TUNISIA: Pro-Assad protesters try to gatecrash the 'Friends of Syria' conference in Tunis as ministers arrive to discuss the Syrian unrest

Record ID: 280288

  • Title: TUNISIA: Pro-Assad protesters try to gatecrash the 'Friends of Syria' conference in Tunis as ministers arrive to discuss the Syrian unrest
  • Date: 25th February 2012
  • Summary: TUNIS, TUNISIA (FEBRUARY 24, 2012) (REUTERS) DELEGATES IN LOBBY OF HOTEL WHERE 'FRIENDS OF SYRIA' CONFERENCE IS BEING HELD ARAB LEAGUE SECRETARY GENERAL NABIL EL-ARABY ARRIVING VARIOUS OF POSTERS FOR CONFERENCE QATARI REPRESENTATIVE ARRIVING AT CONFERENCE CAMERAMAN FILMING ARRIVALS VARIOUS OF TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER AHMED DAVUTOGLU AND TUNISIAN FOREIGN MINISTER RAFI
  • Embargoed: 11th March 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Tunisia, Tunisia
  • Country: Tunisia
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA1YHQBJKNP1TK513UNCYQZHUFN
  • Story Text: Several hundred supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Friday (February 24) forced their way into the grounds of a hotel in Tunisia where Western and Arab leaders were preparing to meet to demand an end to Syria's crackdown on opposition.
    A Reuters reporter said the crowd arrived in buses at the Palace Hotel, in a suburb of Tunis, and then forced their way past perimeter gates. They were holding up portraits of Assad. They tried to push their way into the hotel building itself but were held back by a security cordon, the reporter said.
    Meanwhile, foreign ministers from more than 50 countries gathered in Tunis for the first meeting of the "Friends of Syria" group, against the backdrop of a surge in government attacks on the city of Homs and mounting world outrage over violence that has claimed thousands of lives during the uprising.
    "The whole international community is calling for the implementation of the plan for political solution, which was put forth by the Arab League, a very good plan and so we are going to increase pressure so that it can come into force," said French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, as he arrived.
    In Homs, Syrian government artillery fire killed five people in the city's Baba Amro district, opposition activists said, as the bombardment of opposition-held neighbourhoods entered its third week on Friday.
    An updated draft declaration from the meeting called on Syria to "immediately cease all violence" to allow the United Nations access to Homs, and to let agencies deliver aid to civilians affected by the violence.
    The "Friends of Syria" pledged, in the latest version of the draft seen by Reuters, to deliver humanitarian supplies within 48 hours if Syria's government "stopped its assault on civilian areas and permitted access."
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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