SANA: Saboteurs Strike Central Syria Gas Pipeline
Saboteurs attacked a gas pipeline near the flashpoint Syrian city of Homs on Tuesday, the official SANA news agency reported.
"A terrorist group has targeted a gas pipeline near Rastan" in the central province of Homs, said SANA, referring to the bastion of protests against the regime of President Bashar Assad.
The pipeline supplies gas to electricity stations at Zara and Zeizun, the agency said.
Syrian cities have been subjected to daily power outages for several weeks, which the authorities blame on "armed terrorist groups" but the opposition says the regime carries them out to punish protest hubs.
Since March, Assad's regime has faced an unprecedented protest movement. The United Nations estimates more than 5,000 people have been killed in the ensuing crackdown on dissent.
"Yes, there is still shooting and yes there are still snipers," Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby told a news conference in Cairo on Monday. "Yes, killings continue. The objective is for us to wake up in the morning and hear that no one is killed. The mission's philosophy is to protect civilians, so if one is killed, then our mission is incomplete."
"There must be a complete cease-fire," Elaraby said.
Elaraby stressed the achievements of an Arab League mission, saying Syria's government has pulled tanks and artillery from cities and residential neighborhoods and freed some 3,500 prisoners. He said food supplies have reached residents and the bodies of dead protesters have been recovered.
The monitors are supposed to verify Syria's compliance with an Arab League plan to stop the crackdown on dissent — a plan Syria agreed to on Dec. 19. The plan requires Assad's regime to remove security forces and heavy weapons from city streets, start talks with opposition leaders and free political prisoners.
Source: Agence France Presse, Associated Press
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://cdn.naharnet.com/stories/en/25325 |