The head of
a U.N. observer team in Syria cautioned Friday that the mission cannot achieve
a permanent end to the violence without genuine talks between the two sides
that have been locked in a violent conflict for more than a year.
In the field, the Syrian observatory
for Human Rights reported that 7 people were killed, including two children, in
violence in several Syrian cities.
Maj. Gen.
Robert Mood, the Norwegian head of the 200-strong observer team, spoke as
government forces pounded a rebel-held town north of the central city of Homs
with artillery shells and rockets, according to Syrian opposition groups.
Mood warned
that no number of observers can achieve "a permanent end to the violence
if the commitment to give dialogue a chance is not genuine from all internal
and external actors." He spoke at a news conference in the Syrian capital,
Damascus.
"We
condemn in the strongest terms violence in all its forms by all parties,"
Ahmad Fawzi, spokesman for Kofi Annan, said in Geneva. "This must come to
an end for any political process to be launched and to have a glimmer of
success."
But dialogue
seems a distant hope. The opposition refuses to engage with the regime while
the killings continue, and the government brands its opponents as terrorists.
Syrian
President Bashar Assad denies that there is a popular will behind the country's
uprising, saying foreign extremists are driving the unrest to destroy the
country.
Friday's
shelling is part of an offensive that has been going on for days as the regime
tries to retake the town of Rastan, which has been under the control of rebels
since January.
Two main
activist groups, the Local Coordination Committees and the Britain-based Syrian
Observatory for human rights, said Rastan was under intense shelling as of
Friday morning. Videos posted online showed thick smoke and shells slamming
into districts in Rastan.
"I
am more convinced than ever that no amount of violence can resolve this
crisis," Mood said in Damascus. He also said recent suicide bombs and
roadside blasts were alarming. "I am concerned about the incidents where
explosives, improvised devices are targeting innocent civilians, innocent
people because it is not going to help the situation."
On Thursday,
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he believes that "alarmingly and
surprisingly," al-Qaida must have been behind the massive attack in the
Syrian capital last week.
The twin
suicide car bombings outside a military intelligence building on May 10 bore
the al-Qaeda-style tactics seen in neighboring Iraq. Some 55 people died and
dozens were injured in the Damascus blasts.
Ban said
that al-Qaeda's involvement in the region "has created very serious
problems."
He also
noted that there have also been two attacks against unarmed U.N. monitors
trying to reduce the violence in Syria that began more than a year ago with a
popular uprising against Assad.
His comments
were made to students attending the annual Model U.N. Conference in New York.
Meanwhile, The Syrian opposition called on Friday for demonstrating as a tribute to
the Aleppo University where 4 students were killed a few weeks ago by
pro-regime forces that stormed the campus following an anti-regime protest.
AP/LBCI