Relentless shelling Wednesday by Syrian forces in the opposition stronghold of Homs and elsewhere has killed at least 74 people, including two Western journalists.
The French government identified the two reporters killed in Homs as Marie Colvin, a prominent American war correspondent working for Britain's Sunday Times newspaper, and French photojournalist Remi Ochlik.
Activists said several other journalists were wounded in the attack on a makeshift media center in the rebel-held Baba Amr district of Homs and that the center appeared to have been deliberately targeted.
British Prime Minister David Cameron paid tribute to Colvin.
(English) David Cameron, British Prime Minister:
“The talented and respected foreign correspondent of the Sunday Times, Marie Colvin, has been killed from the bombing in Syria. This is a desperately sad reminder of the risks journalists take to inform the world of what is happening and the dreadful events in Syria and our thoughts should be with her family and with her friends. ”
The Syrian government issued a statement saying it was not aware that the journalists were in the country. Syrian state media reported that the Information Ministry “called on foreign journalists who have entered Syria illegally to regularize their status with the government.” Syria does not permit foreign journalists to travel freely and has kept most of them out.
As the crisis escalates, the United Nations said it wants to send its humanitarian chief, Valerie Amos, to Syria to secure the delivery of emergency relief, while the International Committee of the Red Cross called for a daily two-hour cease-fire so it can bring emergency aid to affected areas and evacuate the sick and wounded.
Syria's main opposition group said in Paris Wednesday that foreign military intervention may be the only way to ensure emergency aid can reach those pinned down by fighting.
A number of world leaders, including French President Nicolas Sarkozy, expressed outrage over the killings.
President Sarkozy said the deaths showed the time has come for President Bashar al-Assad's government to end. Foreign Minister Alain Juppe called the killings “murder,” while the U.S. State Department said they are “another example of [the Syrian government's] shameless brutality.”
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah told Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Wednesday that dialogue on Syria would at present be useless.
The official SPA news agency quoted King Abdullah as saying during a telephone conversation with Mr. Medvedev Wednesday that “as for now, any discussions about the situation in Syria would be futile.” According to the report, the king also stressed that Saudi Arabia “will never abandon its religious and moral obligations towards what is happening.”
An international meeting has been called for Friday in Tunisia to push for a resolution of Syria's crisis.
France expressed hope that the “Friends of Syria” gathering will be able to move toward a peaceful solution of the situation. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she wants the group to agree on more sanctions, more condemnations of the Assad crackdown, more contact with the opposition and more help for Syrians caught up in the violence.
On Wednesday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said in telephone talks that the Syrian crisis must be resolved swiftly, but without foreign intervention. The two countries have remained Mr. Assad's strongest international backers throughout the bloody, 11-month anti-government uprising.
Human rights activists say Syria's violence has killed at least 6,000 people.
new AP video –RESTRICTIONS SEE SCRIPT —
