World pressure mounts on Syria

SYRIA: World pressure increased on Wednesday on Syria to end its deadly crackdown on anti-regime protests as President Bashar al-Assad pledged to pursue a relentless battle against “terrorist groups.”

A day after Turkey warned that Ankara has “run out of patience” with the crackdown that has claimed more than 2,000 lives since mid-March, Brazil, India and South Africa all stepped into the diplomatic fray.

“The Brazilian representative is already in Damascus, where he awaits his counterparts,” and their meeting with Foreign Minister Walid Muallem “should take place on Wednesday,” a Brazilian foreign ministry spokesman said.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Amr became the latest Arab official to call for an “immediate end” to the violence in Syria, warning that the country was “heading to the point of no return.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reaffirmed Moscow’s call for an end to the violence and the launch of deep-rooted political reforms in Syria, during a phone call with Muallem.

A Russian statement stressed the “priority of ending violence and continuing efforts to conduct comprehensive political, social and economic reforms in Syria without delay.”

US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland highlighted the toughening US and international stance, saying Assad seemed deaf to calls from around the world to end the bloodshed.

Gulf Cooperation Council nations Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait have all recalled their ambassadors to Damascus for consultations.

Overnight, some 2,000 people protested outside the Syrian embassy in Kuwait City to demand its envoy’s expulsion and the “freezing” of relations with Damascus. DAMASCUS, Wednesday, AFP