Al Arabiya , 05 June 2012 – Arab Gulf states were losing hope that a peace plan spearheaded by international envoy Kofi Annan held the solution to more than a year of violence in Syria, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said.
“We have begun to lose hope in the possibility of reaching a solution … within this framework,” al-Faisal told reporters in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah following a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council.
The Saudi foreign minister also stated that “it’s time” Russia changed stance on Syria.
“The time has come for Russia to change its position from supporting the Syrian regime to working to stop the killing and (supporting) a peaceful transition of power,” al-Faisal told the news conference.
In an apparent change of position Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said Tuesday that Moscow would agree to a political settlement that could see Assad leaving power.
The Saudi minister called on GCC countries to “to use their resources to… enable the Syrian people to defend themselves against the murderous and destructive machine of the government.”
“The killing and torture of civilians has continued,” said Faisal adding that the GCC must find a “quick solution to this crisis.”
On Tuesday, clashes between regime forces and armed opposition groups in the western province of Latakia killed 15 soldiers, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported, bringing the day’s death toll to at least 25.
“Fifteen soldiers were killed and dozens wounded, while three opposition fighters also died in continuing clashes in several villages of al-Heffa region in Latakia,” the Observatory’s Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
The clashes took place in the villages of Bakas, Shirkak, Babna, al-Jankil, and al-Dafil in the al-Heffa region, while troops stormed the town of al-Heffa itself, according to Abdel Rahman.
Asked about the high number of troops killed in recent days, he said: “This relates to the sharp increase in clashes across the country.
“Troops are vulnerable to heavy losses because they are not trained for street battles and are therefore exposed to attacks.
“What exacerbates those losses is that the army is fighting locals of those towns and villages, whether military defectors or civilians who took up arms against the regime, who know the area inside and out and enjoy public support,” said Abdel Rahman.
Opposition fighters are defending their towns by targeting approaching military vehicles with automatic weapons or grenades, which has taken a heavy toll on the army and security forces, he added.
The Observatory also reported clashes Tuesday in the town of Kfar Zita in Syria’s central Hama province, in villages in the northwestern province of Idlib, in the area of Lajat in the southern province of Daraa and near the town of Bianoon in Aleppo province, in the north.
Continuous army bombardment of opposition strongholds has cut food supplies to several cities raising fears of a dreadful humanitarian crisis.
Humanitarian access
The government has said it would ease humanitarian access to four of the hardest-hit provinces in Syria and would allow entrance to an unspecified number of aid workers from nine U.N. agencies and seven other non-governmental organizations.
John Ging, operations director for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said it will be “days, not weeks” for aid to be delivered to the provinces of Daraa, Deir el-Zour, Homs and Idlib, and urged Syria to keep up its end of the bargain.
“Today marks a step of progress, in that there is now an agreement with the Syrian government on the scale, scope and modality for a humanitarian response in Syria,” Ging told reporters in Geneva after emerging from a closed-door session to discuss the dire humanitarian situation in Syria.
“Whether this is a breakthrough or not will be evident in the coming days and weeks and it will be measured not in rhetoric, not in agreements, but in action on the ground.”
Syria’s uprising began with mostly peaceful protests, but a brutal government crackdown with tanks, machine guns and snipers led many in the opposition to take up arms.
