Latest: International outrage against Syria intensified May 29 as France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain, Canada and Australia expelled Syrian diplomats in response to a massacre of civilians. Most of the 108 victims were shot at close range, some of them women and children who were killed in their homes, the UN's human rights office said. It cited survivors and witnesses who blamed the house-to-house killings on pro-government militias known as shabiha, who often operate as hired muscle for the regime.

On May 28, China and Russia spoke out against the continuing violence.UN mediator Kofi Annan arrived in Damascus, saying he was "shocked and horrified" by the massacre of 108 people, including 49 children, in the town of Houla.

Syrian rebels kidnapped 11 Lebanese Shias and one Syrian driver in northern Syria on May 22, fueling fears that Lebanon is getting drawn into the chaos next door, security officials said. Some Lebanese took to the streets of Beirut's southern sector, a Shia area, and burned tires to protest the abductions.The leader of Hezbollah, Lebanon's powerful Shia militant group and a strong ally of Syria, appealed for calm and warned his followers against revenge attacks targeting Syrians.

Maj.-Gen. Robert Mood, the Norwegian head of the 200-strong observer team, warned May 18 that no number of observers can achieve "a permanent end to the violence if the commitment to give dialogue a chance is not genuine from all internal and external actors."

Syrian security forces fired tear gas and live ammunition May 18 to disperse thousands rallying in Aleppo in what activists said was the largest protest yet in a city that has largely remained loyal to President Bashar Assad during the country's 15-month uprising. Thousands of people across the country also staged anti-government rallies in solidarity with Aleppo.

Syrians cast ballots May 7 in parliamentary elections billed by the regime as key to President Bashar Assad's political reforms, but the opposition dismissed the vote as a sham meant to preserve his autocratic rule. There were scattered reports of violence, including accounts from activists and witnesses that security forces launched deadly attacks on villages in central Syria where opposition supporters were refusing to vote. The reports could not be indepedently confirmed.

Election officials say more than 7,000 candidates are competing for 250 seats in the legislature. The country has almost 15 million eligible voters out of a population of 24 million. The elections are the first under a new constitution, adopted three months ago. The charter for the first time allows the formation of political parties to compete with Assad's ruling Baath party and limits the president to two seven-year terms. The opposition has called the elections a farce.

The violence between the military and rebels in Syria continued into May, underlining the unravelling of a UN-brokered ceasefire that was supposed to begin on April 12 but has never taken hold. The truce is part of a peace plan brokered by international envoy Kofi Annan to allow for talks by all parties on a political solution to the country's conflict.

UN observers

Syrians inspect the site of twin blasts in Damascus on May 10. (Louai Beshara/AFP/Getty Images)

On April 22, the Security Council voted to expand the number of UN observers from 30 to 300 for at least 90 days in hopes of salvaging the international truce plan. In Cairo, a spokeswoman for the opposition Syrian National Council, Bassma Kodmani, called for the number of UN monitors in Syria to be raised to at least 3,000. As of May 18, there were 200 international observers in the country.

The initial eight-member team of unarmed international observers arrived in Syria April 16 and has been visiting flashpoints of the 13-month-long conflict. Fighting generally halts temporarily when the observers are present in an area, but there has been a steady stream of reports of violence from towns and regions where they have not yet gone.

French officials said April 18 that it would take several hundred observers to do a proper monitoring job. A previous observer team, dispatched by the Arab League at the start of the year, withdrew after a month after failing to halt the fighting.

At a meeting April 19 in Paris about the situation in the Arab state, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Syria must immediately pull its troops and heavy military equipment out of cities and towns. His demand went unheeded.

The solidity of the peace deal brokered by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan has been in doubt since April 8, when the government made a new demand that its opponents provide "written guarantees" to lay down their weapons before regime forces withdraw from cities, a call swiftly rejected by the country's main rebel group. On the eve of the truce deadline, the Assad regime said it reserves the right to respond to any aggression.

Casualties

The UN estimates more than 9,000 people have been killed between March 2011 and March 2012. The country's main opposition group adds that an additional 1,000 people were killed by government forces in the first week of April alone.

Two suicide blasts ripped through the Syrian capital May 10 during morning rush hour, killing at least 55 people, wounding nearly 400 and leaving scenes of carnage in the streets in the deadliest bombing attack since the country's uprising began 14 months ago, the Interior Ministry said. The blasts ripped the facade off a military intelligence building, which appeared to be the target of the attack.

The Syrian regime is targeting, torturing and capturing children, United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay said on March 28. Pillay said the action seems to be “systematic and targeted” and believes there is enough evidence to refer Syria and its leader, President Bashar al-Assad, to the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

Twenty-seven people were killed and almost 100 wounded on March 17, when car bombs went off near two government buildings in the Syrian capital, Damascus. The bombings were followed by another explosion the following day outside the Political Security Directorate in a residential neighbourhood in the northern city of Aleppo. The government blamed the explosions on terrorists, and opposition groups denied any involvement. A previously unknown Islamist group calling itself Al-Nusra Front to Protect the Levant claimed responsibility for previous attacks in a video posted online, saying it carried them out "to avenge the people of Homs."

The bombings came just days after the one-year anniversary of the start of mass demonstrations against the regime of Assad, but the opposition seemed no closer to ousting the leader, whose extended family has had a grip on power since the 1970s.

After a month of relentless shelling of the Baba Amar neighbourhood in Homs, a main rebel stronghold, the Syrian army stormed the area on March 1, driving out rebel forces and leaving residents isolated. Regime forces blocked Red Cross workers from entering the area for several days, a move condemned by the international community, including Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird.

Syrian troops have planted landmines along routes used by people fleeing the country's violence and trying to reach neighbouring Turkey, an international human rights group said on March 13. In the days following the government offensive on Homs in February, thousands of refugees fleeing Syrian forces poured across the border into Lebanon, among them families with small children carrying only plastic bags filled with their belongings. Many others have gathered in areas bordering Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon.

Throughout most of the conflict, Syria has blocked access to reporters, making it nearly impossible to verify accounts from either side about violence across the country.

In a 90-minute speech on Jan. 10, 2012, Assad assailed a "foreign conspiracy" for causing unrest in his country. Although he denied having given orders for Syrian police to fire on protesters, he vowed to respond to threats against his regime with an "iron hand."

A report on global arms transfers by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, released March 19, said Syria imported nearly six times more weapons in 2007-2011 than in the previous five-year period, with Russia accounting for 72 per cent of the arms supplies to President Bashar Assad's regime.

Human Rights Watch issued a report on Dec. 15, 2011, alleging that dozens of Syrian military commanders and officials authorized or gave direct orders for widespread killings, torture and illegal arrests during the anti-government protests.

Among the dead is 13-year-old Hamza al-Khatib, who became a symbol of the government's brutality. The young boy was picked up by Syrian security forces during a protest in May 2011, and his grotesquely mutilated body was returned to his parents' home.

Political Situation

National: Political activists are calling for the ouster of Assad, a former ophthalmologist who assumed the Syrian presidency after the death of his father, Hafez, in 2000.

The Assad family has governed Syria since 1971, when Hafez al-Assad seized power in a bloodless coup. The younger Assad was thought to be more reform-minded than his father, but the brutal military response to the current uprising suggests that Bashar will do everything in his power to maintain the status quo.

The ruling Ba'ath Party promotes a socialist and Arab nationalist vision, and while Syria is seen primarily as a secular state, where religious minorities were tolerated, the government does not tolerate dissent.

Opposition: Syrian opposition groups, inspired by revolutions in places like Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen, began to hold protests in March 2011 in cities like Daraa, Homs, Hama and Latakia. The demonstrations began after several children in the city of Daraa were arrested and tortured while in custody for spraying anti-regime graffiti on the walls of their schools.

A protestor waves a Syrian flag and carries a poster depicting President Bashar al-Assad and Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah during a pro-Assad rally in Damascus on Nov. 16. (Reuters)

Government forces responded to the protests with a number of tactics, from shutting off water and stanching food supplies to deploying tanks and snipers to drive people off the streets.

The opposition is fractured among various groups, the largest of which is the Syrian National Council, which operates from outside Syria and comprises numerous factions.

Its armed contingent is a loose affiliation of armed opponents of the regime and defectors from the Syrian military called the Free Syrian Army, whose commander is based in Turkey. Some rebel forces have reportedly found shelter alongside thousands of Syrian refugees on the Turkish side of Syria's border, making use of mountainous terrain, local smuggling networks and support among villagers on the Syrian side to stage cross-border attacks.

Following the government's bloody siege of Homs and routing of rebel forces from the city, many opposition supporters are disillusioned with the opposition leaders' and forces' ability to make inroads against the regime.

Arab League monitors

About 60 observers from the Arab League were allowed into Syria from Dec. 27, 2011, to Jan. 19, 2012, but were prevented from visiting many of the most troubled spots and from monitoring the situation independently. The CBC's Susan Ormiston reported from Damascus on Jan. 11, 2012, that, "there is a tension and conflict between the Syrian government and the Arab League monitors, and the opposition hasn't been very satisfied with their work, either."

The League withdrew its monitors from Syria on Jan. 28, 2012, because of the increasing violence and obstruction from the regime.

International reaction

During a UN Security Council committee meeting March 22, the United States, Britain, and France accused Iran of smuggling weapons to Syria to help put down the uprising. The United States and Russia clashed over Syria at the UN on March 12 after Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged the divided Security Council to speak with one voice and help the Mideast nation "pull back from the brink of a deeper catastrophe."

Canada: Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird welcomed a statement by the UN Security Council condemning the Houla massacre on May 28. “This weekend’s shocking attack merits the Security Council’s condemnation and much more," he said. “We call on all Security Council members to come together and adopt strong measures — including economic sanctions — against the Syrian regime, to ensure that it fulfills its commitments and immediately stops the senseless slaughter of its own people.”

Baird issued a statement May 10 condemning the violence in Syria. "This senseless violence has a tragic human toll that is entirely avoidable," the statement said. "Both sides should immediately respect the UN-monitored ceasefire called for by Canada and dozens of like-minded countries." He called for more efforts from the international community to find diplomatic solutions to the crisis. The statement added that Canada supports the Syrian people’s demands for freedom and "a better, brighter future."

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said April 11 that Canada will offer help resettle Syrian refugees if the United Nations asks, and will look at fast-tracking claimants.

Canada closed its embassy in Syria on March 5, 2012.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said Dec. 23, 2011, that Canada's sanctions would be expanded to include a ban on the export of software for the monitoring of telephone and internet communications. The Canadian government’s steps in isolating the Assad regime include a travel ban on those associated with the regime, freezing Syrian government assets and prohibiting most Canadian trade with Syria.

United Nations: International leaders and officials, including Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, gathered in Tunis Feb. 24, 2012, to discuss the situation in Syria.

Former UN secretary general Kofi Annan was appointed the joint United Nations-Arab League envoy on the Syrian crisis on Feb. 23, 2012, with a mandate to bring an end to the violence and promote a peaceful political solution.

The UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly on Feb. 16, 2012, for a non-binding resolution backing an Arab League plan calling for Assad to step down and strongly condemning human rights violations by his regime. But two similar resolutions voted on earlier by the Security Council were vetoed by China and Russia, Syria's allies.

Arab States: The Arab League approved sanctions against Syria on Dec. 3, 2011, barring several Syrian officials — but not Assad — from travelling to the League's member nations. The group also agreed to a list of strategic goods that would be exempted from a trade ban to avoid harming the Syrian people and also ordered a 50 per cent reduction in flights to Syria.

The Syrian leadership rejected a call by the Arab League on Jan. 22, 2012, for the establishment of a national unity government.

The League voted to suspend Syria from the 22-member bloc on Nov. 12, 2011.

Only Lebanon and Yemen voted against the suspension, with Iraq abstaining. A similar Arab League decision to suspend Libya's membership earlier in 2011 paved the way for the UN-mandated no-fly zone and NATO air strikes that eventually brought down Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, but the group has stressed international intervention is not on the agenda in Syria.

Jordan's King Abdullah was the first Arab ruler to call on Assad to step down, on Nov. 14, 2011.

On Feb. 7, 2012, the six nations of the Gulf Co-operation Council pulled their ambassadors from Syria, because of Assad's refusal to accept Arab attempts to end the country's bloodshed.

Turkey: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said April 2 that military options might have to be considered if Syria does not co-operate with Annan's plan and the UN Security Council does not unite against Assad. A former ally of Syria, Turkey condemned Assad on Dec. 22, 2011, for turning his country into a "bloodbath." On Nov. 15, 2011, Turkey called on the Syrian government to end the violence and added that it was cancelling oil exploration plans in the country. Thousands of Syrians have fled the fighting into neighbouring Turkey and Lebanon.

European Union: The EU has placed sanctions on 56 Syrians and 19 organizations in its effort to get Assad to halt his bloody crackdown and has banned the import of Syrian crude oil. The sanctions include visa and travel bans, the freezing of assets, prohibitions on the purchase of gold, precious metals, diamonds and other types of trade and a ban on cargo flights from EU countries to Syria.

France closed its embassy in Syria on March 2. The U.K. and France had recalled their ambassadors on Feb. 6 for "consultation."

United States: On Feb. 6, 2012, the U.S. pulled its embassy staff from Damascus. The U.S. has also imposed sanctions on Syria, freezing all Syrian assets in the U.S. and banning the import of all Syrian petroleum and petroleum products. Other countries, including those of the European Union, have followed suit. Italy was the first EU country to withdraw its ambassador to Syria on Aug. 2, 2011.

The Vatican: In Rome, Pope Benedict XVI used his annual Easter Sunday message to call for an end to the bloodshed in Syria.

Russia, China: China condemned the "cruel killings" of civilians in the Syrian town of Houla on May 28, 2012, while insisting that UN mediator Kofi Annan's efforts remained the most viable way to end the violence in Syria. Russia's foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said after talks with visiting British Foreign Secretary William Hague that the violence must be stopped, but that both sides in the Syrian conflict "had a hand" in the deaths in Houla.

A group of international nations calling themselves the Friends of the Syrian People met in Istanbul on April 1 to discuss tighter sanctions and increased diplomatic pressure on Assad, and Syrian opposition representatives promised to offer a democratic alternative to his regime. Yet the show of solidarity at the conference was marred by the absence of China, Russia and Iran.

Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned Feb. 27, 2012, against a military intervention in Syria and an attack on Iran and claimed the West had backed the Arab Spring revolts to advance its interests in the region. He said that any attempt to launch a military action without a UN approval would undermine the world body's role and hurt global security. On Feb. 4, 2012, China joined Russia in vetoing a UN Security Council resolution calling on Assad to step down.

Al-Qaeda: On Feb. 12, 2012, al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahri threw the terrorist network's support behind the Syrian opposition, raising fears that Islamic extremists are exploiting the uprising.

With files from Canadian Press, The Associated Press