Syria blasts international conference on crisis

This image made from amateur video and released by the Syria media center Friday, March 23, 2012, purports to show Syrians pulling out the body of a man under the rubble of a building that was bombed in Homs, Syria. Syrian President Bashar Assad says he will spare no effort to make the mission of U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan a success but he demands that armed opponents commit to halting violence. (AP Photo/Syria Media Center via APTN) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT, DATE, LOCATION OR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MATERIAL. TV OUT

This image made from amateur video and released by the Syria media center Friday, March 23, 2012, purports to show Syrians pulling out the body of a man under the rubble of a building that was bombed in Homs, Syria. Syrian President Bashar Assad says he will spare no effort to make the mission of U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan a success but he demands that armed opponents commit to halting violence. (AP Photo/Syria Media Center via APTN) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT, DATE, LOCATION OR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MATERIAL. TV OUT

This image made from amateur video and released by the Syria media center Thursday, March 29, 2012, purports to show black smoke riding from buildings in Homs, Syria. Syrian President Bashar Assad says he will spare no effort to make the mission of U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan a success but he demands that armed opponents commit to halting violence. (AP Photo/Syria Media Center via APTN) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CANNOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE CONTENT, DATE, LOCATION OR AUTHENTICITY OF THIS MATERIAL. TV OUT

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, left, listens to Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saudi al-Faisal, right, during a press conference after her meeting with the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council "GCC" in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, March 31, 2012. The Obama administration is seeking to advance talks among Saudi Arabia and its neighbors on a missile defense system against Iran, while slowing any plans among Arab Gulf states to intervene militarily in Syria. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal, right, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled al-Hamad Al-Sabah chat prior to a group photo before a US- Gulf Cooperation Council forum at the Gulf Cooperation Council Secretariat in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, March 31, 2012. Secretary Clinton is visiting the region to speak with leaders about local and global issues including Iran as well as attend talks aimed at ending the violence by the Assad regime towards its citizens in Syria.(AP Photo/Brendan Smialowski, Pool)

BEIRUT (AP) ? Syria blasted an international conference on the country's spreading crisis before it even started Sunday, calling it part of an international conspiracy to kill Syrians and weaken the country.

Dozens of countries are attending the "Friends of the Syrian People" conference in Istanbul to try to further isolate Syrian President Bashar Assad, unite the Syrian opposition and bring aid to civilians caught in the regime's ongoing crackdown on dissent.

A front-page editorial in the official Al-Baath newspaper called the conference a "regional and international scramble to search for ways to kill more Syrians, sabotage their society and state and move toward the broad objective of weakening Syria."

Damascus has consistently dismissed the country's yearlong uprising as a foreign-engineered plot.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is attending the one-day conference, as are leaders from Europe, Turkey and Arab countries. All have emerged as harsh critics of Assad's crackdown on dissent.

Syrian opposition figures, including the Syrian National Council, also attended, attempting to convince international sponsors that they can overcome their differences and lead Syria to a democratic future.

But reflecting international divisions over the Syria crisis, China and Russia did not attend. The two countries have twice protected the Assad regime from censure by the U.N. Security Council, fearing such a step could lead to foreign military intervention.

Iran, a close Syrian ally, was not invited.

SNC spokeswoman Bassma Kodmani called on those attending the meeting to take a stronger stand against Assad and aid those trying to oust him. She did not call for arms, however, but for communications equipment for rebels known as the Free Syrian Army.

"The provision of arms is not our preferred option, we know it carries high risks of escalation into civil war but we cannot stand back and watch our people being massacred," she said in a statement Sunday. "What we do ask for is vital technical equipment so people on the ground can communicate and coordinate as a unified force under the FSA."

She called on countries neighboring Syria to open their borders so the opposition could bring in supplies.

Syria's uprising began in March 2011 with peaceful protests calling for political reforms. Dissent spread as Assad's forces deployed tanks, snipers and thugs to try to quash it, and many in the opposition have taken up arms to defend themselves and attack government troops.

The United Nations says more than 9,000 people have been killed.

Opposition leaders and their allies have disagreed on the question of foreign military aid to the opposition. Rebels and protesters within Syria have called for arms but some exiled leaders do not want weapons that they fear might further push the uprising toward civil war.

Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Libya have spoken positively of the idea of arming the Syrian rebels, but no country is known to be doing so now.

The U.S. and Europe have said they will not intervene militarily.

Former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan is pushing to end the violence with a six-point plan that calls on the government to immediately pull its forces out of cities and towns and abide by a two-hour halt in fighting every day to allow humanitarian access and medical evacuations.

The plans also calls for a more comprehensive cease-fire so all sides can talk about a political solution.

Syria has said it agrees to the plan but has dismissed what it actually requires Damascus to do.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdessi has said the government would not withdraw its force from towns and cities engulfed by unrest before life returns to normal there.

Leaders of Syria's scattered opposition have also rejected dialogue with the regime, accusing it of stalling for time and saying it has killed too many people to be considered serious about peace.

Activist said violence continued inside the country Sunday.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said rebels killed four government soldiers in an attack on their convoy in the northern Idlib province.

Activists also reported government shelling in the central city of Homs and clashes outside of Damascus.

Associated Press

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