Syrian troops shell besieged town, Russia warns against military intervention

Russia will block any attempt by the West to secure a United Nations support for the use of force against Syria, Russia's foreign minister said Wednesday.            

Sergey Lavrov said that Russia's draft of a U.N. Security Council resolution on the violence in Syria circulated Monday was aimed at making it explicitly clear that nothing could justify a foreign military interference. Western diplomats said it fell short of their demand for strong condemnation of Syria's President Bashar Assad's crackdown on civilians, that has left more than 5,000 people dead.                

The Security Council has been unable to agree on a resolution since the violence began in March because a strong opposition from Russia and China. In October, they vetoed a West European draft resolution, backed by the U.S., that condemned Assad's attacks and threatened sanctions.                 

Lavrov said that Russia would reject any attempts at securing a U.N. sanction for a military interference in Syrian affairs.                   

"If some intend to use force at all cost ... we can hardly prevent that from happening," he said. "But let them do it at their own initiative on their own conscience, they won't get any authorization from the U.N. Security Council."              
             
"We haven't violated any international agreements or the U.N. Security Council resolutions," he said. "We are only trading with Syria in items, which aren't banned by the international law."                

Lavrov accused the West of turning a blind eye to attacks by opposition militants and supplies of weapons to the Syrian opposition from abroad.                    

Activists say Syrian troops have shelled a town near the border with Lebanon, and living conditions are deteriorating there after six days of siege.              

A resident and activist of the mountain resort of Zabadani describes the town as a "war zone." He says dozens of anti-government army defectors are deployed at the entrances to prevent any attempt by forces loyal to President Bashar Assad to storm the area.              

The man who identified himself only as Fares for fear of government reprisals told The Associated Press by phone that the town was shelled with mortars shortly before noon Wednesday.