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Free Syrian Army fighters during a gunfight in Idlib, northern Syria Anonymous/AP/Press Association Images

UN suspends Syria mission as violence intensifies

Meanwhile, a group of Muslims and Christians have issued a desperate appeal for help escaping the flashpoint city of Homs.

THE TEAM OF UN observers working in Syria have suspended their mission and all patrols, amid escalating violence in the country.

Syrian regime forces have shelled rebel strongholds across the country today as a watchdog warned that more than 1,000 families were trapped by the bombardment of the flashpoint city of Homs.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said shelling of Douma, an opposition bastion in the north of the capital Damascus, killed seven people overnight while at least 18 other people died in violence in other regions.

Three women were among those killed in Douma, said the Britain-based Observatory.

Elsewhere, shelling and shooting by regime forces in the Khalidiyeh, Bab Tadmur, Jourat al-Shiah and Safsafa district of the central city of Homs killed five people, the Observatory said.

It warned that more than 1,000 families were besieged in Homs, several districts of which had been pounded intermittently by regime forces for months.

Around 800 Muslims and Christians trapped in the city have issued an emotional appeal for humanitarian agencies to help them escape the bloodshed, a Vatican news agency reported.

‘Let us leave in the name of God’

The appeal, titled Let Us Leave in the Name of God, was made by the residents of several of the city’s central districts.

Women, children, the handicapped and elderly figure among those caught in the crossfire, a source involved in evacuation efforts said, adding that they “are in real danger … and living in panic amid bombardments and fighting.”

Fides said troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad are ready to observe a truce to allow the civilians to leave the area. But the Abu Mann rebel faction opposes an evacuation fearing a deadly offensive on the city centre once it is emptied of civilians, sources on the ground told Fides.

Elsewhere, the Observatory said, four regime troops were killed during the night, one in a blast in Damascus and three in clashes in rebel bastion Rastan, in Homs province.

- (c) AFP, 2012

Column: It’s time for Europe to bomb Assad – and Ireland should help>

More: EU approves sanctions on luxury and dual-use goods to Syria>

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    Mute Fergal O' Reilly
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    Dec 10th 2020, 1:14 AM

    That a 500 year leasehold was signed with a private developer in 1997, says a lot about the sad state of public planning in the city.

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    Mute Niamh Hand
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    Dec 10th 2020, 12:21 AM

    That’s a good news story to go to bed with. Good on Lord iveagh

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    Mute steve white
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    Dec 10th 2020, 12:38 AM

    @Niamh Hand: where was he the last 20 years?

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    Mute Fergal O' Reilly
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    Dec 10th 2020, 1:11 AM

    @steve white: 20 years ago a still recent lease agreement was in effect, so he was as powerless to intervene as the rest of us.

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    Mute FlopFlipU
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    Dec 10th 2020, 5:09 AM

    @steve white: dope

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    Mute Chris O'Sullivan
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    Dec 10th 2020, 9:47 AM

    @steve white: drinking pints I’d assume

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    Mute the-baldie-lad
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    Dec 10th 2020, 12:25 AM

    Hands up if you agree that Alan Kelly is an eejit

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    Mute Mary Nugent
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    Dec 10th 2020, 1:25 AM

    @the-baldie-lad: utd fan out in the open was it Leo on the luas

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    Mute Shane McGrath
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    Dec 10th 2020, 12:22 AM

    Excellent news.

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    Mute DJ François
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    Dec 10th 2020, 10:36 AM

    Be nice to have something along the lines of the English market in Cork

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    Mute muirhill121
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    Dec 10th 2020, 7:49 AM

    Hopefully, he won’t grant another lease to DCC so they can balls it up again!

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    Mute Shay Flynn
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    Dec 10th 2020, 11:00 AM

    My dad had a butchers shop there for years.

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    Mute Colm Molloy
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    Dec 10th 2020, 11:38 AM

    A market like the ones in Barcelona would be the job there..

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    Mute D Cullen
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    Dec 10th 2020, 8:36 AM

    Should be sequestered by the state along with all lands and properties that were divided amongst the lords of the English elite!

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    Mute Nick Caffrey
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    Dec 10th 2020, 9:15 AM

    @D Cullen: That’d be great if the state were capable of managing the lands and properties. Read the article and you will understand that the State is not up to the job.

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    Mute El Sparko
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    Dec 10th 2020, 9:20 AM

    @D Cullen: so the state can then sell it on the ruthless developers and give themselves pay raises??
    No thank, at least Lord Iveagh will do something that benefits the people of Dublin, like he has done many times in the past.

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    Mute Paul
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    Dec 10th 2020, 9:46 AM

    @D Cullen: except the Guinness’s are Anglo-Irish not English, just like many of Ireland’s rebel leaders of the past, Pearse / Wolfe Tone etc. The first Lord Iveagh was born is Dublin and is known for providing housing for the poor etc.

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    Mute The world outside the M50
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    Dec 10th 2020, 11:06 AM

    His Christian/First name is very odd, don’t you think – ‘Lord’ ??

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