Journalists' deaths in Syria sparks anger, world leaders to meet Friday | WPN World People News

Syria's rapidly growing death toll, including of veteran Sunday Times correspondent Marie Colvin and a French photographer, has galvanized global leaders into action.

Around 70 leaders are to meet Friday in Tunisia to mount pressure on President Bashar al-Assad to quit.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland described the proposed meeting of the "Friends of Syria" group as parts of efforts to "halt the slaughter of the Syrian people and pursue a transition to democracy in Syria."

However, Russia, which vetoed the UN Security Council resolution on Syria, is not attending while China, which too had vetoed the resolution calling for a regime change, has not said anything.

The move comes as the death toll in Syria neared 9,000 since the uprisings began a year ago, according to the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria (LCC).

On Wednesday, activists claimed, more than 80 people were killed in Baba Amr in the flashpoint city of Homs, which has witnessed daily attacks on anti-government protesters for nearly a month.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, voicing anger over the deaths of Colvin and French photographer Rmi Ochlik, described it as an assassination and called for the end of the Assad regime.

"That's enough now," Sarkozy said. "This regime must go and there is no reason that Syrians don't have the right to live their lives and choose their destiny freely. If journalists were not there, the massacres would be a lot worse."

Britain said that the death of Colvin was a "desperately sad reminder of the risks journalists take to inform the world of what is happening and the dreadful events in Syria".

Colvin and Ochlik were killed when the house they were staying in was smashed in an artillery shell attack. Three other foreign reporters were wounded on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Britain and France have demanded that Syria stop the attacks on Homs to allow the three injured journalists to receive medial care. The demand came amid reports of fresh shelling on the city Thursday.

Source: Middle East News.Net