BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian forces bombarded Homs on Monday, killing 50 people in a sustained assault on several districts of the city which has become a centre of armed opposition to President Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian National Council opposition group said.
Western countries seeking Assad's downfall were scrambling to find a new diplomatic strategy after failing to enact a U.N. Security Council resolution that would have backed an Arab League call for Assad to stand aside.
The United States shut its embassy in Damascus and said all staff had left the country due to worsening security.
Russia fought back against blistering criticism from the West for vetoing the resolution on Saturday. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who is due in Damascus on Tuesday, said condemnations of Moscow's veto had verged on "hysteria."
U.S. President Barack Obama made clear that, however hard Western countries are prepared to lean on Assad diplomatically, they still have no intention of using force to topple him, as they did against Muammar Gaddafi in Libya last year.
"I think it is very important for us to try to resolve this without recourse to outside military intervention. And I think that's possible," he told NBC's Today show.
Catherine al-Talli of the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) told Reuters bombardment of Homs resumed early on Sunday, killing 50.
Assad's opponents say his tanks and artillery killed more than 200 people in the city on Friday night in the bloodiest incident of the 11-month-old uprising against his rule....
Syria bombards Homs; West scrambles for new strategy - Yahoo! News