DAMASCUS/BEIRUT/ISTANBUL: Western and Arab nations stepped up pressure on President Bashar Assad yesterday, mistrusting his acceptance of a plan to end a year of bloodshed, but were not expected to arm rebels or fully recognize an opposition council.Opening a "Friends of Syria" conference in Istanbul, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told foreign ministers and other officials from some 70 countries that the "legitimate demands of the Syrian people must be met, right here, right now."
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
| Whom no one confuses for William Seward... |
Participants at the conference on Syria in Istanbul say Gulf countries are creating a multimillion-dollar fund to pay salaries to members of the rebel Free Syrian Army and soldiers who defect from the regime and join opposition ranks.
Clinton said the United States was providing communications gear and other aid to Syria's civilian opposition, and denounced Assad for failing to follow through on his agreement to a peace plan proposed by UN-Arab League special Annan.
"Nearly a week has gone by, and we have to conclude that the regime is adding to its long list of broken promises," she said.
The United States and its Gulf Arab allies, suspecting Assad of playing for time, urged Annan on Saturday to set a timeline for "next steps" if no ceasefire materialized.
A Western diplomat said the "Friends of Syria" would declare support for Annan's mission, but stress it cannot be open-ended. The diplomat said their communiqué would promise additional measures to protect the Syrian people, and say the UN Security Council, where Russia and China have twice blocked resolutions on Syria, should play an important role in ending the conflict.
"The wording is constructively ambiguous," the diplomat said.
Syrian media derided the Istanbul meeting, which the Baath newspaper described as "a regional and international scramble to find ways of killing more Syrians and destroying their society and country, to reach the broad goal of weakening Syria."
Annan will brief the UN Security Council today on his efforts to calm a conflict in which Syrian security forces have killed more than 9,000 people, by a UN estimate, while rebels have killed 3,000 troops and police, according to Damascus. His six-point plan demands that Assad order his military to cease- fire, withdraw troops from cities and open daily windows for humanitarian aid, but does not require him to step down.
Gulf Arab countries within the "Friends of Syria" group have pushed for more support to be given to the FSA, formed to fight back after months of violent repression of unarmed protesters.
But Western countries fear strident opposition from Russia and China, which did not attend the Istanbul meeting, as well as the prospect of being sucked into an intractable conflict. They have slapped sanctions on Syria, but these have failed so far to soften the government's crackdown on its opponents.
Wary of military intervention and unsure of the credibility of the fractious opposition Syrian National Council (SNC), Western powers have yet to discover how to unseat Assad.
Clinton urged the Syrian opposition to translate its vision for a democratic post-Assad era into a "political action plan to win support among all of Syria's communities".
SNC leader Burhan Ghalioun pressed the "Friends of Syria" to strengthen the rebel army and open humanitarian aid corridors.
In a separate statement, the SNC requested communications and other non-lethal equipment for the FSA, and possibly arms.
"The provision of arms is not our preferred option. We know it carries high risks of escalation into civil war but we cannot stand back and watch our people being massacred," it said.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said France shared Turkey's desire for the SNC to be recognized as "the legitimate representative body of the Syrian people", but acknowledged a lack of consensus among the "Friends."