Damascus, Feb 16 (AFP) Syrian armour today moved on the main hubs of an 11-month uprising killing at least 22 people, monitors said, a day after President Bashar al-Assad set a vote for a new constitution. Opposition groups rejected the newly proposed constitution and urged voters to boycott a referendum set for this month, and to step up efforts to oust Assad. As troops pummelled the central city of Homs for a 13th straight day, 18 people were killed in central Hama province and four others died in the southern city of Daraa, monitors reported. Assad, whose government has vowed to crush dissent, yesterday decreed a vote for February 26 on a new charter that could end nearly 50 years of single-party rule. The United States dismissed the move as "laughable," saying "it makes a mockery of the Syrian revolution." Russia, a major weapons supplier to Damascus, welcomed it. And the Local Coordination Committees, a main opposition activist group, rejected the new charter and called for a vote boycott, as well as stepped up efforts to topple Assad. "The draft constitution is no more than a political tool or a policy paper written by the barbaric regime," it said in an emailed statement. "We see no alternative but to topple the regime along with its symbols, representatives and foundational ideology. "The Local Coordination Committees calls upon our people to reject and boycott the alleged referendum to confirm the lack of public support for this criminal regime." (AFP)
