Beirut (dpa) – Shelling attacks by Syrian troops killed 30 people in rebel-held areas in the provinces of Homs and Idlib on Monday, as the government hailed the approval of a new constitution by almost 90 per cent of voters as a success of its democratic reforms. “The referendum was marked by high turnout despite attempts to terrorize citizens,” state-run news agency SANA quoted Interior Minister Mohammed al-Shaar as saying. “This democratic process took place in an atmosphere of freedom, transparency and impartiality.” The Interior Ministry said voter turnout was more than 57 percent. The opposition boycotted Sunday's referendum on the new constitution, which opens the door for political parties other than the ruling Baath, saying al-Assad would use its results to intensify a military offensive against rebels seeking his overthrow. Western powers have also dismissed the vote as a farce. “What (al-Assad) has done here is put a piece of paper that he controls to a vote that he controls so that he can try to maintain control,” said US State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland. The referendum required that the state “hand pick” opposition groups, while the current state of ongoing violence was not conducive to any kind of democratic process, Nuland told reporters in Washington. “Yesterday's referendum vote has fooled nobody,” said British Foreign Minister William Hague. “To open polling stations (while continuing) to open fire on the civilians of the country has no credibility in the eyes of the world.” European Union finance ministers approved new sanctions designed to increase the pressure on al-Assad by targeting the Syrian central bank and seven government ministers. There is little hope that the new EU measures will bring an end to the bloodshed. Al-Assad has ignored a series of sanctions by the United States and its allies, as well as a United Nations General Assembly resolution calling on him to step down. Activists said government forces killed at least 20 civilians in rebel-held districts of the central city of Homs, which has been besieged since February 3. “Twenty people – among them two women – were killed in of Homs, mostly in Baba Amr, al-Khalidiyeh and al-Bayyada neighborhoods,” said activist Omar Homsi. Syria troops also shelled areas in the rebel stronghold of Idlib, a northern province near the border with Turkey, killing at least 10 people, activists said. Security forces fired at a funeral procession in the Kfar Soussa neighborhood of the capital Damascus, wounding 10 people. The International Committee of the Red Cross, which is negotiating a safe passage into Homs to deliver food and medical supplies and evacuate the wounded, including two Western journalists, said the humanitarian situation in the city was deteriorating. Rebels and terrified civilians are trapped in Baba Amr, where activists says hundreds of people need urgent medical treatment. “The negotiations are still continuing and we hope we will be able to enter Homs evacuate the wounded and bring in food supplies, as the humanitarian situation is deteriorating by the hour inside Homs,” said Hisham Hassan, ICRC spokesman in Geneva. The ICRC said it managed to deliver food aid in the central city of Hama, which is also besieged by government forces, for the first time in 10 days. “I hope we're getting close to a solution,” French President Nicolas Sarkozy told RTL radio about efforts to get the ICRC to evacuate French reporter Edith Bouvier and British photojournalist Paul Conroy. “It seems to be that things are starting to unblock.” Western powers have ruled out military intervention in Syria, where the crisis, which started almost a year ago with peaceful mass protests, appears to be turning into a civil war. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani said his country was in favor of arming the Syrian opposition. “I think we should do whatever is necessary to help them, including giving them weapons to defend themselves,” he said at a news conference in Oslo with Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg. Russia, a key ally of al-Assad, said during an Arab League-sponsored debate on the crisis at the United Nations Human Rights Council that it would not support a resolution condemning Syria. The Arab League called for the session to demand that Syria allow humanitarian aid into restive areas. Russia and China this month vetoed a Western- and Arab-sponsored UN Security Council resolution calling on al-Assad to end the violence and step down. The Syrian opposition says it will accept nothing less than al-Assad's overthrow. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/dSYn3 Tags: Damascus, Killing, Referendum, Violence Section: Features, Latest News, Syria
