UN To Syria; Syria Buying Time

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U.N. humanitarian official visits Syria

By the CNN Wire Staff

updated 10:29 AM EST, Wed March 7, 2012


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(CNN) -- The United Nations explored solutions to the grinding Syrian humanitarian crisis Wednesday, as the U.N. relief chief surveyed the ravages of war and the Security Council made another try at an initiative addressing the misery engulfing the nation.

Valerie Amos met with Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said. Then she headed to the city of Homs, which has been pummeled by weeks of government shelling.

The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency said Amos will also visit "some areas in Syria," but it's unclear whether she will see neighborhoods like Baba Amr and Inshaa, areas particularly ravaged by what many call the government's sustained slaughter of dissidents across the country.

"My aim is to urge all parties to allow unhindered access for humanitarian relief workers so that they can evacuate the wounded and deliver essential supplies," she said before the trip.

Amos was denied access to the country last week by the government, which said it was not a "suitable time" to visit, Syrian state-run TV reported.


But Wednesday, aid workers were blocked once again from entering the Baba Amr neighborhood of Homs, shelled for nearly a month before rebel forces announced a "tactical retreat" last week.

"It has not been possible still to enter Baba Amr," said Saleh Dabbakeh, a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Damascus. He declined to explain why because of the sensitive nature of the situation, but said the group has reached some Syrians in places such as Hama, Idlib and Daraa.

Syrian authorities last week granted teams from the Red Cross and Syrian Arab Red Crescent Society permission to enter Baba Amr; but on Friday, the ambulances and aid workers carrying food and medical supplies were turned away. They have not been able to enter since.

SANA claimed authorities have restored "stability and security" to the neighborhood that was attacked by "armed terrorist groups." It said workers were "removing the debris left by the terrorists."

Throughout the yearlong uprising, Syria has blamed the violence on terrorists.

President Bashar al-Assad continued to argue that the Syrian people support his regime. At a meeting Tuesday, he "underscored that the power of every state lies in popular support," SANA reported Wednesday. And al-Assad insisted that Syrians "have once more proved their ability to safeguard Syria and build the renewed Syria through their determination to pursue reforms in parallel with encountering the terrorism backed by foreign sides."

Opposition activists in Homs say al-Assad's regime is trying to clean up evidence of a bloody massacre in Baba Amr before aid workers arrive.

Violence raged in Syria on Wednesday.

The opposition Local Coordination Committees in Syria (LCC) said at least 25 people, including two children and two military recruits, were killed Wednesday. The death toll included 13 people in Homs, five in Idlib, two in the Aleppo suburb of Atareb, three in Daraa and two in Damascus suburbs, the group said.

SANA said 14 "army and law enforcement martyrs" were buried Wednesday.

A member of Binnish Coordination Committee, a local opposition group, reported seeing 42 tanks and 131 armored personnel carriers heading toward Idlib. Activists were expecting the Syrian army to begin a full-fledged assault on the city.

China has evacuated most people working for its projects, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

In Hama, more than 15 homes were destroyed and an ancient citadel was severely damaged by artillery shelling from the regime, LCC activists said.

In some Damascus neighborhoods, security forces carried out a raid-and-arrest campaign and demolished homes, the LCC said.

Air France flights between Paris and Damascus have been suspended until further notice because of the ongoing violence, the company said Wednesday.

The U.N. Security Council is bouncing around another proposed resolution to end the violence and pursue "immediate humanitarian access."

Preliminary discussion began among the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Morocco, said Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Western diplomats said the goal is to bring Russia and China into the fold by creating a less harsh version of the last draft resolution, which the two countries vetoed, that would emphasize the humanitarian situation. They said they want the Russians and Chinese to join the call for a "permissive environment" for humanitarian access.

Russia, meanwhile, said Wednesday that humanitarian issues must be urgently resolved, Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti said.

Russian diplomat Mikhail Bogdanov told Syrian Ambassador to Russia Riyad Haddad that the country backed the missions of Amos and former Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the special envoy for the United Nations and the Arab League to Syria.

Russia is urging the Syrian forces and all parties to "stop to the violence and create conditions for the real and inclusive political dialogue between Syrians without outside interference." Haddad "confirmed the readiness of the Syrian government for a constructive dialogue with the opposition," the news outlet said.

Annan will begin his visit to the region Wednesday in Cairo. He will meet with the league's secretary-general, Nabil Elaraby.

"He will then proceed to Damascus on Saturday to seek an urgent end to all violence and human rights violations and to initiate efforts to promote a peaceful solution. He is also due to visit other countries in the region," the United Nations said.

The Syrian regime consistently has blamed the violence on "armed terrorist groups" and portrayed its forces as trying to protect the public interest and security. The Syrian government says that more than 2,000 security personnel have been killed in the violence.

CNN cannot independently confirm reports across Syria because the government has severely restricted the access of international journalists. But the vast majority of reports out of Syria indicate that al-Assad's forces are slaughtering civilians in opposition hotbeds in an attempt to wipe out dissidents seeking his ouster.

The United Nations has said at least 7,500 people have died in the crackdown, while opposition activists put the toll and more than 9,000.

CNN's Amir Ahmed, Nada Husseini, Zarifmo Aslamshoyeva and Joe Sterling contributed to this report.