BEIRUT - The Syrian regime widened shelling attacks on opposition strongholds Tuesday, activists said, targeting a second town in a new sign that a UN-brokered cease-fire is quickly unraveling despite the presence of foreign observers. The truce is part of an international plan to launch talks between President Bashar Assad's regime and those trying to topple him. An uprising against Assad erupted 13 months ago, but became increasingly violent in response to a regime crackdown. Regime compliance with the cease-fire has been partial, and the latest escalation further lowered expectations that the key element of special envoy Kofi Annan's plan can stick. Mortar shells struck the central city of Homs at a pace of one a minute Tuesday morning, said Rami Abdul-Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group. Annan, joint emissary for the U.N. and the Arab League, was briefing the Arab League in Qatar on the situation in Syria on Tuesday. The envoy's plan has the backing of Syria's allies, including Russia, and despite setbacks is seen as the only way forward. Western military intervention is unlikely at this point, and economic sanctions, while starting to bite, seem insufficient to pressure the regime. Leaders of two Syrian opposition groups said Tuesday, a day after meeting Russia's deputy foreign minister in Moscow, that they have sensed a shift in Russia's stance and hope Moscow will crank up pressure on Assad. "Russia has all the necessary levers to apply pressure on Assad's government and help Annan's mission," said Haytham Manna of the Arab Commission for Human Rights, an activist group. Russia twice shielded Assad from UN Security Council condemnation, but has become more critical of the regime. In Paris, diplomats and finance ministry officials from the Arab world, the West and elsewhere were meeting Tuesday to coordinate sanctions against Syria. Diplomats say a string of EU, US and other sanctions have affected Assad by curbing Syria's ability to export oil and the ability of his cronies to do business abroad.
