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    December 03, 2011

Syrian Troops, Army Defectors Clash in North

   VOA News

   Activists say at least 18 people have been killed in anti-government
   unrest in Syria on Saturday, a day after the U.N.'s top human rights
   body voted to condemn Damascus for human rights violations.
   The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights say most of Saturday's deaths
   occurred in the northern city of Idlib, where security forces have
   clashed with military defectors.
   On Friday, the U.N. Human Rights Council passed a resolution condemning
   Syria for "gross" and "systematic violations of human rights for its
   deadly crackdown on dissent. The council also agreed to appoint a
   special investigator to probe human rights abuses in Syria.
   Earlier, a U.N.-backed study said several hundred children were among
   those who had been killed in the government crackdown. The world body
   says the overall death toll from eight months of unrest in Syria has
   topped 4,000.
   On Saturday, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden praised Syria's neighbor,
   Turkey, and the U.N. panel for taking steps to address repression in
   Syria.
   "Regional issues from the brutal repression in Syria where Turkey,
   where we stand with Turkey and a growing chorus of nations in calling
   for President Assad to step aside," he said. "And I welcome the Human
   Rights Council's condemnation yesterday of the regime's violence."
   Biden commented in Istanbul, ahead of a meeting with Turkish Prime
   Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
   Syria has contended its actions are not a crackdown on protests, but a
   necessary response to attacks by "armed terrorists" on civilians and
   security personnel.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
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