Kofi Annan asks the UN to make a decision on how to solve the Syrian issues. Meanwhile Syrian refugees in Jordan confirm the abuse and torture.
As confirmation of an Iran connection, India is seeking international arrest warrants for three Iranians suspected of being part of a plot to attack Israeli diplomats. New Delhi Police Chief Brijesh Gupta said Friday India has contacted Interpol about warrants for the three men, thought to be behind last month's bombing of a car belonging to the Israeli embassy. He said investigators have also linked them to a failed bombing in Thailand.
The civilian lawyer for the U.S. soldier accused of carrying out a deadly shooting in Afghanistan says his client was likely suffering from stress after witnessing the grave injury of one of his fellow soldiers.
The U.N. and Arab League's chief peace envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan, called on Security Council members Friday to end their stalemate and decide what to do to pressure Syria into ending its deadly crackdown on dissent.
In a briefing from Geneva, the former U.N. secretary-general said he is sending a team to Damascus next week to discuss a plan to deploy international monitors. Diplomats say Annan discussed his plans in a video briefing to the Council on Friday, less than a week after his own meetings in Damascus with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
After the briefing, Annan told reporters Syria's political turmoil needs to be handled carefully to avoid any "miscalculations" that could lead to a "major escalation" that could impact the entire region.
“I think it is a conflict in a region of the world that has seen many, many traumatic events," he said. "I think we need to handle the situation in Syria very, very carefully."
Asked if the government and opposition would agree to speak with each other, Annan said the activists he met, although angry and frustrated over the government crackdown, are eager to get talks going and resolve the issue politically and peacefully.
Western diplomats say they hope Annan's mediation will accelerate efforts to pass a U.N. resolution condemning Assad's bloody crackdown on dissent. Russia and China have twice vetoed previous resolutions condemning Syria.
Meanwhile. human rights activists increasingly are voicing alarm over reports of abuse and torture in Syria, where an uprising against the government has entered its second year. Syrian refugees in Jordan confirm such reports.
Khalaf Rshaidat, a 38-year-old Syrian interior decorator, is sitting on a bed in a cold apartment in Irbid, northern Jordan. Rshaidat says he was organizing anti-government demonstrations in his hometown of Daraa, in southern Syria, when a bullet shattered his leg.
He says he was arrested when he went to the hospital, which really was a detention center. His interrogators cut off part of his toe with metal clippers. He says they wanted him to confess that he was part of a terrorist organization, al-Qaida, which he says is not true.
Rshaidat says a doctor at the hospital helped him escape and he sneaked into Jordan. Many of the people he saw detained in the hospital, he believes, are dead.
The Amnesty International human rights group this week released a report based on the testimony of Syrian refugees in Jordan.
Amnesty says Syrian authorities are responsible for the abuse, which the authorities deny. The government says it is battling armed terrorist groups.
The Amnesty report says incidence of torture has risen to alarming levels in Syria since the popular uprising against the government of President Bashar al-Assad began one year ago .
The author of the report, Neil Sammonds, says the abuses appear to be ordered at highest levels of the Syrian government.
"The fact that it happens across the country and across the security agencies and the armed forces leads one to the assumption that the regime is directing this. It knows it's going on and it's encouraging its guards and security officers to do this," he said.
The report supports the findings of United Nations human rights investigators who last month accused Syrian security forces of crimes against humanity, including murder and torture.
Khaled Ghizawi, a 26-year-old vegetable vendor from Daraa, has also come to Jordan seeking medical treatment. A white bandage covers the stump at the end of his right arm. A patch covers his left eye which now is blind.
He says he was on the main street where he has his shop. The soldiers came through randomly throwing hand grenades and shooting in all directions. A grenade exploded in front of him.
He says he was not a demonstrator, but government troops and militias are now attacking everyone in opposition areas.
Qusai Zu'bi, a 24-year-old mechanic from Taybeh, near Daraa, sneaked into Jordan after a sniper's bullet shattered his thigh-bone.
He says he was on the road going to work when suddenly a Syrian army car passed him. The people inside started shooting in all directions -- at children, women, men, unarmed people.
Ali Hamad, a refugee from Hama, in central Syria, says the situation has worsened since the Syrian military launched an offensive to regain control of opposition-held areas.
He says the situation is terrible, with killing and massacring. He says pro-government forces are slaughtering soldiers who defect from the army.
Amnesty International says while abuses by armed opposition groups have been reported, most of the abuses appear to have been committed by security forces and militias loyal to the government.
But Sammonds says the crackdown has only hardened the resolve of the dissidents.
“Most have said, ' We've shaken off the fear. And the more we are abused, the more we want to continue to make sure that the regime does change.',” said the author of the report.
The refugees said they want to return to Syria. Some said the would go home if the violence stopped. But many said they wanted as soon as possible to rejoin the struggle against the Syrian government.
Afghanistan
The civilian lawyer for the U.S. soldier accused of carrying out a deadly shooting in Afghanistan says his client was likely suffering from stress after witnessing the grave injury of one of his fellow soldiers.
Attorney John Henry Browne says the 38-year-old staff sergeant saw one of his comrades get his leg blown off a day before the incident in which 16 Afghan civilians were killed in Kandahar province.
Browne says his client was also unhappy with his assignment to a fourth tour of duty in a war zone. The soldier had served three tours in Iraq where he suffered a head injury and lost part of his foot. The lawyer says the soldier was told he would not be deployed to Afghanistan, but that changed "literally overnight."
The soldier who has not yet been named or charged, was flown out of Afghanistan to Kuwait late Wednesday. U.S. Lieutenant General Curtis Scaparotti, the deputy commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said the suspect was moved to ensure "both proper pre-trial confinement and access to legal services."
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta visited Afghanistan this week and the killing, allegedly carried out by the U.S. soldier, was the focus of talks with Afghan officials.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai called on NATO forces to pull back from Afghan villages and relocate their bases in the wake of the incident.
Karzai also told Panetta that everything must be done to prevent incidents such as the shooting in the future. The U.S. defense secretary said he promised the Afghan president that the gunman would be brought to justice.
On Friday, U.S. military officials said a top U.S. commander in Afghanistan was in the path of an attack that coincided with Panetta's arrival in Afghanistan. They had initially downplayed the incident.
Earlier officials said an Afghan stole a vehicle and drove it onto a runway ramp. Officials said the driver was aiming for a group of U.S. Soldiers at the airstrip for Panetta's arrival, but crashed into a ditch before emerging from the vehicle in flames.
Iran
India is seeking international arrest warrants for three Iranians suspected of being part of a plot to attack Israeli diplomats.
New Delhi Police Chief Brijesh Gupta said Friday India has contacted Interpol about warrants for the three men, thought to be behind last month's bombing of a car belonging to the Israeli embassy. He said investigators have also linked them to a failed bombing in Thailand.
The February 13 attack in New Delhi wounded the wife of an embassy official as she was on her way to pick up her children from school. Indian officials say the bomber attached the explosives to the car using magnets. Officials in Thailand say those same magnets were used in a bomb that detonated prematurely a day later in Bangkok.
Thai police arrested two Iranians in connection with the Bangkok explosion. A third man, Sedaghatzadeh Masoud, was detained in Malaysia.
On Friday, New Delhi's police chief said investigators had determined that the suspects in the New Delhi attack had been in contact with Masoud.
Israel has openly accused Iran of trying to carry out a series of attacks, including a bombing in Tbilisi, Georgia. Iran denies the allegations.
Tensions between the two countries have reached new heights as Israel threatens to take military action against Iran's nuclear facilities. Tehran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
Just last week, India arrested an Indian journalist working for an Iranian news agency in connection with the New Delhi attack.
Authorities claim Mohammad Kazmi had been in touch with the man who planted the bomb. New Delhi Police Chief Gupta said Friday that Kazmi's confession was instrumental in uncovering the wider conspiracy.
Kazmi's lawyer and his family claim he is innocent. During a news conference last week, Kazmi's son blasted the allegations as "baseless."
And a prominent Islamic cleric based in Lucknow accused India of acting on behalf of Israel and the United States. Maulana Syed Kalbe Jawad Naqvi said Kazmi's only crime was "that he used to write against Israel and the U.S. while advocating the concerns of Iran."
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