure investment and financial services relating to Syria, reducing diplomatic ties and preventing arms shipments to the Syrian government.
The wording of the draft reflected a harsh reality: there is little the outside world can or will do to stop the violence as long as Russia and China, both of which declined invitations to the Tunis meeting, reject Security Council resolutions.