EU foreign policy chief seeks Brazilian support on Syria

(BRASILIA) - EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton urged Brazil to support a draft UN resolution condemning the violence in Syria, casting it as a choice between the people or Bashar al-Assad's repressive regime.

"The Security Council needs to act in the face of the gravity of the situation in Syria," Ashton said in an interview published Saturday in O Estado de Sao Paulo.

"Countries need to decide if they are on the side of the Syrian people and their legitimate aspiration for democracy or on the side of the repressor regime," she said.

Ashton made the comments ahead of a four day visit here to press for passage of the draft Security Council resolution which endorses an Arab League plan for a democratic transition in Damascus.

It comes amid reports from activists that Syrian forces shelled residential areas of the flashpoint city of Homs Friday night, killing more than 200 civilians in the latest onslaught of violence.

The UN Security Council was expected to vote as early as Saturday on a draft resolution condemning the violence amid opposition from Russia, which was dispatching Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to Damascus next week to meet with Assad.

"Our message for a partner like Brazil, as well as for the members of the Security Council, is to ask for support for the draft resolution on Syria, presented by the Arab League," Ashton said.