In the latest violence, a human rights group said Syrian forces raked the city of Rastan in central Homs province with machinegun fire from sunrise Tuesday, wounding at least 20 people. The Observatory, meanwhile, also reported witnesses as saying that sustained automatic gunfire was heard on Tuesday morning at Talbisseh, 10 kilometres south of Rastan. Hundreds of soldiers who have refused orders to fire on protesters have formed the Khaled Bin Al-Walid battalion, named after the Arab conqueror of Syria, in Rastan. The force, led by Captain Abdelrahman Sheikh, has some tanks. Colonel Riad Al-Assad, the most senior military defector, is active in the area. The rebel soldiers have attacked army buses and roadblocks manned by troops and pro-Assad militiamen, known ‘shabbiha'. These have multiplied in recent days as security forces try to disrupt protests and hunt down activists in the Rastan area. Syria accused the West of trying to unleash “total chaos” that would lead to the break-up of the country, as rights groups said Syrian forces strafed political dissidents with machineguns on Tuesday. China, meanwhile, expressed its concern at the wider implications of the violence in Syria, even as the United States pressed Beijing, a veto-wielding member of the Security Council, to back stronger UN action against Damascus. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, speaking at the annual UN General Assembly, said foreign governments sought to undermine the co-existence between Syria's different religious groups. “How can we otherwise explain media provocations, financing and arming religious extremism?” he asked. “What purpose could this serve other than total chaos that would dismember Syria and consequently adversely affect its neighbors.” He said anti-regime protests in which at least 2,700 people have been killed have become a “pretext for foreign interventions.” Rejecting the accusations, Germany's Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle called for UN Security Council action. “The courageous men and women in Syria deserve a clear signal of our solidarity,” Westerwelle told the UN assembly, condemning the “brutal force” used by President Bashar Al-Assad's forces. Damascus does not accept the existence of popular opposition to the authorities, instead blaming “armed gangs” and “terrorists” for trying to sow chaos.
