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Syria conflict now civil war, says Red Cross

The conflict in Syria was effectively declared a civil war by the Red Cross last night (Sunday), as the 'most intense' fighting since the start of the uprising was reported in Damascus.

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The conflict in Syria was effectively declared a civil war by the Red Cross last night (Sunday), as the "most intense" fighting since the start of the uprising was reported in Damascus.

The Red Cross had previously designated Idlib, Homs and Hama as war zones, but the change in status means international humanitarian law applies wherever fighting occurs in the country

Combatants will now be officially subject to the Geneva Conventions, and will be more exposed to war crimes prosecutions, after the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) declared that the conflict was a "non-international armed conflict", or in lay terms a civil war.

Sean Maguire, a spokesman for the ICRC, said both sides would be reminded of their obligations "to protect civilians from the effects of fighting, treat the wounded and sick without discrimination and discriminate between military targets and the civilian population". The categorisation was made after the ICRC determined that armed opposition to Bashar al-Assad's regime had reached a sufficient level of organisation and capability.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in London, reported the heaviest clashes in the capital since the start of the anti-regime revolt. The group's head, Rami Abdel Rahman, said the regular army fired mortar rounds into several suburbs where rebels of the Free Syrian Army are entrenched, adding: "They have never been this intense."

Kofi Annan, the international envoy for Syria, and Ban Ki-Moon, the UN secretary general, head for Russia and China today to try to persuade them to back tougher action against President Assad, but hopes for a breakthrough are slim.

In the aftermath of Thursday's attack on the village of Tremseh, the Syrian government claimed a propaganda victory yesterday after UN observers questioned opposition claims of a civilian massacre.

Local activists accused regime forces of killing as many as 220 civilians in what would have been the worst massacre of the 16-month uprising. But although monitors found scenes of heavy destruction, and evidence of mass fatalities, they concluded that the vast majority of the dead were rebels or opposition activists.

Their findings were swiftly trumpeted by the Assad regime, which accused Western leaders and Mr Annan of rushing to draw false conclusions.

But the UN stood by its accusation that government forces used tanks and helicopter gunships in breach of a pledge made by Mr Assad a week ago.

Reaching the village 48 hours after the killings, the observers spoke of scenes of devastation and of seeing chilling traces of the ferocity of the government's onslaught amid the ruins. "There were pools of blood and blood spatters in rooms of several homes together with bullet cases," said Sausan Ghosheh, a spokesman for the monitoring team. The findings appeared to suggest that a number of the victims were shot at close range, echoing opposition claims of execution-style killings by the Shabiha militia, whose ranks are largely drawn from president's Alawite minority.

The dispute over Tremseh is likely to complicate international efforts to resolve the Syrian crisis, with Russia almost certain to seize on it as evidence that the opposition, rather than the regime, is responsible for most of the bloodshed.

The mandate for the observer mission is due to expire on Friday with no sign of an end to international divisions.

--- A Russian ship making its second attempt to deliver arms to Syria mysteriously returned to port yesterday. The MV Alaed was prevented from delivering refurbished attack helicopters in June after Britain ensured that its insurance cover was withdrawn.

--- Asma al-Assad ordered furniture worth pounds 270,000 from a shop on London's King's Road in March last year and monitored the order as her husband's brutal put down of the rebellion unfolded.

Emails released by WikiLeaks showed that the Syrian first lady was shown a quote with more than 130 items priced in US dollars, including a carpet at $20,000. Eleven ottomans cost a similar sum.

Mrs Assad, 36, was raised in west London and met Bashar al-Assad when he was a student in London. In an email sent to Mansour Azzam, a ministry of foreign affairs aide, on Sept 23, she wrote: "I forgot to mention, the sofa below should have the same number of back cushions as bases."

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