Syrian rebels on Wednesday gave
President Bashar al-Assad a 48-hour deadline to abide by an international peace
plan to end violence or face consequences, a rebel spokesman said.
"The joint leadership of the Free Army inside Syria
announces that it is giving the regime a final 48 hour deadline to implement
the resolutions of the U.N. Security Council," Colonel Qassim Saadeddine
said in a statement posted on YouTube.
"It ends on Friday at 1200 (0900 GMT) then we are free from
any commitment and we will defend and protect the civilians, their villages and
their cities."
President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said on Wednesday that Russia is not considering changing its stance on Syria and that any attempts to apply pressure on Moscow are "hardly appropriate".
Russia earlier said that the expulsion of Syrian envoys from Western nations is "counterproductive" because it eliminates a channel that could be used to influence President Bashar al-Assad's government.
Syria's Foreign Ministry is expelling the charge d'affaires of the
Netherlands and is giving her 72 hours to leave the country, state
television said on Wednesday.
In turn, Turkey has asked Syria to withdraw all its diplomats from Turkey within 72 hours in a protest against the massacre of more than 100 civilians in the Syrian town of Houla last week, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
The ministry also said Turkey and the international community will take further "measures" if crimes against humanity continue in Syria.
Two civilians and two military men were killed
in Syria on Wednesday dawn, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported,
citing clashes in Reef Damascus
and Hama.
According to the observatory, 98 people, including
61 civilians, were killed in Syria’s violence
on Tuesday.
The head of U.N. observers in Syria, Major-General Robert Mood, said on Wednesday 13 bodies had been discovered in the east of the country, with their hands tied behind their backs and signs that some had been shot in the head from close range.
"General Mood is deeply disturbed by this appalling and inexcusable act," a statement issued by the observer mission said. "He calls on all parties to exercise restraint and end the cycle of violence for the sake of Syria and the Syrian people."
The U.N. Human Rights Council will hold a special
session on Syria this Friday to probe last Friday's massacre in the town of
Houla, diplomats involved in planning the meeting in Geneva said on Wednesday.
In turn, China reiterated its opposition to military
intervention or regime change in Syria, and called again for all sides to
support mediation efforts by peace envoy Kofi Annan.
Separately, Japan has ordered the Syrian ambassador in
Tokyo to leave the country because of concerns about violence in that country
against civilians.
Japan's foreign minister, Koichiro Genba, said the
order was made Wednesday.
Joint Special Envoy of the United Nations and the Arab
League Kofi Annan left Syria on Wednesday after a short visit during which he
met with President Bashar Assad and the Syrian Foreign Minister Walid
al-Moallem.
Before his departure Annan briefly met with Deputy
Foreign Minister Dr Faisal al-Miqdad in his hotel in Damascus.
Annan then left the hotel in a UN vehicle convoy
accompanied by al-Miqdad and Major General Robert Mood head of the UN observer
mission to Syria (UNSMIS).
Following his meeting with Assad, Annan called on the
government and "all government-backed militias" to stop military
operations and show maximum restraint. He also called on the armed opposition
to stop all violence.
Australia announced that it is ready to hold talks on
a possible military intervention in Syria, but warned of several obstacles.
Meanwhile,
Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs Didier Reynders said that the international community will “not
get anything” from Syrian President Bashar Assad without a military presence in
the country.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak called on
Wednesday for tougher world action against Assad, saying he doubted the Syrian
president "lost an hour's sleep" over the expulsion of his envoys
from several capitals after the Houla massacre.
"These events in Syria
compel the world to take action, not just talk, but action. These are crimes
against humanity and the international community must not stand on the
sidelines," Barak said in a speech at the Institute for National Security
Studies in Tel Aviv.
The head of the US House Intelligence Committee warned
against the armament of the Syrian opposition, saying: “I do not think that
arming the opposition is the right reply”.
REUTERS/AP/LBCI