Friday, February 10, 2012

Syria violence spreads to Aleppo as bomb blasts kill 28

Further 175 hurt in security compound blasts but opposition blames attacks on security forces aiming to disrupt protests

Julian Borger, diplomatic editor
guardian.co.uk, Friday 10 February 2012

"The worsening violence in Syria spread to the country's largest city, Aleppo, on Friday with two blasts outside security compounds that left 28 people dead.

The explosions outside military intelligence and police compounds, which Syrian state media blamed on "terrorists", wounded 175 people, the worst bloodshed Aleppo has seen since the uprising against Bashar al-Assad began last year. The northern city and economic hub has been largely quiet, but protests had been planned for Friday. Anti-Assad activists accused the regime of setting off the blasts to discredit the opposition and disrupt demonstrations.

Government forces, meanwhile, continued their siege of rebel-held districts in Homs and other opposition areas, going house to house arresting people in the Insha'at district and keeping up an artillery and tank barrage on Baba Amr........



.....However, the UN high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, is due to address the general assembly on Monday to press the case for indictments.

"We believe, and we've said it and we'll keep repeating it, that the case of Syria belongs in the international criminal court. This would give a very, very strong message to those running the show," Rupert Colville, Pillay's spokesman, said.

British officials said the UK government had been providing training and materials for independent human rights groups to record suspected atrocities, to provide admissible evidence for future trials at the international criminal court or elsewhere.

"The UK has funded and is continuing to fund work aim at collecting evidence of crimes and preserve that evidence so that it can be use at a later date," the official said. "Even though these people may be out of reach of justice today, there may be a time when are they are not.""

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