300 critically ill patients trapped in Syrian town of Qusayr, says doctor

Syrian forces yesterday ramped up pressure on rebels in the besieged Syrian town of Qusayr and massed near Aleppo as Dr Kasem Al-Zein, who co-ordinates medical treatment there, said at least 300 seriously wounded patients are being treated in homes after the town’s main hospital was destroyed in fighting.

His call for the evacuation of the critically injured and fresh medical supplies was echoed by the International Committee of the Red Cross which has demanded access and expressed alarm about conditions in the town.

At the Syrian village of Jousih, 13km from Qusayr, Hizbullah fighters clashed with Lebanese Sunni militants seeking to join the battle for the strategic town. A Hizbullah guerrilla and several Sunni gunmen were said to have been killed.

In Lebanon, gunmen from the pro-rebel Sunni-majority neighbourhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh in the northern port of Tripoli clashed with the pro-Syrian government Shia-offshoot Alawite district of Jabal Mohsen, killing six and wounding 38, including several Lebanese soldiers.

Last month 31 people died and 200 were wounded in Tripoli spillover from the conflict in Syria.

Other incidents
Two other incidents deepened the polarisation in Lebanon. In the southern port of Sidon, where radical Sunni Salafis hold sway, a Sunni cleric was fired upon as he walked to early morning prayers at a mosque. "It's a message because of my support for [the Lebanese Shia] Hizbullah and for favouring a political solution in Syria," said Sheikh Maher Hammoud.

Condemning the attack, Hizbullah said he was targeted because he is a unifying figure who confronts “those calling for strife.”

A second Sunni cleric, Shiekh Ibrahim Mustafa Breidi who also supports Hizbulah, was targeted by a volley of machine-gun fire in the eastern Bekaa Valley.

The Syrian Revolution General Commission, a key bloc in the opposition National Coalition, withdrew, charging some members with misuse of funds and promoting personal interests. “Coalition members are more interested in appearing in the media than helping the revolution,” said the bloc, comprising activists in Syria. “A lot of money has been wasted because [these members] used it for their own interests while Syrians inside the country lack everything.”

The bloc said the rebels were promised one-third of the seats in the coalition but received only 15 when its membership was expanded from 60 to 114 during last month’s meeting in Istanbul and accused certain countries of “manipulating the revolution for their own ends.”

In Israel, defence minister Moshe Yaalon said Russian S-300 surface-to-air missiles would not be delivered before 2014, contradicting Dr Assad's assertion some had already been received. Russian media reported last week that the missile systems had not yet been transferred. Meanwhile, Syrian rebels who have been holding nine Lebanese Shias hostage since last May have received a list via Turkish and Qatari officials of 81 women prisoners whom Damascus is prepared to exchange for the Lebanese. The rebels have demanded the freeing of 371 female detainees said to be held by Syrian security.

Britain's foreign minister, William Hague, said the decision to arm rebels would be taken only after proposed peace talks. He said the priority is to get the government and opposition to enter into dialogue but, he was not overly optimistic. "A decision on whether to deliver lethal weapons will depend on how those negotiations go and other countries' attitudes." He said it is not too late to arm the rebels as the war has carried on for two years.