'Your papers, please' must never be heard in America
United Nations diplomats said Tuesday that the Syrian National Coalition is set to open offices in Washington, D.C., and New York City, as it prepares for meetings of Syrian opposition leaders with U.S. and U.N. officials.
Fighting between rebels and Syrian forces intensified and spread across the capital of Damascus on Tuesday as diplomats scrambled to shore up a tough international response to the "civil war" ahead of a U.N. deadline for withdrawing observers.
U.N. observers suspended their patrols in Syria on Saturday due to a recent spike in violence, the strongest sign yet that an international peace plan was unraveling despite months of diplomatic efforts to prevent the country from plunging into civil war.
A Sudanese general linked to genocide in Darfur is leading an Arab League team to Syria to monitor the regime's compliance with a promise to end its violent crackdown on anti-government protesters.
Mr. Ghadbian added: "If the international community does not have the stomach to intervene to protect civilians, then at least they should enable Syrians do that."
"We want to convey the message that the Syrian people have lost faith in the diplomatic efforts at the Security Council," Najib Ghadbian, a senior member of the Syrian National Council, said in a phone interview from New York.
