Assad troops accused of new massacre in Syria

Syrian troops with tanks and helicopters slaughtered more than 100 people in a central village, rights activists said Friday -- news that cast a dark shadow over efforts to stop the bloodshed.

Reports of the massacre came after UN Security Council ambassadors held their first talks on rival Russian and Western draft resolutions on Syria, with Moscow spurning calls for sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

No progress was reported, with a July 20 deadline looming. That is the day when the mandate for the UN mission to the conflict-stricken country -- where activists say more than 17,000 people have died since March 2011 -- ends.

If confirmed, the killing at Treimsa in the central province of Hama would rival the massacre at Houla on May 25 when a pro-Assad militia and government forces were accused of killing at least 108 people.

Another 55 people were killed in a similar offensive at Al-Kubeir on June 6. The government denied involvement in either incident.

Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told AFP, that more than 100 people were killed in Treimsa.

"Government troops bombarded the village using tanks and helicopters," he said.

Syria's state-run SANA news agency said there had been clashes between the army and an armed group in the village.

"There were heavy losses among the ranks of the terrorists," said the report, adding that three soldiers were killed.

Rahman said the bodies of 30 villagers had been identified following the attack, which brought the day's total death toll nationwide across to more than 150.

The Syrian government is losing control of growing areas of territory and is now battling to halt the further encroachment of opposition groups in the centre of the country, activists said.

According to the Syrian Observatory, more than 17,000 people have been killed since the uprising against Assad erupted in mid-March last year.

In New York, the UN Security Council wrangled over a resolution on the future of the troubled UN mission in Syria, as Russia rejected western demands for sanctions.

Russia and the Western powers have proposed rival resolutions on renewing the UN mission in Syria and securing the implementation of the peace plan of UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan.

Britain, the United States, France, Germany and Portugal want a resolution that would lay down a 10-day deadline for Assad to halt his offensive or face sanctions under Chapter VII of the UN Charter.

The Western powers insist there has to be pressure to back Annan's efforts. The United States has indicated that if there are no sanctions, the UN mission in Syria will have to end when its mandate expires on July 20.

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov called the Western resolution "unacceptable" and "unbalanced", Interfax news agency reported.

Russia's deputy UN ambassador Igor Pankin told reporters the sanctions question was a "red line".

Russia and China have twice used their powers as permanent members of the 15-nation Council to veto resolutions that just hinted at sanctions.

The first day of talks produced no progress between the two sides. The Security Council must hold a vote by July 20 when the mandate of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) runs out.

While Annan has called for "consequences" for the failure to implement his peace plan, Russia's own draft merely calls for a three-month renewal of the UN mission without any threat of international action.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton raised Syria in talks with China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi in Cambodia.

"We do look to the Security Council and all its members, including Russia, to join us in a serious resolution that gives special envoy Kofi Annan what he needs, what he's asking for and imposes real consequences on the regime for continuing to defy its obligations," Clinton said.

China has indicated it would support the Russian draft. The two countries have vetoed two other resolutions on Syria.

A growing list of defectors has pointed to widening cracks in Assad's power base, including the former Syrian ambassador to Iraq.

"I call on all free and worthy people in Syria, particularly in the military, to immediately rejoin the ranks of the revolution," Nawaf Fares, the onetime envoy, said in a message aired on Al-Jazeera television.

Fares, who turned against the Damascus government on Wednesday, has taken refuge in Qatar, a key backer of the Syrian opposition, according to Iraqi authorities.

US presidential spokesman Jay Carney said Fares' move was "another sign of the desperation that is enveloping the Assad regime."

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said that General Manaf Tlass, who defected last week, has spoken with Syria's opposition. "Contacts have been made," Fabius told journalists.

Tlass was a member of Assad's inner circle and a childhood friend of the Syrian leader.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sanctions-ultimatum-pressure-mounts-assad-025935665.html

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