BICOM

Britain’s ambassador to Damascus, Simon Collis, said Syrian authorities will stop at nothing to hold on to power and are trying to hide from the world the killing, arrest and abuse of mostly peaceful protesters against President Bashar al-Assad.

In a candid first contribution to his blog on the FCO website, the British Ambassador in Syria for the last four years also dismissed the chances that Assad’s promised reforms would lead to greater freedoms and praised the bravery of activists who film and distribute footage of the protests.

“The regime wants to create its own truth. We should not let it.” Collis wrote. “This is a regime that remains determined to control every significant aspect of political life in Syria. It is used to power, and it will do anything to keep it…The Syrian regime doesn’t want you to know that its security forces and the gangs that support them are killing, arresting and abusing mostly peaceful protesters.”

Collis said he hoped the blog would generate discussion “about what’s happening, why it’s happening, and why it matters”. His comments were the latest public gesture of support by a Western diplomat for protesters calling for Assad’s downfall. However, European countries in the UN proposing a new Security Council resolution over Syria dropped their demands for immediate sanctions against Assad’s government, amid firm resistance from Russia and China.

The draft, proposed by the UK, France, Germany and Portugal and backed by the US, threatened sanctions only if the repression of protests does not end. Last month the UK and France attempted to push for tougher sanctions against President Assad, members of his family and close associates, but could not establish a consensus with other countries that oppose sanctions. The scaled-back version drafted this week was aimed at winning the support of China and Russia, who have threatened to veto any sanctions resolution against Syria, but failed to do so.

According to the UN the uprising in Syria has left at least 2,700 civilians dead.