{"id":61456,"date":"2012-02-22T17:08:51","date_gmt":"2012-02-22T17:08:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2012\/02\/western-journalists-killed-as-syrias-homs-pounded\/"},"modified":"2012-02-22T17:08:51","modified_gmt":"2012-02-22T17:08:51","slug":"western-journalists-killed-as-syrias-homs-pounded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2012\/02\/22\/western-journalists-killed-as-syrias-homs-pounded\/","title":{"rendered":"Western journalists killed as Syria\u2019s Homs pounded"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

DAMASCUS (AFP) \u2013 Two Western journalists were among 26 people killed Wednesday as Syrian forces pounded the rebel city of Homs, activists said, while calls mounted for a truce to allow in humanitarian aid.<\/p>\n

The latest barrage came a day after security forces killed at least 68 across the country, adding to an overall toll of 7,636 since anti-regime protests erupted last March, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.<\/p>\n

The toll includes 5,542 civilians, the head of the Britain-based monitoring group, Rami Abdel Rahman, said.<\/p>\n

At least 24 civilians were killed in shelling of the Homs neighbourhood of Baba Amr in the 19th straight day of a government forces assault on the central city, the Observatory said.<\/p>\n

American journalist Marie Colvin, who reported for London\u2019s Sunday Times, and French freelance photojournalist Remi Ochlik were killed in latest onslaught of the district, French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand said.<\/p>\n

France\u2019s President Nicolas Sarkozy said the deaths of the journalists showed that \u201cthis regime must go.\u201d<\/p>\n

From inside the quarter, activist Omar Shaker told AFP that two were killed and three others wounded as a shell crashed into a makeshift media centre set up by anti-regime militants.<\/p>\n

French newspaper Le Figaro said one of its reporters, Edith Bouvier, was wounded in the legs, and Rupert Murdoch, owner of The Sunday Times, said the paper\u2019s photojournalist Paul Conroy was injured.<\/p>\n

The area remained the target of random shelling, blocking attempts to remove the bodies, Shaker said.<\/p>\n

French television reporter Gilles Jacquier was killed in Homs last month when a shell exploded amid a group of journalists covering protests in the city on a visit organised by the authorities.<\/p>\n

Syrian citizen journalist Rami al-Sayyed, who provided live footage on the Internet from Baba Amr, was killed late Tuesday when a rocket hit a car in which he was travelling, activist Hadi Abdullah told AFP.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, two civilians were killed as Syrian troops fired at the city of Khan Shaykhun, in the northwestern province of Idlib, the Observatory said.<\/p>\n

And in the northern city of Aleppo, security forces opened fire at university students who staged a protest at the department of electric engineering, the Observatory said, adding several were wounded.<\/p>\n

A call by the International Committee for the Red Cross for a two-hour truce daily to deliver aid to afflicted areas has gained support from the United Nations, as well as from the United States and Russia.<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s call came a day after the ICRC said it was in talks with Syrian authorities and rebels to halt the violence.<\/p>\n

The talks were still at \u201cthe initial stage,\u201d Saleh Dabbakeh, the ICRC spokesman in Damascus, told AFP. \u201cWe are exploring what can be done to implement a ceasefire.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Geneva, the Syrian National Council began talks with ICRC officials on getting vital humanitarian assistance to crisis-hit areas.<\/p>\n

The main opposition group demanded the international community create \u201csafe havens\u201d and called on Russia to force the regime to allow access for aid convoys.<\/p>\n

In Paris, the SNC said it would attend a summit of the countries known as the \u201cFriends of Syria\u201d and ask for safe zones to protect civilians.<\/p>\n

Syrian authorities, meanwhile, blamed economic sanctions imposed by the West and Arab states, for the deterioration in health care service in the country.<\/p>\n

The rebel Free Syrian Army head, Colonel Riyadh al-Asaad, has welcomed the humanitarian truce call but voiced doubts that the \u201ccriminal\u201d regime would abide by a ceasefire.<\/p>\n

And the UN under secretary general for humanitarian affairs, Valerie Amos, called on Syria to allow aid groups unimpeded access to the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a major human rights crisis that is now moving into significant humanitarian consequences,\u201d Amos said.<\/p>\n

White House press secretary Jay Carney said \u201cwe support calls for ceasefires to allow for the provision of humanitarian supplies to Syrians who desperately need it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moscow, a staunch ally of Syrian, also supported the ICRC truce call, expressing \u201cserious concern\u201d about the humanitarian situation.<\/p>\n

But Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said Russia was not backing a French call for aid corridors because these would require support from foreign troops.<\/p>\n

Saudi King Abdullah told Russian President Dmitry Medvedev it was \u201cfutile\u201d to have dialogue on Syria, saying Moscow should have \u201ccoordinated with the Arabs\u2026 before using the veto\u201d to block a resolution on Syria in the UN Security Council.<\/p>\n

The conversation came two days ahead of an international conference in Tunisia to be attended by the Syrian opposition and not the regime, to find ways to end the bloodshed.<\/p>\n

Russia announced it would not attend the \u201cFriends of Syria\u201d meeting because it was being convened \u201cfor the purpose of supporting one side against another in an internal conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who will participate, said Syria was increasingly under pressure.<\/p>\n

The Friday meeting will \u201cdemonstrate that Assad\u2019s regime is increasingly isolated and that the brave Syrian people need our support and solidarity,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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