Assad seeks to mask bloody truth with sham referendum

But the opposition deemed it an empty gesture, and the West immediately dismissed the vote as a “sham”.

Even as some cast ballots for what the government has tried to portray as reform, the military kept up shelling of the opposition stronghold of Homs, which has been under attack for more than three weeks after rebels took control of some areas of the city.

Activists and residents report that hundreds have been killed in Homs in the past few weeks, including two Western journalists.

Activist groups said at least 29 people were killed yesterday alone, mostly in Homs. At least 89 were reported killed yesterday.

In all, activists estimate close to 7,500 people have been killed in the 11 months since the Assad regime’s brutal crackdown on dissent began.

“The referendum in Syria is nothing more than a farce,” German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle said. “Sham votes cannot be a contribution to a resolution of the crisis. Assad must finally end the violence and clear the way for a political transition.”

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on Syrians in business and the military who still support Assad to turn against him.

“The longer you support the regime’s campaign of violence against your brothers and sisters, the more it will stain your honour,” she told reporters in Morocco. “If you refuse, however, to prop up the regime or take part in attacks... your countrymen and women will hail you as heroes.”

US, European and Arab officials met on Friday at a major international conference on the Syrian crisis in Tunisia, trying to forge a unified strategy to push Assad from power. They began planning a civilian peacekeeping mission to deploy after the regime falls.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights yesterday reported intense clashes between troops and army defectors in the villages of Dael and Hirak in the province of Daraa, where the uprising started. The group also said explosions were heard in the village of Khirbet Ghazaleh and Naima as well as the provincial capital, Daraa.

The Observatory and other activist groups reported violence in several areas including Idlib, Homs and the eastern province of Deir el-Zour.

The two main umbrella opposition groups, the Syrian National Council and the National Co-ordination Body for Democratic Change in Syria, have called for a boycott of the vote. Other groups have called for a general strike.

“I am boycotting the vote,” Syria-based activist Mustafa Osso said by phone. He added that previous “reforms” have made little difference.

Assad’s government revoked the country’s official state of emergency in April, but the crackdown on dissent has only intensified.

The referendum on the new constitution allows at least in theory for opening the country’s political system.

It would create a multiparty system in Syria, which has been ruled by the Baath party since it took power a coup in 1963. Assad’s father, Hafez, took power in another coup in 1970.