BEIRUT — Syrian rebels ignited a new front Friday outside the capital, Damascus, in the first significant fighting there since regime forces swept over the suburbs weeks ago. The clashes highlight the shifting nature of Syria’s conflict, with rebels lying in wait to rise up when the regime turns its guns elsewhere.
Violence in the Damascus suburbs raises questions about how long troops can control areas before they re-erupt. Though government forces have shown they can crush armed fighters, the regime has appeared unable to conduct major offensives in more than one place at the same time.
That points to the likelihood that a conflict that is now a year old and is estimated to have killed more than 8,000 people could grind on.
Diplomatic efforts have so far brought no result, but U.N. envoy Kofi Annan told the Security Council in a briefing Friday that he was determined to continue his mission and would return to Damascus. Talks last week between Annan and Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus saw no progress in attempts to cobble together peace talks between the two sides.
After the confidential briefing via videolink, Annan told reporters in Geneva that he urged the council “to speak with one voice as we try to resolve the crisis in Syria.”
Russia and China have blocked council action against Assad’s regime.
“The first objective is for all of us to end the violence and human-rights abuses and the killings and get unimpeded access for humanitarian access to the needy — and, of course, the all-important issue of political process that will lead to a democratic Syria,” Annan said.
Assad and much of the opposition spurned Annan’s appeal for talks.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow and Beijing were pressing Assad to cooperate and that other countries should do the same with the opposition, which he accused of stonewalling the U.N. mission.
As the battles continue on the ground, the country’s diplomatic isolation has grown. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain announced they will close their embassies in Syria, months after they withdrew their ambassadors from Damascus, the state-run Saudi Press Agency said. Turkey urged its citizens in Syria to return home Friday, saying some consular services will be halted in Damascus next week.
