Syria’s showdown

Fighting rages in Syria’s second city, Aleppo, as pro-regime media warned of a looming “mother of all battles.”  Reports say at least 121 people are dead, 64 civilians, 32 regime soldiers and 25 rebels.  There is increasing pressure for some sort of intervention.  UN secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged world leaders to stop the slaughter in Syria.  “The Syrian people will pay the price for this failure [to act],” said Germany’s UN ambassador Peter Wittig.  Russia’s envoy Vitaly Churkin retorted pledges by some Western nations to support Syrian opposition “contributes and leads to an escalation of confrontation.” This follows the defection of two more senior Syrian diplomats from the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.  Syria’s representatives in the United Arab Emirates and Cyprus, husband and wife, fled to Qatar.

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