Syria violence surges as UN calls for protection

The United Nations' human rights chief has called on the international community to protect Syrian civilians as violence surged across the country, with hours of intense shooting that sent stray bullets whizzing across the border.

Friday's bloodshed came as activists reported a grim milestone in the eight-month-old revolt: November was the deadliest month of the uprising, with at least 950 people killed in gunbattles, raids and other violence as protesters demand the ouster of President Bashar Assad.

The UN estimates more than 4,000 people have been killed since the uprising began in the middle of March, inspired by the Arab Spring revolutions sweeping the Middle East.

"In light of the manifest failure of the Syrian authorities to protect their citizens, the international community needs to take urgent and effective measures to protect the Syrian people," Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, told an emergency meeting of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Pillay on Thursday characterized the conflict in Syria as a civil war. International intervention, such as the Nato action in Libya that helped topple Moammar Gadhafi, is all but out of the question in Syria. But the European Union, the Arab League, Turkey and others have piled on sanctions aimed at crippling the regime once and for all.

The EU's latest sanctions, which were announced Thursday, target 12 people and 11 companies with travel bans and asset freezes. They add to a long list of regime figures previously sanctioned by the EU, including Assad himself and high-ranking security officials.

The identities of those on the new list were made public Friday in the EU's official journal. They include the ministers of finance and the economy, as well as army officers.

Also on the list are the pro-government Cham Press TV and Al-Watan newspaper, as well as a research center that the EU says provides support to the Syrian military in acquiring equipment for the surveillance of demonstrators.

Three oil companies, which the EU statement said provide financial support to the regime, were also listed. They include the Syria Trading Oil Company, which is responsible for Syria's oil exports.

Royal Dutch Shell PLC also said Friday it will halt its operations in Syria to comply with the penalties. The economic sanctions will limit the regime's access to cash at a time when Assad is relying more than ever on the support of the business classes.

Assad has spent years shifting the country away from the socialism espoused by his father, which helped boost a new and vibrant merchant class that transformed Syria's economic landscape — even as the regime's political trappings remained unchanged. Despite Friday's diplomatic squeeze, violence continued. The most serious violence appears to have occurred in the Syrian town of Talkalakh, where witnesses reported more than six hours of explosions and gunfire starting at 3 am.

Assad is depending on the strong support of Russia and China to withstand the sanctions and growing worldwide isolation. Russia and China have vetoed a Western-backed UN Security Council resolution condemning the bloodshed in Syria, arguing that Nato misused a previous UN mandate authorising use of force in Libya.

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