Fleeing MP tells of ‘besieged’ Syrian protest city

Imad Ghalioun, who represents the central city of Homs, said the city, which has been one of the most active in the uprising against Assad’s rule since March, is a disaster after months of being a focus of the regime’s fierce crackdown.

“The Syrian people are living their worst period,” Mr Ghalioun told Al-Arabiya TV from Egypt.

“The people of Homs are under siege and the city is disaster-stricken. There is no electricity, piles of garbage fill the streets ... The sounds of shelling all night terrifies children.” He added that there were many politicians who supported the uprising but have not said so publicly.

Thousands of people have been killed in the government’s crackdown on a 10-month-old uprising, which has been increasingly militarised in recent months with a growing risk of civil war. The UN says about 400 people have been killed in the last three weeks, on top of an earlier estimate of more than 5,000 killed since March.

The UN chief has demanded Assad stop killing his own people and said the “old order” of one-man rule and family dynasties was over in the Middle East. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, speaking at a conference in Beirut on democracy in the Arab world, said the revolutions of the Arab Spring showed people would no longer accept tyranny.

“Today, I say again to President (Bashar) Assad of Syria: Stop the violence. Stop killing your people,” Mr Ban said.

Syria agreed last month to an Arab League plan that calls for a halt to the crackdown, the withdrawal of heavy weaponry, such as tanks, from cities, the release of all political prisoners, and allowing foreign journalists and human rights workers in. About 200 Arab League observers are working in Syria to verify whether the government is abiding by its agreement to end the military crackdown on dissent. So far they appear to have made little impact.

The leader of Qatar, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, said Arab troops should be sent to Syria to stop the crackdown. An Arab League official said Qatar had not made any official proposals to send troops.