DAMASCUS, Syria — Russia’s foreign minister received a hero’s welcome Tuesday as he arrived in Damascus for talks with President Bashar al Assad, while the Syrian regime vowed to press ahead with its deadly assault on Homs until all “terrorists” were crushed.
Thousands of flag-waving regime supporters lined the streets of Damascus to greet Sergei Lavrov’s motorcade, with one woman telling state TV, “I want to thank Russia and China for their stand in support of the Syrian people.”
Lavrov described the meeting as “very useful” and said Assad was committed to finding a peaceful solution to the crisis.
“It’s clear that effort to stop use of force must coincide with a declaration of dialogue between all political forces,” Lavrov was quoted as saying by the Ria Novosti news agency. “Today [Tuesday], we have received confirmation of the Syrian president’s readiness to work toward this task.”
The Russian top diplomat also said Assad was ready to move forward with constitutional reform.
“President Assad said that in the next few days, he will meet with a commission which has prepared a new constitution project. This work is complete — now a time will be announced for the referendum for this document, which is so important to Syria,” Lavrov said.
The visit risked escalating international anger toward Russia, which along with China vetoed a weekend UN resolution condemning the regime’s brutal crackdown since the uprising flared in March last year.
Italy, France and Spain on Tuesday followed Britain in withdrawing their ambassadors from Syria for consultations. The US said Monday that it was closing its embassy in Damascus due to security concerns.
Lavrov said Monday that condemnations of the veto verged on “hysteria” and insisted that his trip was aimed at achieving “the swiftest stabilization” through democratic reform.
China said Tuesday that it was considering sending envoys of its own to Syria.
“China is … considering sending people to relevant countries in the region so as to play a constructive role in the political settlement of the Syrian issue,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin was quoted as saying by AFP. “We hope the mediation efforts by the Russian side can pay off.”
While Assad met with one of his few remaining international friends, his troops bombarded the flashpoint central city of Homs for a fourth day and vowed to continue until order was re-established.
“Operations to hunt down terrorist groups will continue until security and order are re-established in all neighborhoods of Homs and its environs and until we overcome all armed persons terrorizing citizens and threatening their life,” the interior ministry said in a statement carried by the SANA state news agency.
Heavy gunfire and shelling were heard in the central city, and plumes of smoke poured from devastated buildings, a Sky News correspondent in the city reported.
“The rocket shelling didn’t stop through the night. The rocket shelling and the mortar bombing is all around Homs,” an activist in the city told Al Jazeera. “The people don’t have bread to eat. The condition in the neighborhood is quite miserable. Snipers are everywhere. We are just waiting to be killed. We don’t know what to do.”
Iran on Tuesday denied aiding the crackdown, but fighters in Homs suspected Iranian officers were in charge of the assault, Sky News reported.
Hundreds of people have been killed in Homs since the regime launched a major campaign four days ago, drawing widespread international condemnation.
At least 21 civilians and four soldiers were killed Tuesday in violence across Syria, the majority of them in Homs, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a statement.
Activists say more than 6,000 people have been killed since March last year, though the UN stopped compiling figures due to the difficulty in verifying information.
To read more, go to Sky News.