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U.N. Says Syrian Forces Attacked Chief Observer Convoy
[An Nahar] A convoy of unarmed U.N. observers came under attack in Syria, U.N. leader  the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... said Monday as he expressed mounting concern at the spiraling onslaught by government forces. The five-vehicle convoy which was carrying U.N. mission chief General Babacar Gaye came under small arms fire near the protest city of Homs, a U.N. peacekeeping spokeswoman said. "Fortunately there were no injuries," Ban told news hounds as he announced the attack on Sunday. The convoy was at the village of Talbisa, traveling from the protest city of Homs when one vehicle was hit by three bullets and another by one bullet, a U.N. peacekeeping spokeswoman, Josephine Guerrero, told Agence La Belle France Presse. "It was a convoy of five vehicles, which was carrying General Gaye, which came under small arms fire," she said. U.N. officials said it was not known who had fired the shots. Gaye told a presser in Damascus ...The place where Pencilneck hangs his brass hat... that he had been on his first field visit since his arrival one week ago to take charge of the U.N. Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS). He did not mention the shooting incident but told news hounds: "During my visit to Homs, I was personally able to witness heavy shelling, from artillery and mortars, ongoing in the neighborhoods of the city." Ban made a new plea for  Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor... to halt the "violent measures" of his forces in Homs and the city of Aleppo ...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins... , which is the target of a major new assault. "We are deeply concerned that they are using all sorts, all kinds of heavy equipment, including military airplanes and attack helicopters and heavy weaponry. This is an unacceptable situation," Ban said. "The situation is getting worse and worse." Posted by: Fred 2012-07-31 |
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