Russia calls for end to violence in Syria

Nationwide protests sweeping Syria surged yesterday as the state security forces unleashed their guns on hundreds of thousands of protesters. The protests came after Russia, a longtime ally of beleaguered President Bashar Al Assad, drew a guarded response from Western governments to signs of toughening its stance on Syria at the UN Security Council. Russia began circulating a draft UN Security Council resolution on Thursday it said was designed to resolve the conflict in Syria. The draft calls for an end to all violence. The protesters also demanded the Arab League hasten its response to a bloody crackdown on dissent, activists said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than 200,000 protested in the besieged central city of Homs alone, vented their frustration at the Arab League for postponing a meeting on Syria scheduled for today. Arab governments called off a foreign ministers' meeting due to discuss a response to Al Assad's iron-fisted policy towards unrest, Egypt's state news agency Mena reported. A source at Arab League headquarters in Cairo did not give a reason for the cancellation. A lower-level meeting of its ministerial committee on Syria will go ahead in Qatar today, the source said. The committee includes the foreign ministers of Egypt, Sudan, Oman, Qatar and Algeria. "It might be a goodwill gesture by the regime ahead of the Russian initiative," an activist said, referring to Russian attempts at the UN to end the crisis. "It looks as if the regime is showing tacit approval of the Russian initiative." Russia has criticised opponents of Al Assad's rule for employing violent tactics. Western nations said the Russian draft did not go far enough, because it contained no sanctions against the regime. Meanwhile, at least one person was killed in Homs and injuries were reported in different cities. In Homs, the Local Coordination Committee (LCC) said anti-government rallies took place after Friday prayers all across Syria — from Daraa to the suburbs of the capital, Damascus, Homs and Hama in the country's centre, and to the north in the city of Aleppo. The LCC said troop reinforcements were deployed in different areas in Daraa yesterday, and that electricity was cut in several locations. Daraa, where the uprising began in March, has been among the most tense regions in Syria. "The people want to execute the president," the crowds in Khaldiya chanted, according to the activist. Security personnel watched from a distance. Meanwhile, the chairman of Libya's National Transitional Council has called on Syria's president to step down, saying the Syrian people have the right to determine their own destiny. Mustafa Abdul Jalil said yesterday that the Syrian president should quit. He said Al Assad can always put himself up for election in a democratic vote to see if his people really want him. He says "if the Syrian people are willing to choose [Al] Assad, then let it be."