UN: Syrian uprising death toll passes 8,000

A family escapes from fierce fighting between Free Syrian Army fighters and government troops in Idlib, north Syria, Saturday, March 10, 2012. / AP Photo

(CBS/AP) UNITED NATIONS - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says well over 8,000 people have died in Syria over the past year due to the government's violent repression of the uprising against President Bashar Assad.

The U.N. chief raised the death toll from 7,500 in a statement Thursday marking the first anniversary of the uprising.

Ban said the "brutal repression" by Syrian authorities is continuing unabated and called the status quo "indefensible."

Ban urged the government and opposition to cooperate with international envoy Kofi Annan to stop the bloodshed and find a political solution.

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Meanwhile, France's foreign minister has rejected weapons requests by the Syrian rebel forces, saying Thursday that arming the Syrian opposition could lead to catastrophic civil war.

The Syrian opposition is divided as it marks one year since its uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime.

Russia, a powerful ally of Syria's, is opposed to any new sanctions or international action in Syria but offered its support Thursday to former U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan in his efforts to help end the violence.

Syrian rebel forces are asking for new weapons after defeats by government troops. But leading world powers such as the United States and France seem wary of getting embroiled in a new conflict after months of NATO-led airstrikes in Libya.

"The Syrian people are deeply divided, and if we give arms to a certain faction of the Syrian opposition, we would make a civil war among Christians, Alawites, Sunnis and Shiites," French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on France-Culture radio Thursday.

France, Syria's former colonial ruler, is backing the opposition against Assad and pushing for Assad's departure. Juppe says arming the opposition could lead to "a catastrophe even larger than the one that exists today."

Many Syrian opposition members are in Paris but divisions have kept them from forming a single unified force that the international community is rallying behind.

Juppe's comments echoed those of President Barack Obama in Washington on Wednesday, who warned that an international response could lead to more deaths.

"Our natural instinct is to act," Obama said. "It's very important for us to make sure that we have thought through all of our actions before we take those steps."

After two significant defeats at the hands of Syrian government troops, the country's rebel forces are low on cash and running out of weapons.

"Send us money, we're desperate. Send us weapons," Ahmad Kassem, who coordinates military operations for the rebel Free Syrian Army, told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "We don't need fighters. We have excess men who can fight, but we need weapons to protect our land and honor."

Russia, meanwhile, says it is continuing to supply weapons to Syria's government that could be used to fend off external threats — but not against protesters. Russia backs Assad's claim that the uprising is a foreign conspiracy and that weapons and militants have been brought into Syria from abroad.

[smittyc]

The Syrians rebels started this fight. If they want to stop the fight they just have to surrender. They have refused to negotiate yet they want us to spend our money and spill our blood. Draw your own conclusions.

[sadhadi]

To see your home town shelled is something horrible>>> you cannot say a thing even you dare not to cry>>> when you see your streets are destructed, your neighbors next door running, escaping from barbarian senseless monsters, ready to do things you cannot imagined>>> when you feel that the whole world didn't care about what is happening, then you'll say what people always keep saying: O, God we have no one except you>>>

[sepa2]

sorry people, you have no oil

[usunus]

The UN announced Syrian death toll of 8,000 has been compiled mostly on the basis of the claims of the Homs rebels and the groups allied with them.Nobody has verified and confirmed this UN figure,which is likely to be inflated by the rebels for propaganda purposes and to exert pressure on the Syrian regime.At least Russia and China should have the UN death toll data suitably audited.

[longtree-2009]

syria has just a tad over 20 million population which is way less than some USA states such as TX and CA. think mexico has a tad over 100 million population. why the focus on syria?

[Overruled1]

While there are many deaths occurring far away from home, here nearby 50,000 Mexican citizens have been murdered by the drug cartels which has been under reported because they have killed the reporters, the police, the judges, the priests, and the basic citizen. What has America done?
Is it our problem? I think so.
If our demand for illicit drugs hasn't been so high this would not be an issue, but it could be all ended with legalization of the drugs.
Turn the savings from law enforcement to hospitalization and treatment not only do you drop the cartels with a pen, but you also treat our drug abusers which is our problem to begin with.

[yoyotpico]

we have 55000 or more deaths in Mexico, 4 years of war and the O.N.U. didn't said nothing. so why USA put his eyes on Syria? $$$$$ oil

[dkb218]

The plan is working. Destablize the middle east. Yes, this was planned. Who cares how many lives are lost? The monetary gain is enormous. He who controls the oil and money makes the rules. Its all so simple.

[Overruled1]

That explains Cheney on the board of directors of that Asian Oil corporation...the murderers.