‘Russia contributing to potential Syria civil war’

DHAKA: The US Secretary of State says Russian policy will contribute to a potential civil war in Syria.

Hillary Clinton’s comments came after Russia and China renewed opposition to tougher UN Security Council action.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has repeated a warning that Syria could be moving towards ‘catastrophic’ civil war, in the wake of the Houla massacre, reports BBC.

Rebel commanders are split on whether to abandon a ceasefire if Syrian forces do not withdraw to barracks.

The FSA’s Colonel Qassim Saadeddine in Homs said that if there was no government response by Friday lunchtime the FSA would consider itself ‘no longer bound’ by the plan.

But the FSA head, General Riyad Asaad, later denied the deadline existed.

Instead, he urged peace envoy Kofi Annan to issue a statement declaring his peace plan to have failed.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has come under intensified pressure to adhere to the ceasefire plan since the Houla massacre, in which more than 100 people - many of them children - died.

Clinton, speaking on a visit to Denmark, said the case for military intervention was growing stronger every day.

BDST: 2056 HRS, MAY 31, 2012

Edited by Robab Rosan, Cultural Affairs Editor