Syria’s defiant President praised his troops yesterday as the army pressed on with a deadly crackdown on anti-regime dissent, even as international condemnation swelled ahead of a UN meeting on the crisis.
In a speech marking Army Day, Mr Assad showered his troops with praise, saying the army had “proved its loyalty to its people, country and creed,” state news agency Sana reported.
“Its efforts and sacrifices will be admired. These sacrifices succeeded in foiling the enemies of the country and ending sedition, preserving Syria,” said Mr Assad, blaming “conspirators” for seeking to cause sedition.
The deadly crackdown triggered a torrent of Western condemnation, with criticism coming even from traditional allies like Russia, while the EU said it would impose fresh sanctions on Damascus.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton urged the Security Council to take a “clear stand” and confirmed that a new set of sanctions would be imposed from tomorrow on five Syrians “involved in or associated with the violence.”
British Foreign Secretary William Hague called for “stronger international pressure” on Syria, “including from Arab nations” and Turkey, but ruled out military intervention, in statements to BBC radio.
“We want to see stronger international pressure all round, and of course to be effective that can’t just be pressure from Western nations,” Mr Hague said.
But Mr Hague stressed there was no prospect of achieving a UN mandate for military intervention such as in Libya. “It’s not a remote possibility, even if we were in favour of that, which we’re not.”
Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen told a French newspaper the lack of a UN mandate and regional support meant the conditions were not met for a Libya-style operation.
Syrian forces on Sunday killed around 140 people across the country, including more than 100 in the flashpoint city of Hama, scene of an Islamist revolt in 1982 that was crushed at the cost of an estimated 20,000 lives.
Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, called Sunday “one of the deadliest days” since the pro-democracy protests broke out in mid-March.
Yesterday, at least four more civilians were killed in Hama during search operations, the Observatory said, while a 13-year-old boy and another person were also shot dead in the eastern town of Al-Bukamal.
Sunday’s crackdown on Hama came on the eve of the start of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
At least 1,583 civilians and 369 members of the army and security forces have been killed since mid-March in Syria, according to the Observatory.
The group said tanks rumbled yesterday into Al-Bukamal, on the border with Iraq, some two weeks after troops surrounded the town which the official media said was used as a passage point to smuggle in weapons and money.