Syrian President Bashar Assad delivers a speech in Damascus. Picture: AP Source: AP
- Syria's�president decrees vote on a new constitution
- Bashar al-Assad called the ballot for February 26
- People will govern people in multi-party democratic system
SYRIA'S president has decreed a vote on a new constitution this month, which would effectively end nearly 50 years of single party rule, state media says, as troops reportedly stormed centres of dissent.
A day after flatly rejecting UN allegations of crimes against humanity over the crackdown, President Bashar al-Assad called the ballot for February 26, in a move clearly aimed at placating growing global outrage over the bloodshed.
Under the new charter, freedom is "a sacred right" and "the people will govern the people" in a multi-party democratic system based on Islamic law, state television reported.
Assad, who in April lifted a state of emergency in force since 1963 when his Baath Party came to power, has made repeated promises of reforms that have failed to materialise since the uprising broke out on March 15.
His latest came as activists said troops stormed the central city of Hama and stepped up their assault on protest hubs nationwide, defiant in the face of mounting Arab and Western efforts to end the bloodshed.
Further to the south, an explosion struck an oil pipeline at daybreak in the flashpoint city of Homs, with activists saying government forces bombed it from the air and state media blaming "armed terrorist gangs".
Syria's government yesterday rejected UN charges of crimes against humanity, as monitors accused Assad's forces of launching one of their heaviest assaults yet in a 12-day onslaught on Homs.
And after Russia and China twice vetoed a resolution calling on Assad to stop the deadly attacks on civilians, diplomats said they would now seek a condemnation of the violence at the UN General Assembly tomorrow.
Rights groups say more than 6000 people have been killed since government forces launched a brutal crackdown on protests calling for democracy, which were launched 11 months ago to the day.
The pipeline blast in Homs sent up columns of black smoke over the central city, according to footage uploaded by opposition activists to video-sharing website YouTube.
Activist Hadi Abdullah said it was the third such attack on the same pipeline, although this was the first time that it was targeted with aircraft.
"Around 6am (3pm AEDT), two military planes bombed a pipeline located on the edge of Baba Amr neighbourhood," said Abdullah, of the opposition General Commission of the Syrian Revolution, citing witnesses.
The reported use of warplanes could not be immediately verified.
The General Commission said in a statement that the pipeline runs through Baba Amr, which has borne the brunt of a sustained assault on Homs by regime forces since February 4.
Syria's government has attributed several similar attacks to foreign-backed "terrorists", but the opposition accuses it of destroying energy infrastructure to punish dissenters.
Assad's forces appear to have refrained from using air power to crush armed rebels to avoid a no-fly zone being imposed over the country.
On the ground, however, troops launched an assault on the city of Hama, just north of Homs, where loud blasts could be heard in the Hamidiyeh and other neighbourhoods, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based monitoring group, said ongoing clashes had killed 20 people, including nine civilians, in the town of Al-Atareb, northwestern Aleppo province.
In Damascus, dozens of young Syrians gathered in front of the Russian embassy to thank Moscow and Beijing for their support, state television reported.
"We are here to thank Russia and China," one woman said.
She called on Assad to deploy the army throughout Syria to rid the country of what she called gangs.
"We urge you to strike with an iron fist," she said.
As the diplomatic gears turned, China said it wants an immediate halt to the spiralling bloodshed in Syria and an "inclusive dialogue" between the government and opposition protesters.
"We are following closely the situation in Syria and we hope that the violent activities can be put to an immediate stop," said Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai, who is accompanying Vice President Xi Jinping on a US visit.
"We hope that Syria can initiate an inclusive dialogue to solve all the problems it faces."
China and Russia have faced a barrage of criticism for blocking a UN Security Council resolution condemning the bloody crackdown on protests in Syria, including from Arab nations with which Beijing normally has good ties.
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