Dissidents have reacted with dismay to special envoy Kofi Annan’s call for a “political settlement” to end the crisis in Syria, saying his emphasis on diplomacy ignores the government’s repression.Activists said arrests and attacks by the government of President Bashar al-Assad, which continued on Friday morning, have destroyed prospects of a negotiated deal.“We reject any dialogue while tanks shell our towns, snipers shoot our women and children and many areas are cut off from the world by the regime without electricity, communications or water,” Hadi Abdullah, a resident of the bombarded city of Homs, said on Thursday night.Another activist told Reuters that Annan’s call for dialogue sounded “like a wink at Bashar” that would only encourage Assad to “crush the revolution”.Annan, a former UN secretary-general, has been entrusted by the Arab League and the UN to find a peaceful resolution in Syria.He cautioned against military intervention in the country earlier on Thursday, saying it risks making the conflict worse.On Friday morning, clashes erupted in Homs province, the DPA news agency reported.“Heavy clashes were raging at the outskirts of the Rastan and al-Kussair areas between members of the [opposition] Free Syrian Army and government troops,” said Abu Imad, a Syrian activist based in northern Lebanon.The Syrian Local Coordination Committees, an opposition group documenting violence across Syria, said Syrian troops were bombarding areas in Karam al-Zeitoun, al-Khalidiyeh and al-Bayada in the restive province.The army reportedly has sent reinforcements to the northwestern province of Idlib, where activists have feared an assault similar to the one that devastated the Bab Amr neighbourhood of Homs.Speaking at the Arab League in Cairo, Annan said the solution to the worsening conflict “lies in political settlement” and must be “Syrian-led and Syrian-owned”.He said military intervention had made matters worse in other regional conflicts, though he did not mention any by name.“I hope no one is thinking seriously of using force in this situation,” Annan said. “As I move to Syria, we will do whatever we can to urge and press for a cessation of hostilities and end to the The army prevented aid convoys associated with the International Committee of the Red Cross from entering for more than three days.“The devastation there is significant, that part of Homs is completely destroyed and I am concerned to know what has happened to the people who live in that part of the city,” Amos said.John Ging, an official in the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Assistance, said the UN was preparing a plan to deliver food to 1.5 million people as part of a three-month plan worth $105 million.
