Syria’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Fayssal Al-Hamwi, accused members of the UN Human Rights Council of promoting terrorism and prolonging the crisis in his country by holding an urgent meeting on Syria.

“Anybody who heard the Syrian ambassador should be aware that his comments were borderline out of touch with reality,” Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe, the US representative to the 47-nation council, told reporters.

“I think it’s a reflection to some extent of what’s going on with the Assad regime itself, holding a referendum that is farcical and a mockery of democratic processes when they’re in the midst of a humanitarian crisis of their own creation,” she said. “I think the Syrian ambassador’s comments were equally delusional.”

Meanwhile, wounded British photographer Paul Conroy and French reporter Edith Bouvier, who had been trapped in the besieged Syrian city of Homs, were both safe in Lebanon yesterday, officials said, as Syrian forces pounded the city for a 25th straight day.

“Paul Conroy is at the British Embassy and in good condition. Edith Bouvier is also here in Lebanon but we have no information as to where she is exactly.”

Tunisia’s president said he is ready to offer asylum to Assad as part of a negotiated solution to the conflict.

Government forces have killed more than 7,500 civilians so far, a UN official said yesterday, and Hillary Clinton, the top US diplomat, suggested the Syrian leader may be a war criminal.

Secretary of State Clinton told the US Senate it could be argued that Assad is a war criminal, but said using such labels “limits options to persuade leaders to step down from power.”