US President Barack Obama said earlier that Muammar Qaddafi's death showed that "the rule of an iron fist inevitably comes to an end." Asked whether that statement was meant to send a message to Assad, who has led a military crackdown on seven months of pro-democracy protests, White House spokesman Jay Carney stuck to familiar language about Syria. "The president believes that Syria's leader has lost his legitimacy to rule," Carney said.
Meanwhile, Clashes raged on Thursday in Syria between troops and suspected army deserters as more civilians were reportedly killed in the crisis-hit country, a rights group said.
On the diplomatic front the Arab League announced that Syrian authorities had agreed to allow a delegation to visit the country next week as part of efforts by the 22-member organization to defuse the spiraling violence.
“We have received approval from the Syrian government to receive a ministerial delegation headed by Qatar on Wednesday, Oct. 26,” Arab League Assistant Secretary-General Wagih Hanafi said in Cairo.
The delegation will also include Arab League Secretary General Nabil Al-Arabi and the foreign ministers of Algeria Egypt, Oman and Sudan.
Violence in Syria has intensified in recent weeks as defections from the army reportedly increase, and at least five civilians died in Thursday’s violence, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
“Violent clashes today pitted troops to gunmen believed to be army deserters” in Burhaniya, near the town of Qusayr in central Homs province, said Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads rights watchdog.
He quoted residents as saying “several soldiers were killed and wounded and two military vehicles were destroyed,” but was unable to give a precise casualty toll.
Abdel Rahman told AFP power, water and communication had been cut off in Qusayr on Thursday.
Meanwhile UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called on Damascus to end its incursions into Lebanon, which have left three Syrians dead in recent weeks, warning the raids could ignite tensions in the region. “I strongly deplore the violent incursions and raids into Lebanese towns and villages by Syrian security forces that resulted in death and injury,” said Ban in a report.
“I call upon the government of the Syrian Arab Republic immediately to cease all such incursions and to respect Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Ban added.
“These incursions and the ongoing crisis in Syria carry the potential of igniting further tensions inside Lebanon and beyond.”
