BEIRUT: Syrian government forces reportedly killed at least 48 people in a sustained clampdown on rebel areas on Saturday, on the eve of a referendum across the country on a new constitution. The surge in violence came as the Syrian government was preparing to hold Sunday a vote called by President Bashar al-Assad on a new constitution. Witnesses in the capital Damascus told dpa that women dressed in white T-shirts were stopping cars and handing out leaflets that read: “Your vote is essential for Syria's sovereignty.” The proposed constitution promises to establish political pluralism, ending decades of monopoly by the ruling Baath Party. According to the Interior Ministry, 14,000 polling stations have been set up across Syria for an estimated 14.6 million eligible voters. The opposition have called on Syrians to boycott the referendum, calling it “a mockery.” Meanwhile, at least 10 people were killed in the restive district of Baba Amr in the central province of Homs, where government troops continued shelling attacks for the fourth successive week, Omar Homsi, a Syrian activist in the area, told dpa. Security forces also shot dead six people in clashes with army defectors in the area of Ezaz in the province of Aleppo, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Seven others were also killed in Aleppo on Saturday when security forces fired on mourners in a funeral procession, the opposition Local Coordination reported. The funeral was for a man killed by police on Friday in an anti-government mass protest. In the central province of Hama, 27 civilians, including two girls, were killed when government troops cracked down on the villages of Maarazaf and al-Majdel, opposition activists told dpa. Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Red Crescent were Saturday negotiating with the Syrian authorities to evacuate more wounded people from Baba Amr in Homs. “We are exerting every effort … to evacuate those in need of immediate assistance including two Western journalists,” Saleh Dabbikeh, the ICRC spokesman in Damascus, told dpa. “We managed on Friday to evacuate seven injured people and took them to the private Al Amin Hospital in Homs. We also evacuated 20 sick women and children, who needed hospital care,” he added. BM with dpa ShortURL: http://goo.gl/swz5e Tags: Red Cross, Syria Section: Human Rights, Latest News, Syria
