Red Cross classifies Syrian conflict as a civil war

The International Committee of the Red Cross has said it now considers the Syrian conflict a civil war, as activists reported intense battles between rebels and government forces in the capital, Damascus.

The Geneva-based group's assessment could have implications for prosecutions for war crimes and means that international humanitarian law applies throughout the country, though it will have little effect on the ground. Also known as the rules of war, humanitarian law grants all parties in a conflict the right to use appropriate force to achieve their aims.

"We are now talking about a non-international armed conflict in the country," ICRC spokesman Hicham Hassan said on Sunday.

Previously, the Red Cross committee had restricted its assessment of the scope of the conflict to the hotspots of Idlib, Homs and Hama. But Hassan said the organisation concluded that the violence was widening.

The qualification means that people who order or commit attacks on civilians including murder, torture and rape, or use disproportionate force against civilian areas, can be charged with war crimes in violation of international humanitarian law.

War crimes prosecutions would have been possible even without the Red Cross statement. But Sunday's pronouncement adds weight to any prosecution argument that Syria is in a state of war - a prerequisite for a war crimes case.

Although the armed uprising in Syria began more than a year ago, the committee had hesitated to call it a civil war - though others, including United Nations officials, have done so.

That is because the rules of war override and to some extent suspend the laws that apply in peacetime, including the universal right to life, right to free speech and right to peaceful assembly.

The rules impose limits on how fighting may be conducted, so as to protect civilians and ex-combatants not taking part in the hostilities.

They require the humane treatment of all people in enemy hands and the duty to care for the wounded and sick. It also
means parties to the internal conflict are entitled to attack military targets, but not civilians or civilian property.

As violence continued on the ground, a monitoring group said clashes in Damascus marked the "most intense" fighting in the capital since the start of the revolt 16 months ago.

Mortar and small-arms fire was reported in several areas as government forces clashed with the Free Syrian Army.

The fighting came as UN and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan prepared to meet Russia's foreign minister for talks on the Syrian crisis.

Russia has been backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Clashes between government forces and Free Syrian Army rebels seem to be creeping ever closer to the heart of Damascus and the centre of the regime's power.

Mortars were reportedly used on the southern edge of the city, in areas like Tadhamon and Midan and around nearby Palestinian refugee camps.

Activists said clashes continued into the early hours of the morning.

A convoy of army reinforcements was reported to have been attacked by rebels in Kfar Sousa to the west, leading to further clashes there.

Residents were said to be fleeing some areas, while in other parts of the city protesters blocked motorways with burning tyres.

There has been frequent trouble in these areas - barely three miles (4-5km) from the centre - for months.

But as with many of the suburbs ringing the city slightly further out, all the government's repeated efforts to stifle defiance have failed

Some 16,000 people are thought to have been killed since the uprising against Assad's regime began in March 2011.