Beijing says China, Russia 'united on Syria'

5 Jun 2012, 7:17 pm   -   Source: AFP
Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Vladimir Putin walk after reviewing an honour guard during a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. (Getty Images)

Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Vladimir Putin walk after reviewing an honour guard during a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. (Getty Images)

Beijing says China and Russia oppose foreign intervention and forced regime change in Syria, as Russian President Vladimir Putin began a trip aimed at bolstering ties between the two neighbours.

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Beijing says China and Russia oppose foreign intervention and forced regime change in Syria, as Russian President Vladimir Putin began a trip aimed at bolstering ties between the two neighbours.

Meanwhile, a monitoring group says at least six people were killed as the Syrian army went on the offensive against rebel fighters, seizing a town in the central province of Hama.

Beijing and Moscow have walked in lockstep on Syria, to growing anger from Arab and Western nations, and they are expected to reinforce their alliance during the Russian president's three-day visit to China for a security summit.
  
"On the Syrian issue, China and Russia have stayed in close communication and coordination both in New York, Moscow and Beijing," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin told reporters.
  
"The position of both sides is clear to all -- there should be an immediate end to violence and the political dialogue process should be launched as soon as possible," he said.
  
"China and Russia share the same position on these points and both sides oppose external intervention into the Syrian situation and oppose regime change by force."
  
China and Russia vetoed two UN Security Council resolutions criticising President Bashar al-Assad's regime earlier this year, but they have also voiced support for UN-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan's peace plan for Syria.
  
But as Syrian government troops continue to fight armed rebels in a conflict that has now lasted 15 months, doubts have emerged over the effectiveness of Annan's plan, which came into effect mid-April.
  
The envoy himself has demanded a "serious review" of his deadlocked efforts to end the bloodshed, and French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said at the weekend that France "has not excluded military intervention" in Syria.
  
Rights groups say as many as 2,400 of the more than 13,500 people killed since the Syrian uprising began in March 2011 have died since the ceasefire brokered by Annan was supposed to come into force on April 12.
  
Liu acknowledged the crisis was "at a critical juncture."
  
"We believe the two countries will continue to step up close communication and consultation on the issue to push forward the easing of tensions and a political resolution to the Syrian issue at an early date," he said.

After three days of bombardment, troops and pro-regime militiamen backed by tanks and armoured cars entered Kfar Zita, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding that rebel fighters had withdrawn.
  
Militiamen looted homes and shops after town residents fled, the NGO said.
  
It said four civilians were killed overnight in a "huge military operation" in the Kfar Oweid area of Idlib, a province bordering Turkey that is a stronghold of rebel forces.
  
The foes also clashed in several other areas of the province in northwest Syria, said the Britain-based Observatory.
  
The monitoring group said districts of the flashpoint city of Homs, also north of Damascus, came under artillery fire "as part of a campaign by regular forces to destroy them completely."

In Latakia on the Mediterranean, two rebel fighters were killed in an attack by regime troops on the town of Al-Hafa, the group said. It said one of those killed was an officer who had defected from the regular army to join insurgents.
  
"Clashes in and around Al-Hafa are ongoing, and regime forces are attacking the town with heavy machinegun fire and mortar shells," the Observatory's head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
  
In Idlib city, five soldiers were wounded in a blast, the Observatory said, while the region was the scene of violent clashes throughout Monday, as were Daraa in the south, Aleppo in northern Syria and Latakia.
  
The group said anti-regime protests were held in the provinces of Damascus, Hama, Idlib and Raqa, in the country's northeast.
  
In Aleppo, Syria's commercial hub and once a regime bastion, demonstrators chanted: "Revolution of dignity and freedom!" In Damascus suburbs, protesters with covered faces chanted: "God protect the (rebel) Free Syrian Army!"
  
On Monday, 38 people were killed in violence across the country, including at least 18 civilians, the Observatory said.
 

Syria Violence

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