Russia condemns Syria at UN

Russia’s changing tone came as activists claimed Syrian army deserters killed 27 soldiers on Thursday in and near the southern city of Deraa, in some of the deadliest attacks on forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad since the uprising against his rule began.

In October, Russia and China vetoed a west European draft resolution that threatened sanctions. Russia has circulated its own draft twice, but western nations said it made an unacceptable attempt to assign blame equally to government and opposition.

Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters the new draft “considerably strengthens all aspects of the previous text” and that “clearly the Syrian authorities are singled out in a number of instances”.

He said Russia did not believe both sides in Syria were equally responsible for violence, but acknowledged it called on all parties to halt violence and contained no threat of sanctions, which he said Moscow continued to oppose.

Western officials welcomed the Russian move, but French Ambassador Gerard Araud said it needed “a lot of amendments”.

In Washington, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she could not support some parts of the draft, saying: “Hopefully we can work with the Russians, who for the first time at least are recognising that this is a matter that needs to go to the security council”.

In London, British Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt said Russia might hold the key to tightening sanctions on Syria, but Britain would also look at ways of imposing new sanctions on Damascus through the European Union.

“We will continue to look for new ways in energy, in transport, as well as financial restrictions, to put pressure on the Syrian regime,” Mr Burt said.

The United Nations says 5,000 civilians have been killed in President Assad’s crackdown since it began in March.

‘Ordered from the top’

Assad has denied any orders were issued to kill demonstrators and says gunmen have killed 1,100 of his forces.

But a report by Human Rights Watch, based on testimony from 60 army defectors, said 74 commanders and officials had “ordered, authorized, or condoned widespread killings, torture, and unlawful arrests”.

“Defectors gave us names, ranks, and positions of those who gave the orders to shoot and kill, and each and every official named in this report, up to the very highest levels of the Syrian government, should answer for their crimes against the Syrian people,” said Anna Neistat, associate director for emergencies at Human Rights Watch.

At a news conference in New York on Wednesday, the UN secretary general said the situation in Syria “cannot go on”.

“In the name of humanity, it is time for the international community to act,” Mr Ban said.