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| Syria: rocket attack shatters fragile ceasefire - live updates | Syria: rocket attack shatters fragile ceasefire - live updates |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| 9.34am: Syria: Talk of "ceasefire" is a deluded, argues Rime Allaf, associate fellow at the thinktank Chatham House. In an article for Bitter Lemons she writes: | |
| Syrians are watching the latest half-hearted attempt to end the violence and engage the regime diplomatically. Indeed, the six-point plan devised by United Nations Special Envoy Kofi Annan begins with a ceasefire that the regime has completely ignored, shelling and killing with impunity while a handful of blue helmets parade around the country. What should have been an urgent action to protect civilians has become an ugly, violent version of the Emperor's New Clothes, with everyone pretending to be concerned about the "fragile ceasefire" that never was in the first place. | |
| 9.25am: Syria: More details from the International Committee of the Red Cross about the volunteer who was killed on Tuesday. In a statement issued last night it said: | |
| On the evening of Tuesday (24 April), two incidents led to the killing of a Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) volunteer, Mohammed al-Khadraa, and the wounding of three others in the city of Douma, 13km northwest of Damascus. | |
| In both cases, the SARC ambulances were shot at while heading to the SARC's local branch office in Douma. Throughout the night, the lives of some 30 volunteers were at risk. There were no wounded in the ambulances at the time of the attack, only volunteers. | |
| We can't say if the SARC vehicles were deliberately targeted. However, the volunteers and the vehicles that came under fire were clearly marked with the Red Crescent emblem. We don't know who is responsible for these attacks. The ICRC and the SARC will further look into the matter and address those responsible in a bilateral and confidential manner. | |
| This morning [Wednesday], the ICRC urgently contacted the ministry of foreign affairs and requested a temporary local truce to be able to evacuate all wounded persons, including the three injured SARC volunteers, to safer areas where they can be treated. The ICRC also wanted to be able to evacuate the other volunteers who had taken shelter at the Douma office last night and to deliver medical assistance sufficient to treat some 100 injured. | |
| The ministry responded to this request, and the ICRC made sure that all concerned parties agreed on a ceasefire, applicable today and tomorrow [Wednesday and Thursday]. | |
| This afternoon, the SARC volunteers left Douma and are now all safe in Damascus. Tomorrow, the ICRC plans to deliver medical assistance to the Douma area. | |
| 9.18am: Syria: The UN has published a copy of an agreement between the Syrian government and the UN over the ground rules for the mission to monitor the incomplete ceasefire. | |
| It starts by affirming Syria's "sovereignty and territorial integrity", but it goes on to spell out the freedom of movement the observers should be allowed. | |
| Here's a section: | |
| (a) Freedom of movement/action to conduct their tasks in support of the mandate | |
| (b) Freedom to conduct any type of mandated operation at any time, by foot or by car | |
| (c) Freedom to transport and conduct the medical evacuation of United Nations personnel | |
| (d) Freedom to take pictures of military units and military equipment for the purpose of investigating violations | |
| (e) Freedom to park and/or stay in the vicinity of military positions of the Syrian Government and places of the armed opposition in accordance with the mandate | |
| (f) Freedom to use technical equipment to monitor the compliance with the ceasefire, the six-point plan, the preliminary understanding and any subsequent agreements (Global Positioning System (GPS), communications, photography) | |
| (g) Freedom to install temporary observation posts inside population centres | |
| (h) Freedom to monitor convoys of military vehicles approaching population centres | |
| (i) Freedom to access detention centres and medical centres in coordination with the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent in the context of the implementation of mandated tasks | |
| (j) Freedom to investigate any potential violation | |
| 9.07am: Syria: Very disturbing video has emerged purporting to show Syrian troops burying alive a man for sending videos to the international media. | 9.07am: Syria: Very disturbing video has emerged purporting to show Syrian troops burying alive a man for sending videos to the international media. |
| The footage [warning: distressing content] cannot be independently verified. | The footage [warning: distressing content] cannot be independently verified. |
| 8.40am: (all times BST) Welcome to Middle East Live. Two weeks after the start of an incomplete ceasefire in Syria scores of people have been killed in a rocket attack in Hama, according to activists. | 8.40am: (all times BST) Welcome to Middle East Live. Two weeks after the start of an incomplete ceasefire in Syria scores of people have been killed in a rocket attack in Hama, according to activists. |
| Here's a roundup of the latest developments. | Here's a roundup of the latest developments. |
| Syria | Syria |
| • Up to 70 people have been killed in an attack on a house in Hama, the BBC reports citing activists. Video footage showed spontaneous protests at the scene as bodies were pulled from the rubble. Warning: the following clip contains disturbing images. | • Up to 70 people have been killed in an attack on a house in Hama, the BBC reports citing activists. Video footage showed spontaneous protests at the scene as bodies were pulled from the rubble. Warning: the following clip contains disturbing images. |
| Activists said several houses in the Mashaa at-Tayyar district in southern Hama were destroyed by a big explosion. State media said 16 people died in the blast in a house used as a bomb factory by "armed terrorist groups". | Activists said several houses in the Mashaa at-Tayyar district in southern Hama were destroyed by a big explosion. State media said 16 people died in the blast in a house used as a bomb factory by "armed terrorist groups". |
| • France has threatened to demand international intervention if Bashar al-Assad's forces fail to halt the violence by early May, the Independent reports. Alain Juppé, the French foreign minister, said he would push for a Chapter 7 resolution – which allows for military action to "restore international peace and security" – if Damascus does not comply with the ceasefire. He described 5 May, when the UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan is due to present a report to the security council on Syria's compliance with his plan, as the "moment of truth". | • France has threatened to demand international intervention if Bashar al-Assad's forces fail to halt the violence by early May, the Independent reports. Alain Juppé, the French foreign minister, said he would push for a Chapter 7 resolution – which allows for military action to "restore international peace and security" – if Damascus does not comply with the ceasefire. He described 5 May, when the UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan is due to present a report to the security council on Syria's compliance with his plan, as the "moment of truth". |
| Like Juppé the US state department also called for a more rapid deployment of all 300 UN monitors. Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland confirmed that the US was considering "increased pressure" in case the Annan's plan failed. | Like Juppé the US state department also called for a more rapid deployment of all 300 UN monitors. Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland confirmed that the US was considering "increased pressure" in case the Annan's plan failed. |
| • The UN estimates that Annan will have a budget of almost $8m for his as international envoy to Syria, according to UN Report.. Annan will have a staff of 18 people and travel alone will cost more than $1.5m over the next 10 months, a UN documents reveals. | • The UN estimates that Annan will have a budget of almost $8m for his as international envoy to Syria, according to UN Report.. Annan will have a staff of 18 people and travel alone will cost more than $1.5m over the next 10 months, a UN documents reveals. |
| • Salameh Kaileh, a Palestinian-Syrian intellectual and activist who has criticised both the government and the external and internal opposition, has been arrested from his home "without explanation," according to Jadaliyya. Launching a campaign to get him freed, the magazine said: | • Salameh Kaileh, a Palestinian-Syrian intellectual and activist who has criticised both the government and the external and internal opposition, has been arrested from his home "without explanation," according to Jadaliyya. Launching a campaign to get him freed, the magazine said: |
| It is because Salameh is an independent voice and is an active presence for the future of Syria that the Assad regime decided to muzzle him in custody. That is the only explanation. | It is because Salameh is an independent voice and is an active presence for the future of Syria that the Assad regime decided to muzzle him in custody. That is the only explanation. |
| • Potential Republican vice presidential candidate Marco Rubio said the US should create a "safe haven" for the Syrian opposition but stopped short of urging Washington to arm the rebels, suggesting they were not yet organized enough. | • Potential Republican vice presidential candidate Marco Rubio said the US should create a "safe haven" for the Syrian opposition but stopped short of urging Washington to arm the rebels, suggesting they were not yet organized enough. |
| Speaking at the Brookings Institution thinktank, Rubio urged a more muscular US response on Syria, saying others see it as a test of US leadership and will conclude Washington "is no longer a reliable security partner" if it does not step up | Speaking at the Brookings Institution thinktank, Rubio urged a more muscular US response on Syria, saying others see it as a test of US leadership and will conclude Washington "is no longer a reliable security partner" if it does not step up |
| Egypt | Egypt |
| • Egypt's election commission has reinstated former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq in the presidential race, a day after he was disqualified. The Islamist-dominated parliament passed a law barring former senior officials of Hosni Mubarak's regime from running for office, but the commission referred the law to the constitutional court on Wednesday and then reinstated Shafiq. | • Egypt's election commission has reinstated former prime minister Ahmed Shafiq in the presidential race, a day after he was disqualified. The Islamist-dominated parliament passed a law barring former senior officials of Hosni Mubarak's regime from running for office, but the commission referred the law to the constitutional court on Wednesday and then reinstated Shafiq. |
| Bahrain | Bahrain |
| • Hunger strike Abdulhadi al-Khawaja is in "good health" and receiving medical care, Bahraini officials insisted after claims by his family that he had disappeared from a military hospital, al-Jazeera reports. The statement by Bahrain's Interior Ministry came after social media postings raised alarms about the fate of Khawaja, who has been on hunger strike since February 8. | • Hunger strike Abdulhadi al-Khawaja is in "good health" and receiving medical care, Bahraini officials insisted after claims by his family that he had disappeared from a military hospital, al-Jazeera reports. The statement by Bahrain's Interior Ministry came after social media postings raised alarms about the fate of Khawaja, who has been on hunger strike since February 8. |
| • Police have raided more homes and made several more arrests in its continuing crackdown against protesters, opposition activists claimed. The opposition party, al-Wefaq, posted a photograph purporting to show of one of the homes raided: | • Police have raided more homes and made several more arrests in its continuing crackdown against protesters, opposition activists claimed. The opposition party, al-Wefaq, posted a photograph purporting to show of one of the homes raided: |
| Regime Mercenaries attack and break into houses late at night in Dimistan village. Is this law and order?! #Bahrain twitter.com/AlWefaqEN/stat… | Regime Mercenaries attack and break into houses late at night in Dimistan village. Is this law and order?! #Bahrain twitter.com/AlWefaqEN/stat… |
| — AlwefaqEN (@AlWefaqEN) April 26, 2012 | — AlwefaqEN (@AlWefaqEN) April 26, 2012 |