GENEVA (AP) — Diplomats scrambled Tuesday to find a way to stop the violence in Syria, appealing to President Bashar Assad to withdraw his forces and seeking a special session of the U.N.'s top human rights body to condemn the bloody crackdown on protesters.
Diplomats were counting votes in Geneva at the Human Rights Council to see if a special session could be called later this week to address the crisis, in which Assad’s security forces have opened fire on crowds of peaceful protesters to extend his family’s grip on four decades of power.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan phoned Assad to urge restraint, while Turkey’s ambassador to Damascus met Syrian Prime Minister Adel Safar to express Turkey’s "deep concern and sorrow over loss of many lives," the prime minister’s office and Turkish media reported.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said diplomats hoped to send a strong signal from the United Nations, the European Union and some Arab countries — though the EU’s president warned there was little the bloc could do to help Syrian protesters.
"This violent repression must stop," Hague said in a statement.
"President Assad should order his authorities to show restraint and to respond to the legitimate demands of his people with immediate and genuine reform, not with brutal repression."
Almost 400 people have been killed in Syria since since Assad unleashed a furious crackdown in mid-March, with 120 alone dying over the weekend, according to the U.N. and human rights groups.
The U.N. on Tuesday appealed to Assad to withdraw his forces, whose killings have been accompanied by a large but undetermined number of arrests, said Rupert Colville, spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.
"The government’s response has been erratic, with announcements of welcome reforms, such as the lifting of the decades-long state of emergency, followed a few days later by tanks in the streets and more killing," he told reporters.
The violence also is fueling opposition by human rights groups and a growing number of governments to Syria’s all-but-certain election to the 47-nation Human Rights Council.
It is one of four candidates selected to fill four Asian seats and Syria can lose only if diplomats find another candidate to enter the race or it fails to win a majority of votes in a May 20 election in the 192-member General Assembly.
Several European nations have been urging the U.N. Security Council to strongly condemn the violence.
Last week, the United States openly opposed Syria’s candidacy to join the human rights body.
European Union President Herman Van Rompuy, however, said the European Union can do little to help Syrians in their uprising.
He was quoted in Tuesday’s edition of De Standaard newspaper as saying the EU would likely not get the support of the Arab League or the United Nations to help out.
The EU has actively opposed Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi in recent months and several EU nations are involved in the air campaign to protect civilians there.
But with Syria, a sponsor of Hamas and Hezbollah, it is not just Western nations voicing concern.
Damascus has a crucial role in most Middle East debates ranging from the Arab-Israeli peace process to Iran’s growing influence.
Thirteen human rights groups from the Arab world issued a statement Thursday urging Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa to publicly denounce Syria’s candidacy and to call on Arab states not to vote for Syria in the upcoming election.
