Syria rebels in new attack as Russia warns of war

The rocket-propelled grenade attack in northwestern Idlib province, near Turkey, came as security forces killed four people, including a nine-year-old girl, despite an Arab League ultimatum to halt the bloodshed or risk sanctions.

"A group of dissident troops attacked regime youth offices, where security agents were meeting, with rocket-propelled grenades and clashes broke out," said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

On Wednesday, fighters of the Free Syrian Army, a rebel group formed by army deserters that has inflicted mounting losses on the regular army in recent months, raided an air force intelligence base in Harasta, outside the capital.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said it was "not surprising" the opposition was resorting to violence in its campaign to end President Bashar al-Assad\'s 11 years of iron-fisted rule.

"We don\'t condone it in any way, shape or form but... it\'s the brutal tactics of Assad and his regime... (that) is now taking Syria down a very dangerous path," he said.

"We don\'t condone violence, not on the part of the Syrian military, the Syrian regime nor on the part of the opposition," Toner said, without actually condemning opposition attacks.

In Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the global community should call on all sides in Syria to stop violence, including the opposition.

Pointing to Wednesday\'s attack, Lavrov said "this was quite similar to a true civil war."

Russia has been deeply opposed to Western efforts to internationalise the crisis, fearing it might clear the way for Libya-style Western military intervention under a UN mandate.

On October 4, it joined with China in vetoing a Western-drafted Security Council resolution that would have threatened Assad\'s regime with "targeted measures" if it continued its deadly crackdown on protesters, which the UN says has killed more than 3,500 people.

Leading Syrian dissident Haithem al-Maleh took issue with Russia\'s warning of civil war, saying the intelligence base, where a number of detainees were being held, was a legitimate target in the protection of civilians.

"This attack on one of the worst departments of the security services does not mean a civil war. This army of defectors is protecting civilians, no more, no less," Maleh told Al-Jazeera television.

In New York, European nations said they have key Arab support for a UN General Assembly resolution condemning human rights abuses by Syria\'s regime, whose success could increase pressure for the Security Council to act.

"The Arab world has sent a very clear message: the massive human rights violations and the suffering of the Syrian people have to stop," German Ambassador Peter Wittig said.

But Wittig said it was still imperative for the Security Council to condemn Assad.

"No misunderstanding: this is no substitute for council action. We still see a need for the council to live up to its responsibilities and we expect that council members don\'t easily dismiss the strong voices from the region."

On the ground, security forces killed the nine-year-old girl during a search operation in the town of Subkhan, in the eastern oil hub of Deir Ezzor, the Observatory said.

Two civilians were killed in the central city of Homs and a fourth near Maaret al-Numan in Idlib, the watchdog added.

The deaths came after at least 23 people were killed on Wednesday, even as Arab League foreign ministers, who had suspended Syria at the weekend, met in Morocco and gave Damascus three days to halt the bloodshed or risk sanctions.

A League diplomat in Rabat told AFP "Syria\'s suspension came into effect yesterday (Wednesday) but that is not to say that the League is going to sever its contacts with the Syrian government."

Ankara, a onetime Assad ally that has become one of its most outspoken critics, joined the Morocco meetings.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stepped up the rhetoric on Thursday, saying more would be heard from the international community if Syria had rich oil resources like Libya.

"The silence and unresponsiveness of those who have an appetite for Libya to the massacres in Syria is creating irreparable wounds in the conscience of humanity," he charged.

Erdogan is due to meet French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe on Thursday to discuss Syria.

In Istanbul, the leader of Syria\'s exiled Muslim Brotherhood said his compatriots would accept Turkish "intervention" in the conflict.

"The Syrian people would accept intervention coming from Turkey, rather than from the West, if its goal was to protect the people," Mohammad Riad Shakfa told a news conference.

On Thursday, pro-government daily Sabah reported the opposition Syrian National Council, together with the Brotherhood, had asked Turkey to establish a Libya-style no-fly zone in areas of northern Syria where there have been deadly clashes between troops and fugitive dissidents.

Brotherhood leader Mohammed Farouk Tayfour declined to comment on that, saying only that discussions had been held with several governments on "every possible means" to stop the bloodshed.

In a sign of Damascus\'s fast-growing isolation, Beijing, which joined Moscow in vetoing the October draft Security Council resolution, said Thursday it was "highly concerned" by developments and called on the Assad regime to cooperate with the Arab League.

© Copyright AFP Agence France-Presse GmbH - All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed. All reproduction or redistribution is expressly forbidden without the prior written agreement of AFP.