Red Cross denied access to Baba Amr

DAMASCUS, Syria, March 2 (UPI) -- A humanitarian aid convoy Friday was denied access to the heavily bombarded Baba Amr district of Homs, Syria, the International Committee of the Red Cross said.

"Everybody has the right to get and receive medical attention," Red Cross spokesman Salah Dabbakeh told the BBC in Damascus.

Syrian authorities had said they would allow the convoy to pass during a promised 2-hour cease-fire but the blockade appears to be part and parcel of what U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called widespread crimes against civilians, the BBC said.

The rebel Free Syrian Army withdrew from the district Thursday, calling it a "tactical withdrawal" to protect 4,000 civilians from an all-out assault by forces loyal to President Bashar Assad.

Red Cross officials said they feared many people in Baba Amr could be seriously wounded. Many residents were without power and running low on necessities.

The committee had received the go-ahead from Damascus after the longtime rebel enclave was overrun by Syria's 4th Armored Division, led by Brig. Gen. Maher Assad, a younger brother of the president.

The official Syrian Arab News Agency said the regime's army "cleansed" Baba Amr of "foreign-backed armed groups of terrorists."

The regime then approved the Red Cross request.

"If the fighting has truly died down, in theory there should be no obstacle to us going in there and staying there on a day-to-day basis," Sean Maguire, a Red Cross spokesman, earlier told the BBC. "Our colleagues from the Syrian Red Crescent have been distributing food and assistance in other areas of Homs on a daily basis, and we hope to be able to do the same in Baba Amr."

The office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said it received unconfirmed reports of "a particularly grisly set of summary executions" in Homs involving 17 people in Baba Amr.

A spokesman said the United Nations was appealing to Syrian authorities and rebels to stop all forms of reprisal.

The U.N. Security Council, in a unanimously approved statement Thursday, expressed "disappointment" that U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos didn't receive authorization from the Syrian government to visit the country, and demanded she be granted immediate access.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Friday his country was closing its embassy in Damascus to protest the "scandalous" repression by Assad's regime.

U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said the "criminal" Syrian government must be held accountable, adding that there would be "a day of reckoning for this dreadful regime."

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, however, criticized Western leaders for supporting the anti-government movement in Syria.

"Instead of encouraging parties to the conflict, it's necessary to force them to sit down for talks and begin political procedures and political reforms that would be acceptable for all participants in the conflict," Putin said.

Russia and China vetoed two U.N. Security Council resolutions on Syria but backed the statement concerning Amos.

The main opposition political group, the Syrian National Council, said Thursday it would set up a military "bureau" to coordinate armed resistance to the regime. Council President Burhan Ghalioun told reporters the council was initially dedicated to a non-violent revolution.

But Syria now faces "a new reality," he said.

He said any weapons intended for the rebels should be channeled through his group.

Saudi Arabia and Qatar back the rebel movement and have said they would consider arming the insurgents.