[CNN]
Qatar accuses Syrian government of genocide after failed truce - CNN.com
By the CNN Wire Staff
October 30, 2012 -- Updated 1455 GMT (2255 HKT)
CNN.com
The emir of Qatar described the situation in Syria as genocide Tuesday,
according to state media.
The emir of Qatar described the situation in Syria as genocide Tuesday,
according to state media. Commander Abu Sleiman looks at the pro-Syrian
government forces' position prior to an attack, in Aleppo, Syria, on Saturday,
October 27. The latest reports of violence saw each side accuse the other of
violating the conditions of a cease-fire called over religious holiday Eid
al-Adha. Click through these photos from October; also see September photos
from the conflict. A Syrian rebel interrogates a handcuffed and blindfolded man
suspected of being a pro-regime militiaman after he was detained by the Free
Syria Army in Aleppo on Friday, October 26. Syrian rebels take position Friday
in a classroom at an empty school to observe the movement of regime forces
nearby in Aleppo. Syrian rebels run to take position in the Bustan al-Basha
district in Aleppo on Friday. Smoke rises from a gas station following a mortar
attack as Syrian women walk by on a rainy day in Aleppo on Thursday, October
25. A member of the Free Syrian Army watches for snipers during fighting
against pro-government forces in Idlib Governorate on Thursday. A family
crosses a street flooded by heavy rains in Aleppo, Syria, on Thursday. Syria
drivers attempt to drive through a flooded street in Aleppo, Syria on October
25. The Syrian military and the country's main rebel force have agreed to halt
combat operations starting Friday morning for the Muslim holiday weekend, but
both also reserved the right to respond to attacks. Members of the Free Syrian
Army patrol an area under their control, as they advance on pro-government
forces in Harem town, Syria on October 25. People crowd around a bakery in the
Salaheddin district of Aleppo, Syria, on October 25, Civilians carry their
belongings along a street strewn with garbage and debris following fighting
between Syrian government troops and rebel fighters in the Salaheddin district
of Aleppo, Syria, on October 25. The Syrian Arab News agency (SANA) reported
that a car bomb in the Tadamon neighborhood of Damascus, Syria, killed six
people and injured 20 on Wednesday, October 24. Cars destroyed by the car bomb
explosion in Damascus on Wednesday. Smoke rises after Syrian government forces
shelled the outskirts of Atareb, Syria, on Wednesday. A family drives through
Atareb, Syria, which was recently shelled by Syrian government forces, on
Wednesday. Relatives of Syrian detainees who were arrested for participating in
protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime wait in front of a
police building for detainees to be released in Damascus on Wednesday. The
Syrian government said it released a total of 290 prisoners who had not been
involved in homicides. A Syrian woman, displaced by the ongoing violence and
living along a street in Aleppo, on Tuesday, October 23. A woman sits on the
sidewalk of a debris strewn street in Aleppo, Syria, on October 23. A rebel
fighter looks towards the crossroads, destroyed during fighting between
government and rebel forces, in the Salaheddin district of Aleppo, Syria on
October 23. Rebel fighters have lunch in the old sector of the northern city of
Aleppo, on October 23. Violence raged across war-torn Syria, a watchdog
organization said, dimming hopes of a cease-fire for this week's Muslim Eid
al-Adha as proposed by UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi. A shopkeeper
clears the rubble from in front of his store in the old sector of Aleppo. A
member of the Free Syrian Army flees sniper shots from pro-government forces in
Salqin, Syria, on Monday, October 22. Members of the Free Syrian Army celebrate
on a tank that belonged to pro-government forces after they took over the site
from them early Monday in Salqin. A member of the Free Syrian Army celebrates
on the captured tank. Syrian army soldiers run for cover during clashes with
rebel fighters in the Karam al-Jabal neighborhood of Aleppo on Saturday,
October 20. Syria youths react following an airstrike by Syrian government
forces in Maaret al-Numan on Thursday, October 18. Syrian regime warplanes
launched a new wave of strikes on the northwestern town, seized by rebels last
week, an AFP correspondent reported. A wounded Syrian boy is carried to the
hospital following Thursday's airstrike in Maaret al-Numaan. A Syrian rebel
fighter mans an anti-aircraft heavy machine gun as he heads to the frontline in
al-Bab near Aleppo on Wednesday. October 17. Rebels downed a helicopter in
fierce fighting Wednesday with troops seeking to retake a key Syrian town, a
watchdog said. Syrian rebel fighters on Wednesday ride a motorcycle in Maaret
al-Numan, an area under the control of rebel fighters in the northwestern Idlib
province. A Syrian rebel fighter holds a gun as he guards a post during clashes
with government forces in Aleppo on Wednesday. A handout photo from the Shaam
News Network shows smoke rising after a Syrian Air Force fighter jet fired
missiles at the suburbs of the northern province of Idlib, Syria, on Tuesday,
October 16. Click through the gallery to view images of the war-torn country in
October. See photographs from September. Members of the Free Syrian Army check
for snipers in the old part of Aleppo, Tuesday. Damaged buildings are seen
after they were fired upon by a Syrian government forces near the northern
province of Idlib, Tuesday. A Syrian man walks past destroyed buildings
following shelling by regime forces in Aleppo on Monday, October 15. A Free
Syrian Army fighter climbs under barbed wire as he trains at their camp in
Syria's northwestern province of Idlib in an area under the control of rebel
fighters on Monday. A young fighter climbs along a rope as he trains at a Free
Syrian Army camp in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib on Monday. Syrian
rebels take cover during clashes with regime forces at the historic Umayyad
Mosque in the old city of Aleppo hours before the Syrian army retook control of
the complex on Sunday, October 14. A Syrian rebel walks inside a burnt section
of the Umayyad Mosque. Opposition activists reported that the 12th-century
mosque was set afire during heavy fighting on Saturday, October 13. A Syrian
opposition fighter stands near a post in Aleppo on Thursday, October 11.
Syrians carry a wounded girl into a hospital in Aleppo on Thursday. A heavily
armed Syrian opposition fighter stands near a post in Aleppo on Thursday. A
Syrian man walks through rubble in Aleppo on Thursday. A Syrian man and boy
ride a horse cart in Aleppo on Thursday. Smoke billows from buildings following
shelling by government forces in Aleppo on Thursday. Syrian people carry bread
as they walk in the streets of Aleppo on Thursday. Bodies of Syrian civilians
lie in the back of a truck outside a hospital following shelling by Syrian
government forces during clashes with opposition fighters in Aleppo on
Thursday. Syrian civilians walk in front of damaged buildings in Aleppo on
Thursday. Syrian opposition fighters walk in the streets of Aleppo on Thursday.
Syrian government forces take cover during clashes with rebel fighters at the
Karam al-Jabal neighborhood in Aleppo on Thursday. A Syrian opposition fighter
flashes the sign for victory as he guards a post with his comrades in Aleppo on
Thursday. A Syrian man mourns the death of his father, who was killed during a
government attack in Aleppo on Wednesday, October 10. Syrian youths walk past
graffiti in the rebel-held city of Minbej on Wednesday. A Syrian rebel fighter
holds a cigarette and prayer beads in Aleppo on Tuesday, October 9. A Syrian
man carries the body of his 5-year-old son, Mohammed Mustafa, outside a
hospital after shelling by Syrian government forces in Aleppo on Tuesday. An
injured Syrian woman rides to a hospital after an airstrike by regime forces in
Aleppo on Tuesday. A Syrian rebel commander prays in a damaged mosque during
clashes with government forces on Tuesday in Aleppo. A rubble-filled street is
seen during clashes between rebel fighters and Syrian government forces in the
Saif al-Dawla district of Aleppo on Tuesday. Relatives wheel a injured boy
outside a hospital on Tuesday in Aleppo. A Syrian rebel fighter takes position
inside a house in Aleppo during clashes with government forces on Tuesday. A
Syrian man watches an army fighter jet flies over Aleppo on Monday, October 8.
A Syrian army fighter jet flies over the northern city of Aleppo on Monday. A
wounded Syrian rebel fighter holds his blood-stained hands as he receives
treatment at a hospital near the frontline in the city of Aleppo on Monday,
October 7. Abdul Razzak from the Aleppo News talks on a walkie talkie in Aleppo
on Monday. Syrian rebels take up positions inside a building during clashes
with government forces in Aleppo on Saturday, October 6. Syrian members of the
Al-Saiqa rebel brigade clean weapons on Saturday before going to the front line
in Aleppo. A Syrian rebel runs across a heavily damaged street to dodge sniper
fire during clashes on Saturday. Syrian rebels patrol a neighborhood in Aleppo
on Friday, October 5. A Syrian demonstrator shouts during an anti-regime
protest in Aleppo on Friday. Tensions rippled across Turkey a day after Syrian
shells struck a Turkish border town and killed five people. A Syrian rebel
takes position during clashes with government forces in Aleppo on Friday. An
injured Free Syrian Army fighter rests after receiving treatment at Dar al
Shifa hospital in Aleppo on Thursday, October 4. A child covers his wounds from
a Syrian army sniper at Dar al Shifa hospital on Thursday. A Free Syrian Army
fighter cries after one of his friends was injured in fighting with government
forces outside the Dar El Shifa hospital on Thursday. A Dar El Shifa worker
cleans the floor outside the hospital in Aleppo on Thursday. Syrian rebel
fighters look at a multirocket launcher in Tal Abyadh, a Syrian town close to
the Turkish border, on Thursday. Rebels climb the stairs of a destroyed
building Thursday in Tal Abyadh. Smoke rises from the explosion area after
several Syrian shells crashed inside the town of Akcakale in Turkey, killing at
least five people on Wednesday, October 3. It wasn't the first deadly
cross-border incident between the two neighbors during the 18-month-long
uprising in Syria. A police officer is injured in Wednesday's attack on
Akcakale in Turkey's Sanliurfa province. Three car bombs destroyed the area
around a military officers' club and a hotel in Aleppo, Syria, on Wednesday. At
least 40 people were killed and 90 wounded, most of them soldiers, a monitoring
group said. Car bomb explosions on Wednesday left a crater in the ground. A
nurse helps treat a 7-year-old girl who's neck was badly wounded by shrapnel at
the Dar Al Shifaa hospital in Aleppo on Monday, October 1. Friends lay a rebel
fighter on a gurney after he was shot in the chest during heavy battles in the
Midan neighborhood on Monday. See photographs from September. HIDE CAPTION
(CNN) -- Syria's government is waging "a war of extermination" against its own
people, the emir of Qatar said Tuesday, according to state media, hours after a
failed four-day ceasefire during a Muslim holiday left hundreds dead.
In strongly worded comments to the Al Jazeera Arabic network, Sheikh Hamad bin
Jassem Al Thani also accused foreign powers of standing by while President
Bashar al-Assad's forces carried out a slaughter.
"What is happening in Syria is not a civil war but a genocide, a war of
extermination with a license to kill by the Syrian government and the
international community," he said, according to the official Qatar News Agency.
Sheikh Hamad, who's also Qatar's foreign minister, said he had confidence in
U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi -- but that his country did not
trust Al-Assad's government.
Syrian cease-fire ceases
Police base targeted in Syria blast
Syrian regime breaks ceasefire
Brahimi had pushed for government forces and rebels to stop fighting during Eid
al-Adha, a major Muslim holiday that began Friday and ended Monday. But it soon
became clear the violence was continuing almost unabated.
"When the Syrian government announced that it would comply with the truce, it
also announced that its military would respond to anything that took place on
the ground, and it was clear from this rhetoric that there was no truce,"
Sheikh Hamad said, according to QNA.
"Everyone knows what the solution is and what the Syrian people want.
Everything that is happening now is a waste of time and just buying time to
kill the Syrian people and to destroy the Syrian infrastructure."
Sheikh Hamad said he sensed "a bigger awakening" among Arab nations and in the
wider international community over the crisis in Syria, despite moves by Russia
and China to block tougher U.N. Security Council action. But, he said, a
"paralysis" would prevent action until after the outcome of the U.S. elections.
A group that documents the names of those killed in Syria's conflict, the
Violation Documenting Center, calculated the total number of those killed
during the failed ceasefire as 407.
The report from the VDC, which works closely with the opposition Local
Coordination Committees of Syria, put the total civilian toll at 32,013 over
some 20 months of violence, with 2,900 government soldiers killed in the same
period.
The LCC said the death toll so far Tuesday was 61. About half the deaths were
in Idlib province, where airstrikes pummeled a residential neighborhood in the
city of Maarat-al-Numan Tuesday, the LCC said.
CNN cannot independently confirm reports of violence or casualties as the
government has severely restricted the access of international journalists. The
numbers reported by the LCC do not include deaths from security forces or the
military.
In other developments Tuesday:
General assassinated in Damascus
An air force general was assassinated Tuesday in the Syrian capital, Damascus,
Syrian state media reported. Pilot Maj. Gen. Abdullah al-Khalidi was killed by
"terrorists" in the Rukn-Eddin neighborhood of Damascus, the Syrian Arab News
Agency said.
No other details were immediately available.
U.N. envoy visits Beijing
Brahimi headed to Beijing Tuesday to meet senior Chinese officials, a day after
he held talks with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for the first time
on what to do about the Syrian civil war.
The state-run China Daily newspaper quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei
as saying the envoy would have "in depth communication" with Chinese officials
during his two-day visit.
China backs Brahimi's efforts to find a political solution to the crisis,
rather than the use of force, Hong is quoted as saying.
Following Monday's meeting in Moscow, Russia accused the United Nations of
double standards for failing to condemn a car bombing in a pro-Assad stronghold
near the capital, Damascus.
Syria's foreign ministry also wrote to U.N Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to
criticize the United Nation's failure to condemn such attacks -- an omission it
said "encouraged terrorists to continue committing crimes against the Syrian
people."
Lavrov said on his own Twitter feed that Russia was disappointed at the lack of
support for Brahimi's call for a holiday truce, but that it appreciated his
efforts to try to "find potential collaborative ways for the international
community" to help stabilize Syria.
The Russian-French Security Cooperation Council will meet in Paris October 31,
the foreign ministry said.
Speaking after his meeting with Lavrov, Brahimi said neither side in Syria is
showing signs of backing down.
"The government says they are fighting terrorists and only terrorists, and that
it is their duty to do so -- to protect their people. And the other side says
we're fighting a very cruel government that is persecuting us, and we're
defending ourselves," Brahimi said after the meeting.
He recalled speaking with a woman who has one son in the Syrian military and
another son in the rebel Free Syrian Army. "If that is not civil war, I don't
know what is," Brahimi said.
Diplomacy with Russia is a delicate dance. Russia, along with China, has
repeatedly vetoed attempts at the U.N. Security Council to take stronger action
against al-Assad.
Many have accused Russia of backing the Syrian government, but Russia says it
just wants a political solution for Syria determined by its own people.
In Lebanon, where the violence from neighboring Syria
CNN's Saad Abedine and Laura Smith-Spark contributed to this report.
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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