Medvedev offers Annan backing over Syria mission

Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has told the UN and Arab League envoy to Syria that his mission may be the final opportunity for Syria to avoid “a protracted bloody civil war” and promised Russia’s full support.

Kofi Annan was in Moscow yesterday for meetings with Russia’s president and foreign minister. He now travels to China, which along with Russia has shielded Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad from United Nations’ sanctions over his crackdown on an uprising. More than 8,000 people have been killed since the uprising began a year ago.

It was not clear whether Moscow would use its influence with Mr Assad to advance Mr Annan’s six-point peace plan, which includes demands for a ceasefire, the immediate withdrawal of heavy armour from residential areas and access for humanitarian aid.

“Syria has an opportunity today to work with me and this mediation process to put an end to the conflict, to the fighting, allow access to those in need of humanitarian assistance as well as embark on a political process that will lead to a peaceful settlement,” Mr Annan said after the talks.

Moscow has accused the West of being too one-sided, arguing that outside support for rebels, which it says is both political and military in some cases, is fuelling the fighting in Syria, which hosts a Russian naval base.

New York-based Human Rights Watch published videos yesterday, obtained from opposition activists, in which people in civilian clothes walk in front of several armed Syrian soldiers and infantry fighting vehicles. Activists say the army had compelled the men to walk in front to protect the soldiers.

The statement said that residents reported government forces placing children on tanks and inside security buses.