Russian plane crash kills 31 in Siberia

Emergency crews work at the crash site in Siberia

A Russian passenger plane carrying 43 people has crashed shortly after take-off in Siberia.

Thirty-one people were killed and 12 survivors have been taken to hospital, Russia’s emergencies ministry said.

The ATR-72 turboprop aircraft had just left Tyumen on a flight north-east to the oil town of Surgut when it crashed.

Officials said 39 passengers and four crew members were on board the plane. It remains unclear what caused the crash.

Earlier, local authorities said 32 people had died, but that figure has now been revised to 31.

All of the survivors are in intensive care and doctors are operating on eight of them, according to the state-run RIA news agency quoting hospital officials in Tyumen.

The Itar Tass news agency is reporting that all the crew, which was made up of two pilots and two flight attendants, died.

Flight 120 disappeared from radars at 05:35 local time (01:35 GMT), state-owned Russian news channel Rossiya 24 reported.

The carrier UTair is a domestic Russian airline. The company said on its website that the pilot had been trying to make an emergency landing when the plane came down.

A search team found it had crashed and burst into flames in a snowy field about 35km (22 miles) from Tyumen.

The ATR-72 turbo-prop aircraft was built by a French-Italian company.

Prosecutors have opened an investigation into the operations of UTair and Roshchino airport and the deputy transport minister has flown to the site.

A ministry official in Tyumen, Yuri Alekhin, said the flight data recorders – the black boxes – have been recovered.

The Russian emergencies ministry has published a complete list of the dead and injured, all of whom appear to be Russian, correspondents say.

Russia’s Lenta.ru news website is reporting there were no children on board.

Air safety has been notoriously bad in Russia – but it had seemed to be improving, correspondents say.

Last year, at least 15 Russian planes crashed, killing 120 people and questions were raised about maintenance.

In September, 44 people, including the entire Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ice hockey team, were killed in a plane crash that investigators found was caused by pilot error.

And in 2010, the Polish President Lech Kaczynski and scores of other senior Polish figures died when the plane they were on crashed as it approached Smolensk airport, in western Russia, in thick fog.

 

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Why China, Russia won’t condemn Syrian regime

Rice: Blood on hands of China, Russia

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• China and Russia veto a draft resolution calling for the Syrian regime to stop killings
• In 2010, China was Syria’s 3rd largest importer, according to EC data
• Analyst: The value of Syrian contracts with Russia likely exceeds $4 billion
• China and Russia say they support an end to the violence but disagreed with the draft

(CNN) — As international leaders express outrage over mass killings in Syria — and lament the inability to pass a U.N. Security Council resolution denouncing the Syrian regime — questions linger about the two countries behind the impasse.

On Saturday, China and Russia vetoed a draft resolution that would have demanded Syrian President Bashar al-Assad stop the killing and answer calls aimed at finding a Syrian-led solution to the 11-month crisis.

Analysts say both China and Russia have their reasons to maintain good relations with Syria.

Russia is one of Syria’s biggest arms supplier. And China ranked as Syria’s third-largest importer in 2010, according to data from the European Commission.

Syrian crisis continues as UN fails

Rice: We won’t turn our backs on Syrians

Arab League reaction to U.N. veto

Failed Syrian vote may increase violence

“Beijing’s renewed interest in Damascus—the traditional terminus node of the ancient Silk Road … indicates that China sees Syria as an important trading hub,” according to a 2010 report from The Jamestown Foundation, a Washington-based research and analysis institute.

Even as reports mounted that the Syrian government was killing protesters en masse, the Chinese foreign ministry issued a statement in August noting the “steady development” of friendly relations “over the past 50 years and more.”

“China and Syria gave each other understanding and support on issues concerning each other’s core and major interests,” the statement said. “China showed consistent understanding and firm support for Syria’s position on the Golan Heights while Syria remained committed to the one China position and rendered China staunch support on matters related to Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang and human rights.”

Last week, China’s permanent representative to the United Nations said the killing of innocent civilians must stop, but also said he is against “pushing through” a regime change.

An earlier version of the U.N. Security Council draft resolution called for al-Assad to step down and delegate his powers to his deputy, but that element was not in the draft voted on by members Saturday.

“China is of the view that the Syrian people’s request for reform and safeguard of their interests should be respected,” Li Baodong said Tuesday, according to China’s state-run Xinhua news agency. “It is imperative to put an immediate end to all violence in Syria and oppose and stop the killing of innocent civilians.

“At the same time, an inclusive political process with a wide participation of all Syrian parties must be started without delay to speed up reform and resolve differences and disputes peacefully through dialogue and consultations,” he said.

Russia also has an economic interest in Syria.

The total value of Syrian contracts with the Russian defense industry likely exceeds $4 billion, according to Jeffrey Mankoff, an adjunct fellow with the Center for Strategic and International Studies Russia and Eurasia Program.

He noted the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimated the value of Russian arms sales to Syria at $162 million per year in both 2009 and 2010.

Moscow also signed a $550 million deal with Syria for combat training jets.

Russia also leases a naval facility at the Syrian port of Tartus, giving the Russian navy its only direct access to the Mediterranean, Mankoff said.

As Western leaders sought to pry al-Assad from power, Moscow sent an aircraft-carrying missile cruiser to Syrian waters in a show of support last month and shipped Syrian troops a consignment of Yakhont cruise missiles, according to Daniel Treisman, a professor of political science at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Speaking after the Saturday vote, ambassadors from both Russia and China said they do support an end to the violence but felt the resolution did not address the crisis properly.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the text “did not adequately reflect the real state of affairs and sent an unbalanced signal” to the various sides in Syria. He noted that the minister for foreign affairs will visit Damascus to hold a meeting with al-Assad this week.

Chinese Ambassador Li Baodong called on all parties in Syria to restore order as soon as possible. But he said the text would have served only to “complicate the issue” and would “prejudge the result of dialogue.”

China and Russia vetoed another Security Council resolution in October that would have called for an immediate halt to the crackdown, which United Nations officials have said resulted in an estimated 6,000 deaths since protests began nearly a year ago.

With the Security Council failing to approve a resolution, what happens next is unclear.

But as the diplomatic stalemate continues, the death toll in Syria climbs even higher. The Local Coordination Committees of Syria, a network of opposition activists that organizes and documents protests, said the violence has killed more than 7,300.

Syria Assad: Army massacres ‘hundreds’ in city of Homs

The BBC’s Paul Wood is with rebel fighters near Homs

Syrian government forces have bombarded the city of Homs with tank shells and mortars, killing more than 200 people, opposition groups say.

Activists say a massacre has occurred but the government denied attacking, accusing the opposition of propaganda.

A BBC correspondent outside Homs says opposition fighters, though outgunned, plan to launch a “general offensive”.

US President Barack Obama sharply condemned the Homs attack, as diplomats met at the UN to discuss a resolution.

He accused President Bashar al-Assad of launching an “unspeakable assault” on his own citizens, and called for him to resign and for democratic elections to be held.

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“Start Quote

Yesterday the Syrian government murdered hundreds of Syrian citizens”

Barack Obama US President

A vote is expected later on the UN draft resolution, despite Syrian ally Russia voicing strong objections.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday the current draft included measures against President Assad’s government, but not against armed opposition groups.

But Russian amendments to the text were described as “unacceptable” by the US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice.

Mr Lavrov is due to have talks with Mr Assad in Damascus on Tuesday, along with the head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Mikhail Fradkov.

In another development, Tunisia moved to sever relations with the Assad government.

‘Savagery’

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Analysis

Paul Wood BBC News, near Homs

We are travelling with a group of rebel fighters – the Free Syrian Army, as they call themselves. They first got news that a huge bombardment was taking place in the early hours.

They immediately started a “blood drive”, attempting to take donated blood into the city to help out. But so far they’ve been unable to get that blood into Homs because the city has been cut off by checkpoints and tanks.

It’s always difficult to get in to Homs, but after this, it is more difficult than ever. We’re travelling on back roads to avoid the presence of checkpoints and tanks.

The information we’re getting from inside the city is that mortar shells and tanks were used in what we’re hearing was a pretty relentless bombardment in those areas that are outside of the regime’s control.

The rebels now say that they’re going to launch a general offensive some time in the next 24 hours in response to the attack.

• Read Paul’s account

Homs appears to have come under a “pretty relentless” bombardment, which targeted areas outside government control, the BBC’s Paul Woods reports from just outside the city, where he is travelling with fighters from the Free Syria Army.

He says the fighters are trying to get in via back roads with blood supplies for the casualties.

Funerals have already begun in large numbers, our correspondent was told, amid reports of a death toll as high as 260.

“Yesterday the Syrian government murdered hundreds of Syrian citizens, including women and children, in Homs through shelling and other indiscriminate violence…” President Obama said in a statement in Washington.

“Assad must halt his campaign of killing and crimes against his own people now. He must step aside and allow a democratic transition to proceed immediately.”

Russia’s foreign minister said it would be a “scandal” to ask the UN Security Council to vote on the resolution in its current form.

Russia is Syria’s main ally on the council, and has said it will veto any resolution calling on Mr Assad to stand down.

Moscow has continued to supply weapons to Syria despite the protests.

However, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said the Homs assault was a “further step in savagery” and warned against a veto.

“Those who would hinder the adoption of such a resolution would assume a heavy responsibility in history,” he said.

Embassies attacked

A death toll higher than 200 at Homs would make it by quite a long way the bloodiest day since protests began.

Homs was one of the first cities to join anti-Assad protests, and became one of the focal points of dissent after government forces fired on crowds in April last year. Many army defectors have sought refuge in the city.

Activists said most of the deaths were in the residential area of Khalidiya.

Reports said a hospital had been destroyed in Khalidiya, and residents said more than 30 houses had been wrecked in the barrage.

“We were sitting inside our house when we started hearing the shelling. We felt shells were falling on our heads,” Khalidiya resident Waleed told Reuters news agency.

Video footage emerged on the internet showing several bodies covered in blood with a voiceover saying the bombardment was still going on.

State media dismissed the Homs casualty reports as a “hysterical campaign of incitement” by armed gangs designed to influence the UN.

“The civilians shown by satellite television stations are citizens who were kidnapped and killed by armed gunmen,” said a report on Sana news agency.

International media outlets are restricted in Syria, making it difficult to verify the claims of either side.

Meanwhile, activists have attacked Syrian embassies around the world

• Fresh protests began outside the Syrian embassy in London on Saturday afternoon after six arrests at a demonstration there overnight
• Around 50 mainly Syrian protesters broke into their country’s embassy in Athens early on Saturday, smashing windows and
• About 20 protesters forced their way into the Syrian embassy in Berlin late on Friday and damaged offices, police said. German TV showed a Syrian resistance flag hanging from one of the windows and graffiti sprayed on the outside of the building
• In Cairo, protesters stormed the embassy building, smashing furniture and setting fire to parts of the building

Syria has been gripped by nationwide protests against Mr Assad’s regime for almost a year.

The UN stopped estimating the death toll after it passed 5,400 in January, saying it was too difficult to confirm numbers.

The Syrian government says at least 2,000 members of its security forces have been killed fighting “armed gangs and terrorists”.

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Syria Crisis

• Homs: ‘Capital of revolution’
• BBC reports near Homs
• Guide: Syria Crisis
• Russian arms bolster Assad

Why Russia protects Syria’s Assad

Russian President Vladimir Putin, his wife Lyudmila, Syrian President Bashar al-Asad and his wife Asma pose for a picture during their meeting in Moscow’s Kremlin, in January 2005.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Russia is standing in the way of a UN resolution against Syria’s leader
• Daniel Treisman: Russia has strategic and business reasons to favor the regime
• Treisman: Russia is betting on Assad, but if he wavers, it may join in opposing him

Editor’s note: Daniel Treisman is a professor of political science at the University of California, Los Angeles, and author of “The Return: Russia’s Journey from Gorbachev to Medvedev.”

(CNN) — As casualties mount before the brutal onslaught of Bashar al-Assad’s forces against Syria’s pro-democracy protesters, the Russians are being unhelpful again. In Washington and Brussels, even habitually cool diplomats have been showing frustration.

On January 31 Russia joined with China to block a plan presented to the U.N. Security Council by Morocco and supported by the Arab League that called on Assad to hand power to his deputy, who would then call a general election. If Assad did not comply within 15 days, the resolution threatened undisclosed “further measures.”

Moscow already had vetoed one resolution denouncing Assad’s use of force in October. As Western leaders sought to pry the Syrian dictator from power, his old friends in Moscow sent an aircraft-carrying missile cruiser to Syrian waters in a show of support last month and shipped his troops a consignment of Yakhont cruise missiles.

Daniel Treisman

Such actions are just the latest in a litany of obstructionist maneuvers and spoiler ploys whose goal often appears merely to undermine Western international objectives. From Washington, Moscow has seemed determined to soften or delay sanctions on Iran aimed at curbing its nuclear ambitions, to stall in talks with North Korea over its nuclear weapons, to intimidate pro-democracy movements in neighboring states, and to egg on anti-American dictators such as Hugo Chavez.

Western commentators typically attribute such behavior to Putin’s personal paranoia or to attempts to rekindle the nation’s wounded pride and assert Russia’s superpower status. Look a little closer, however, and Russia’s actions seem motivated more by calculated — albeit sometimes miscalculated — realpolitik than by psychological impulses.

First, strategic interests are at stake. In Tartus, Syria hosts the sole remaining Russian naval base on the Mediterranean, currently being refurbished by 600 Russian technicians after long disuse. To have to give up this Middle Eastern beachhead would be a shame, as far as the Russians are concerned.

Second, although limited, Russia has real commercial interests in Syria. Contracts to sell arms to Damascus — both those signed and under negotiation — total $5 billion. Having lost $13 billion due to international sanctions on Iran and $4.5 billion in canceled contracts to Libya, Russia’s defense industry is already reeling. Besides arms exports, Russian companies have major investments in Syria’s infrastructure, energy, and tourism sectors, worth $19.4 billion in 2009.

Counting pennies while protesters are gunned down may seem cynical. “How many people need to die before the consciences of world capitals are stirred?” Britain’s Foreign Secretary William Hague demanded on January 31, clearly thinking of Moscow.

But Russian policymakers have developed an allergy to Western leaders’ moralizing. Just as it was pressing al-Assad to resign, the U.S. State Department quietly lifted a ban on military aid to the Karimov dictatorship in Uzbekistan, which had butchered its own protesters a few years earlier. (Uzbekistan is important for supply lines to NATO troops in Afghanistan.) Neither did Washington press the king of Bahrain — where the U.S. Navy has a port — to step down after he crushed popular demonstrations in his capital.

From Washington, the West’s recent interventions in the Middle East seem unplanned and responsive, with modest goals. From Moscow, it is easy to see a pattern in the repeated use of force to overthrow leaders — from Afghanistan and Iraq to Libya — and diplomatic pressure to dislodge others — in Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen. President George W. Bush may be gone, but his “Freedom Agenda,” it sometimes seems, lives on.

Libya is a particularly sore point. Russia’s leaders felt they were tricked into supporting a resolution to protect civilians, only to see it used to provide cover for airstrikes to overthrow Moammar Gadhafi. Vague phrases like “further measures” now set off alarm bells.

Beyond commercial and strategic interests, the Kremlin’s greatest fear is of instability in the Middle East and Central Asia. Russian policymakers already worry about the northward spread of Islamic militancy and opium if the departure of NATO from Afghanistan leads to Taliban resurgence and state collapse.

Rather than a fairytale struggle between the people and a dictator, they see a potentially explosive religious conflict between Syria’s ruling Alawis (close to Shi’a Islam) and majority Sunnis. The zeal with which rulers of the Gulf states and some in Washington call for al-Assad’s ouster seems part of a broader project to isolate Iran, Syria’s ally.

Still, unless al-Assad manages to decisively defeat his opposition in short order, the Russians are likely to soften their position — not because of moral arguments, but simply because they do not want to end up on the losing side. If they alienate al-Assad’s successors, the very interests they seek to protect could be in jeopardy. Russian Foreign Secretary Sergei Lavrov hinted at a shift on January 31, saying: “We are not friends or allies of President Assad.”

Picking the perfect moment to dump a congenial dictator is never easy — consider Washington’s contortions over Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, and the French embarrassment over their late coddling of Gadhafi. Walking out too soon risks alarming other allies. Waiting too long creates the image that one is both reactionary and out of touch.

The Kremlin’s policymakers are hardly adept at this, and certainly may wait too long. So far, they believe al-Assad still has a reasonable chance of survival. If his prospects dim — as seems likely –some minor rephrasing of the U.N. resolution will likely be enough to satisfy Russian concerns and bring them on board.

Russia ‘to block’ Syria vote at UN Security Council

The Syrian army is reported to have regained control of some Damascus suburbs recently held by rebel forces.

Russia has said it will block a draft UN Security Council resolution calling for a transfer of power in Syria because it “leaves open the possibility of intervention” in Syria’s affairs.

The US, the UK and France are lobbying on behalf of the Arab League’s draft text, which calls for President Bashar al-Assad to hand power to a deputy.

The White House said Mr Assad had lost control of Syria, adding “he will go”.

But Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister said the text was “not balanced”.

Meanwhile, fighting in Syria continued as government troops bombarded the central city of Homs. Heavy machine gun fire was reported in the restive Bab Amr district.

At least 225 tank shells were fired at the suburbs of Damascus, activists said.

The Local Co-ordination Committees, a network of anti-government groups, said 58 people were killed on Monday.

Their claims could not be independently verified, as the the BBC other international media are severely restricted inside Syria.

Earlier, reports said the Syrian army had regained control of some Damascus suburbs recently held by rebel forces.

Qatari backing

Moscow, which has maintained its ties to Damascus, has so far resisted moves for a UN resolution condemning the violence in Syria. Russia has a naval base in the country and supplies arms to Syria.

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Analysis

Barbara Plett BBC UN correspondent

Western states hope Tuesday’s Arab League briefing to the Security Council can break the impasse over Syria. US and European foreign ministers will be present to demonstrate their support for the Arab plan, which they want the council to endorse.

But the Russians have met this combined offensive with rejection. Keen to protect a thriving arms trade with Syria, they have complained about the resolution’s call to stop the flow of weapons to the country (although it doesn’t impose an arms embargo).

But the critical issue is the fate of Bashar al-Assad, Russia’s closest Arab ally. The Arab peace plan calls on him to delegate power to a deputy. For the Russians this is regime change by another name.

So the bottom line is: can there be a compromise between Arab and Western states on the one hand, which says there there is no solution with Assad, and Russia on the other, which insists there is no solution without him.

• Russia bolsters embattled Assad

“The current Western draft… certainly cannot be supported by us,” Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told the Interfax news agency.

Mr Gatilov said the draft was “not balanced” and “leaves open the possibility of intervention in Syrian affairs”.

The White House said it supported a political solution to end the violence in Syria. However, spokesman Jay Carney said President Assad had lost control of his country and his regime would fall.

France says 10 of the 15 countries on the Security Council now support the Arab League text. A minimum of nine council members must lend their backing in order for a resolution to be put to a vote.

However, Russia – as one of the five permanent council members – can veto any proposed resolution.

The BBC’s Barbara Plett, at the UN, says Russia views the resolution as a first step towards regime change.

The UK has urged Moscow to reconsider its opposition.

“Russia can no longer explain blocking the UN and providing cover for the regime’s brutal repression,” said a spokeswoman for Prime Minister David Cameron.

On Monday, Russia also offered to mediate talks between the Syrian government and the opposition – a suggestion the opposition rejected out of hand.

The Syrian government has rejected the Arab League plan, which would see Mr Assad’s deputy forming a national unity government within two months.

The prime minister of Qatar and the secretary-general of the Arab League are also going to New York to seek support for the draft text. Qatar heads the League’s committee dealing with the Syrian crisis and has previously called for Arab countries to send troops into Syria.

On Saturday, the Arab League announced it was suspending its month-old monitoring mission in Syria because of an upsurge of violence.

Tank shells

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Reports from Damascus say residents in some areas heard the sound of bombing in the early hours of the morning.

Heavy fighting has taken place in the eastern suburbs for several days.

Over the weekend, troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad launched an offensive targeting several areas under the control of the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA).

They retook control of the suburb of Ghouta, with activists saying the FSA had beaten a “tactical” retreat.

On Monday, the Syrian army held funerals for 22 of its members killed in the previous 24 hours. The BBC’s Jim Muir, in neighbouring Lebanon, says on average 20 members of the security forces are being killed each day.

Reports have emerged suggesting security forces may have killed senior army defector Lt-Col Hussein Harmoush, one of the first military officers to publicly declare his opposition to Mr Assad last year.

However, the Free Syrian Army, many of whose members are based in Turkey, said they could not confirm the death.

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Syria Crisis

• Rebel foothold in Damascus
• No easy way out
• UN awaits report
• Deepening crisis