BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The Syrian regime has been "cleaning up" a Palestinian refugee camp in Latakia in advance of a UN humanitarian mission's arrival to Damascus scheduled for Saturday.
Thousands of Palestinian refugees have fled the Ar-Ramel refugee camp since Syrian gunboats and tanks began attacking the port city last week, human rights activists in the country say.
Now, the same security forces are accused of trying to cover their tracks by tidying up areas of the deserted camp which came under fire. A Western diplomat says the efforts only confirm existing suspicions.
The cleanup effort, apparently timed to coincide with a UN investigator's arrival, fits "perfectly with the version of events which the regime is denying: that there was an attack on Latakia camp, home to thousands of UN registered Palestinian refugees who were forced to flee as they came under fire," the diplomat said.
But attempts by Syrian leader Bashar Assad's forces to manipulate evidence will "backfire on this isolated regime," according to the diplomat, who insisted on anonymity out of concern for colleagues in the country.
He told Ma'an that Assad's "Bathist killing machine can wash the blood off the streets but not off its hands. The evidence in the form of personal testimonies of what happened in Latakia is overwhelming and undeniable.
"Assad can run but he can’t hide from the arm of international law which is closing in on him," he added.
The UN says it is dispatching a humanitarian mission to Syria after a damning report to the Security Council released Thursday on Assad's "apparent shoot to kill" policy.
UN human rights chief Navi Pillay told the Security Council there was "reliable corroborative evidence" that Syrian forces are deliberately shooting anti-regime demonstrators.
The mission is expected to arrive in Damascus on Saturday and visit Latakia on Sunday.
Maan News Agency
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