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Syrian opposition activists have reported dozens of bodies dumped on the streets of the central city of Homs in one of the worst single incidents of violence in the nine-month uprising against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that 34 dead, apparently kidnap victims, had been found after what it called "one of the deadliest days since the start of the Syrian revolution." It quoted an activist from Homs's al-Zahra neighbourhood as saying that they had been abducted by members of the feared Shabiha militia. Monday's death toll for the country was 50, it said.
The Local Coordination Committees, an opposition network, reported 31 dead, 30 in Homs and one in the northern city of Aleppo. None of these figures can be independently verified because the Syrian government does not allow journalists to operate freely.
The latest casualty figures came against a background of disarray after the Arab League said that the sanctions it had imposed on Syria would stay in place. The league rejected demands from Damascus that the punitive measures, including the suspension of Syria's membership, be rescinded in order to allow Arab observers into the country.
According to the UN at least 4000 people have been killed since unrest erupted in Syria in March. Syria says it is facing a conspiracy of western and Arab countries backing "armed terrorist gangs."
Nabil al-Arabi, the league's secretary general, has suggested holding an "urgent" meeting of Arab foreign ministers to discuss the Syrian crisis, the Kuwait News Agency has reported.
Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, meanwhile urged members of the main anti-Assad opposition group, the Syrian National Council, to address the concerns of the country's minorities, especially the Alawites who make up the core of the regime. "Obviously, a democratic transition is more than removing the Assad regime," she said. "It means setting Syria on the path of the rule of law." Harping on an increasingly familiar theme, Clinton urged the SNC to "reach out to all minorities to counter the regime's divide-and-conquer approach, which pits ethnic and religious groups against one another."
The state department also announced that the US ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, was returning to Damascus after being withdrawn in October. "We believe his presence in the country is among the most effective ways to send the message that the United States stands with the people of Syria," it said. Britain's ambassador, Simon Collis, has remained in Damascus since the crisis began.
Assad, meanwhile, won rhetorical support from the secretary-general of Lebanon's Hizbullah movement, Hassan Nasrallah, who accused the US of plotting to destroy Syria. "We support the reforms in Syria and we stand with the regime," Nasrallah said in speech broadcast by video after he made a brief and rare public appearance in Beirut's southern suburbs. "There are some people who do not want reforms, security and stability in Syria, and neither civil peace nor dialogue. There are people who want to destroy Syria to make up for their defeat in Iraq. Syria is a partner in defeating the Americans in Iraq.
"The United States has tried to portray itself as the defender of human rights and democracy in the Arab world. These charlatans and hypocrites are known for their support of all dictatorships that collapse and for disowning these dictatorships immediately after they collapse. This is the character of Satan."
Nasrallah also lashed out at the SNC and its leader Burhan Ghalioun, who has pledged to sever ties with Iran and Hizbullah if Assad is overthrown, accusing them of "trying to present their credentials to the United States and Israel."
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that 34 dead, apparently kidnap victims, had been found after what it called "one of the deadliest days since the start of the Syrian revolution." It quoted an activist from Homs's al-Zahra neighbourhood as saying that they had been abducted by members of the feared Shabiha militia. Monday's death toll for the country was 50, it said.
The Local Coordination Committees, an opposition network, reported 31 dead, 30 in Homs and one in the northern city of Aleppo. None of these figures can be independently verified because the Syrian government does not allow journalists to operate freely.
The latest casualty figures came against a background of disarray after the Arab League said that the sanctions it had imposed on Syria would stay in place. The league rejected demands from Damascus that the punitive measures, including the suspension of Syria's membership, be rescinded in order to allow Arab observers into the country.
According to the UN at least 4000 people have been killed since unrest erupted in Syria in March. Syria says it is facing a conspiracy of western and Arab countries backing "armed terrorist gangs."
Nabil al-Arabi, the league's secretary general, has suggested holding an "urgent" meeting of Arab foreign ministers to discuss the Syrian crisis, the Kuwait News Agency has reported.
Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, meanwhile urged members of the main anti-Assad opposition group, the Syrian National Council, to address the concerns of the country's minorities, especially the Alawites who make up the core of the regime. "Obviously, a democratic transition is more than removing the Assad regime," she said. "It means setting Syria on the path of the rule of law." Harping on an increasingly familiar theme, Clinton urged the SNC to "reach out to all minorities to counter the regime's divide-and-conquer approach, which pits ethnic and religious groups against one another."
The state department also announced that the US ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, was returning to Damascus after being withdrawn in October. "We believe his presence in the country is among the most effective ways to send the message that the United States stands with the people of Syria," it said. Britain's ambassador, Simon Collis, has remained in Damascus since the crisis began.
Assad, meanwhile, won rhetorical support from the secretary-general of Lebanon's Hizbullah movement, Hassan Nasrallah, who accused the US of plotting to destroy Syria. "We support the reforms in Syria and we stand with the regime," Nasrallah said in speech broadcast by video after he made a brief and rare public appearance in Beirut's southern suburbs. "There are some people who do not want reforms, security and stability in Syria, and neither civil peace nor dialogue. There are people who want to destroy Syria to make up for their defeat in Iraq. Syria is a partner in defeating the Americans in Iraq.
"The United States has tried to portray itself as the defender of human rights and democracy in the Arab world. These charlatans and hypocrites are known for their support of all dictatorships that collapse and for disowning these dictatorships immediately after they collapse. This is the character of Satan."
Nasrallah also lashed out at the SNC and its leader Burhan Ghalioun, who has pledged to sever ties with Iran and Hizbullah if Assad is overthrown, accusing them of "trying to present their credentials to the United States and Israel."
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