Syrian security forces shot dead four soldiers trying to desert on Monday, as troops deployed in several villages and China voiced concern over events in Syria. "Four soldiers in Maar Shamsa in (northwestern) Idlib were shot dead while trying to flee the Wadi Deif military camp," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, reporting gunfire, arrests and murders over the weekend and on Monday across the country. Meanwhile, China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi highlighted his country's concern about Syria in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly. In a marked call to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad's forces and opposition demonstrators, Yang said "we hope that parties in Syria will exercise restraint, avoid any form of violence or more bloodshed and conflict, and act quickly to ease tension." The international community should "handle the Syrian issue in a prudent way so as to prevent further turbulence in Syria and its repercussions on regional peace," Yang said. China has joined Russia in leading opposition to UN sanctions against the Assad government in Syria, where the United Nations says that more than 2,700 people have been killed since March. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged China to back strong UN action on Syria when she met Yang just before his speech, a senior US official said. And a global human rights group urged a UN probe into the killing of Syrian civilians and slammed the "timidity" in tackling the crisis amid evidence of crimes against humanity. "We are demanding an international investigation to document exactly what is happening and really identify the problems -- an independent investigation by the United Nations because this can't continue," Khadija Cherif, secretary general of the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights, told AFP in Warsaw. "We must do this, or we'll continue to see this kind of timidity in the reaction to what is happening in Syria," Cherif said, at once warning there was "certainly no need for an armed intervention" similar to the NATO-led air strikes in Libya. On the ground in Syria, the Britain-based Observatory also reported soaring tensions in central Homs province, a hub of protests against the Assad regime. "Tension is high in Homs province. The army has deployed in the villages of the Qusseir region (south of Homs), where two unidentified bodies were found in the Assi river." "There are also mutilated bodies at the National Hospital" in Qusseir, where 12 people were killed and 15 were reported missing in military operations on Saturday, the Observatory said. North of Homs, "many security checkpoints have been set up on the roads leading to Rastan, where heavy machine-gun fire was heard this morning," the rights group added. The deputy dean of the faculty of architecture at Al-Baath University in Homs, Mohammed Ali Aqil, was killed on Monday by unknown assailants, the Observatory reported. In northwestern Idlib province near the Turkish border, the military and security forces stormed villages east of the city of Saraqeb, setting up roadblocks and arresting 17 people. The Observatory also said that in the rebel city of Hama, "a civilian died and three others were wounded by gunfire on Sunday night on the Mhardeh-Hilfaya road." The bodies of four civilians who went missing on September 16 at Hilfaya in Hama province were also returned to their families. In the southern city of Dael in Daraa province, where the first protests ignited in mid-March, intense gunfire was heard throughout the night after the city council building was set on fire, which residents blamed on pro-regime militias. Students staged demonstrations in several Daraa cities, the Observatory added. Meanwhile, the state-run SANA news agency reported the seizure of "arms and ammunition" in a house in the Daraa village of Nassib near the Jordanian border, and the discovery of a carload of "Israeli arms and explosives charges in Homs." SANA also reported the funeral of four soldiers and security officers, as well as that of a doctor who had been killed in Homs. Damascus does not accept the existence of popular opposition to the authorities, instead blaming "armed gangs" and "terrorists" for trying to sow chaos.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has submitted his bid to the UN for recognition of a Palestinian state. To rapturous applause in the General Assembly, he urged the Security Council to back a state with pre-1967 borders. He said the Palestinians had entered negotiations with Israel with sincere intentions, but blamed the building of Jewish settlements for their failure. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said he was reaching out to Palestinians and blamed them for refusing to negotiate. "I continue to hope that President Abbas will be my partner in peace," he said in his speech in New York. "Let's meet here today in the United Nations. Who's there to stop us?" Mr Netanyahu added that the core of the conflict was not settlements but the refusal of the Palestinians to recognise Israel as a Jewish state. Hours after receiving it, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon transmitted the Palestinian request to the Security Council. Israel and the US say a Palestinian state can only be achieved through talks with Israel - not through UN resolutions. 'Come to peace' President Barack Obama told Mr Abbas on Thursday that the US would use its UN Security Council veto to block the move. Continue reading the main story Analysis Jeremy Bowen BBC Middle East editor, New York Some delegations here at the UN in New York gave Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas a standing ovation - they were clapping and even whistling in support. That is significant because if it comes to a vote in the Security Council - and if the Americans veto it - Palestinians have a Plan B. That Plan B is to go to the General Assembly - where there are no vetoes - and get enhanced status, not full membership but something better than they have now. The Palestinians say they want to negotiate but not in the way they have negotiated before - there has to be clear parameters and a timetable. The Palestinian point is that since 18 years of negotiation has not worked, let's try something new. "I call upon the distinguished members of the Security Council to vote in favour of our full membership," he told the General Assembly, in what was for him an unusually impassioned speech. He added that he hoped for swift backing. Many delegates gave him a standing ovation. "I also appeal to the states that have not yet recognised the State of Palestine to do so." "The time has come for my courageous and proud people, after decades of displacement and colonial occupation and ceaseless suffering, to live like other peoples of the earth, free in a sovereign and independent homeland," he said. He urged Israel to "come to peace". And he said the building of Jewish settlements was "the primary cause for the failure of the peace process". A spokesman for the Islamist movement Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, criticised the speech. Salah Bardawil said Mr Abbas had deviated from the aspirations of the Palestinian people by accepting the 1967 borders, which he said left 80% of Palestinian land inside Israel. 'Future and destiny' Meanwhile in the West Bank, crowds roared their approval as Mr Abbas demanded UN acceptance of a Palestinian state within pre-1967 borders. Continue reading the main story Middle East viewpoints Analyst Yezid Sayigh argues that US and Israeli policies have forced the Palestinians to resort to requesting full UN membership. Israeli commentator Yossi Klein Halevi argues that the Palestinians need to convince the Israelis that any state would not be a threat. "With our souls, with our blood, we will defend Palestine," they said. Mr Abbas had called for peaceful marches in support of his initiative, but some clashes were reported: One Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli troops during clashes in the village of Qusra, south of Nablus, Palestinian sources say At the Qalandiya checkpoint, Israeli troops fired tear gas on stone-throwing Palestinian youths In the village of Nabi Saleh, protesters burned Israeli flags and pictures of President Obama The process began with Mr Abbas presenting a written request for a State of Palestine to be admitted as a full UN member state to the UN secretary general. The BBC's Kim Ghattas at the UN says that until the last minute Western diplomats tried and failed to stop the Palestinians making the request. Even now, efforts are under way to restart direct talks between the Israelis and Palestinians in an attempt to defuse tensions, our correspondent says. The Security Council will examine it and vote on the request. In order to pass, it would need the backing of nine out of 15 council members, with no vetoes from the permanent members. A Security Council vote could take weeks to come about and the US may not even need to exercise its veto - Washington and Israel have been lobbying council members to either vote against the Palestinian plan or abstain. Continue reading the main story Palestinian UN membership bid Palestinians currently have permanent observer entity status at the UN They are represented by the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) Officials now want an upgrade so a state of Palestine has full member status at the UN They seek recognition on 1967 borders - in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza Enhanced observer member status could be an interim option Q&A: Palestinians' UN statehood plans Why Obama has turned towards Israel French President Nicolas Sarkozy has urged a compromise, suggesting the General Assembly give the Palestinians enhanced status as a non-member state to allow a clear timeline for talks - a month to start negotiations, six months to deal with borders and security and a year to finalise a "definitive agreement". A vote on enhanced status - enjoyed by others such as the Vatican - would not require a Security Council recommendation but a simple majority in the General Assembly, where no veto is possible. Currently the Palestinians have observer status at the UN. The "Quartet" of US, European, Russian and UN mediators has been working on reaching a framework agreement to restart talks, based on Mr Obama's vision of borders fashioned from Israel's pre-1967 boundary, with agreed land swaps.
France's fines on women for wearing the full-face covering niqab veil, imposed for the first time by a court on Thursday, are a "travesty of justice," Amnesty International says. Police have issued several on-the-spot fines since the ban came into force in April but the hearing saw the first two court-issued fines, and the Muslim women vowed to appeal their case all the way to the European Court of Human Rights. "This is a travesty of justice and a day of shame for France. These women are being punished for wearing what they want," Amnesty International's deputy director for Europe and Central Asia John Dalhuisen said in a statement. Advertisement: Story continues below "Instead of protecting women's rights, this ban violates their freedom of expression and religion." The court in the northern cheese-making town of Meaux ordered Hind Ahmas, 32, to pay a 120 ($A163) fine, while Najate Nait Ali, 36, was fined 80 euros. It did not order them to take a citizenship course, as the prosecutor had wanted. The women were arrested when they brought a birthday cake for local mayor and lawmaker Jean-Francois Cope, who is head of President Nicolas Sarkozy's right-wing UMP party that pushed through Europe's first anti-burqa law. France is not the only country to try to ban the Muslim full-face veil - Belgium and some Italian cities have similar laws, while other countries are planning to follow suit - so a European ruling could have broad effect. French officials estimate that only around 2,000 women, from a total Muslim population estimated at between four and six million, wear the full-face veils traditionally worn in parts of the Arab world and South Asia. Many Muslims and rights activists say the right-wing president is targeting one of France's most vulnerable groups to signal to anti-immigration voters that he shares their fear that Islam is a threat to French culture.
The National Transitional Council are investigating an unconfirmed report that Muammar Gaddafi has fled from Sabha, NTC spokesman reports. NTC spokesman also states that Libyan government forces now control most of Sabha with small pockets of resistance from pro-Gaddafi snipers.