Syria’s envoy to the United Nations has said on that his country was perfectly capable of conducting its own transparent inquiry into the killings of anti-government demonstrators as more deaths were reported after the regime of President Bashar al-Assad bolstered its troops in the flashpoint town of Deraa.
"Syria has a government, [it] has a state," Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari told reporters who asked about a call by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon of the United Nations for an investigation. "We can undertake any investigation by our own selves with full transparency."
"We have nothing to hide," he said outside the UN Security Council chambers, where the council’s 15 members failed to agree on a statement condemning Syria’s government. Britain, France, Germany and Portugal have proposed a statement. They want to condemn deadly violence against the protesters in Syria.
"We regret what’s going on, but you should also acknowledge the fact that this unrest and riots, in some of their aspects, have hidden agendas," Ambassador Ja’afari said, adding that some foreign governments were trying to destabilize Syria.
Asked by reporters to name the countries that Damascus believes are behind the unrest, Mr. Ja’afari said it was "too early" to provide details.
Mr. Ja’afari was speaking after witnesses said security forces had been deployed in a suburb of the capital, Damascus, and the city of Banias on Tuesday as President Assad drew international scathing criticism for sending in tanks to crush a revolt.
The UN secretary general has called for an independent inquiry into the deaths of people he has described as peaceful demonstrators.
Mr. Ja’afari said Mr. Assad had instructed the government "to establish a national commission of inquiry and investigation about all the casualties among civilians."
"We don’t need help from anybody," he said.
In the meantime the Deraa crackdown continued.
"New army troops and security reinforcements have entered Deraa and a tank was deployed in the central Kaziat al-Balad square," Syrian activist Abdullah Abazid told AFP earlier by telephone from Deraa near the Jordanian border.
United States said that for now it will limit its response to the violent crackdown on civilian protests in Syria to diplomacy and possible sanctions.
Syrian human rights organization Sawasiah said on Tuesday that Syrian security forces have shot dead at least 400 civilians in their campaign to crush month-long pro-democracy protests.
The group, founded by jailed human rights lawyer Mohannad al-Hassani, said the United Nations Security Council must convene to start proceedings against Syrian officials in the International Criminal Court and "reign in the security apparatus."
"This savage behavior, which is aimed at keeping the ruling clique in power at the expense of a rising number of civilian lives, calls for immediate international action beyond condemnations," Sawasiah said in a statement sent to Reuters.
"The murderers in the Syrian regime must be held accountable. The rivers of blood spilt by this oppressive regime for the past four decades are enough," the statement said. The reference to the Syrian regime was to the administration of President Assad.
Sawasiah’s board includes Syrian philosophy professor Sadeq Jalal al-Azem, whose book "Self-Criticism after The Defeat" helped set the stage for a revival in Arab political thought after Israel’s victory in the 1967 Middle East War.
Separately, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said security police arrested rights campaigner Qassem al-Ghazzawi on Tuesday in his home city of Deir al-Zor in Syria’s impoverished east after protests intensified in the region last week.
The Observatory also said Mahmoud Issa, a campaigner and former political prisoner arrested last week in the city of Homs, was referred to a military court on Tuesday on charges of "possessing a Thuraya satellite phone and an advanced computer."
Activists on Monday said that at least 25 people were killed in the Deraa assault and Mr. Abazid said he had the names of 21 dead. A group of activists gave the names of seven dead, including a father and his two sons.
The United States ordered the evacuation of non-essential embassy staff from Syria, where the first US ambassador in six years was appointed to his post just three months ago.
Washington is also considering imposing "targeted sanctions" against Damascus, National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said.
Human rights group, Amnesty International, said tanks were used to shell civilian buildings in Deraa, commenting: "The Syrian government’s brutal reaction to its people’s demand for change has reached a new and outrageous low.
The operation in Deraa came four days after Mr. Assad scrapped nearly five decades of draconian emergency rule and abolished the repressive state security court to pacify protesters demanding reforms and the fall of the regime.
The Syrian army said the troops entered Deraa "in response to calls for help from" citizens to rid them of "extremist terrorist groups" behind a spate of killings and sabotage.
A huge crackdown was also reported Monday in Douma, a large suburb in northern Damascus, and nearby al-Maadamiyeh, said activists and residents reached by telephone. Due to poor communications, it was not possible to get an update of the situation in the two suburbs on Tuesday.
Britain, Italy and France denounced the "violent repression" in Syria as British Foreign Secretary William Hague said London was working with the United Nations and the European Union to send a "strong signal" to Damascus.
Paris called for "strong measures" against Syria, a French foreign ministry spokeswoman said as President Nicolas Sarkozy branded the situation "unacceptable" but insisted France would not intervene in Syria without a UN Security Council resolution.
The office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, said that it was considering a Syrian offer to visit the country made just before a renewed deadly crackdown on opposition protests over the weekend.