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Summary At least four army deserters were shot dead by the Syrian security forces.
Syrian security forces shot dead four soldiers trying to desert on Monday, as troops deployed in several villages and China voiced concern over events in Syria.Four soldiers in Maar Shamsa in (northwestern) Idlib were shot dead while trying to flee the Wadi Deif military camp, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, reporting gunfire, arrests and murders over the weekend and on Monday across the country.Meanwhile, Chinas Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi highlighted his countrys concern about Syria in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly.In a marked call to Syrias President Bashar al-Assads forces and opposition demonstrators, Yang said we hope that parties in Syria will exercise restraint, avoid any form of violence or more bloodshed and conflict, and act quickly to ease tension.The international community should handle the Syrian issue in a prudent way so as to prevent further turbulence in Syria and its repercussions on regional peace, Yang said.China has joined Russia in leading opposition to UN sanctions against the Assad government in Syria, where the United Nations says that more than 2,700 people have been killed since March.US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged China to back strong UN action on Syria when she met Yang just before his speech, a senior US official said.And a global human rights group urged a UN probe into the killing of Syrian civilians and slammed the timidity in tackling the crisis amid evidence of crimes against humanity.We are demanding an international investigation to document exactly what is happening and really identify the problems -- an independent investigation by the United Nations because this cant continue, Khadija Cherif, secretary general of the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights said in Warsaw.We must do this, or well continue to see this kind of timidity in the reaction to what is happening in Syria, Cherif said, at once warning there was certainly no need for an armed intervention similar to the NATO-led air strikes in Libya.On the ground in Syria, the Britain-based Observatory also reported soaring tensions in central Homs province, a hub of protests against the Assad regime.Tension is high in Homs province. The army has deployed in the villages of the Qusseir region (south of Homs), where two unidentified bodies were found in the Assi river.There are also mutilated bodies at the National Hospital in Qusseir, where 12 people were killed and 15 were reported missing in military operations on Saturday, the Observatory said.
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