Syria scolds Saudi Arabia over its stance

DAMASCUS, Syria -- Syria lashed out at Saudi Arabia on Saturday, a day after the kingdom's foreign minister backed the idea of arming the rebels fighting president Bashar Assad's regime, accusing Riyadh of becoming "a partner" in the bloodshed in Syria.

The sharp riposte from Damascus, which was published in a state-run newspaper, came as activists said at least 77 people were killed across the country and regime forces pounded rebel-held neighborhoods in the central city of Homs.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said it had failed Saturday to gain access to the besieged neighborhood of Baba Amr in the city of Homs for a second day to evacuate more wounded civilians, including at least two foreign journalists who were wounded in government shelling on Wednesday.

The humanitarian team and its Syrian chapter evacuated 27 people from the area on Friday. But ICRC spokesman Hicham Hassan said negotiations to get access to the neighborhood Saturday "yielded no concrete results." He said the ICRC would keep trying and that the Syrian Red Crescent carried out evacuations elsewhere in Syria, including in other neighborhoods of Homs.

Along with wounded Syrians, two foreign journalists injured in the rocket attack remain in the neighborhood. They are French journalist Edith Bouvier of Le Figaro and British photographer Paul Conroy of the Sunday Times.

The bodies of American Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik, who were killed in the same attack, are also still in the area.

The Syrian uprising began in March with mostly peaceful protests in a number of the country's impoverished provinces. As security forces violently suppressed them, killing thousands, the protest grew and escalated into an increasingly armed insurrection.

The UN said last month that 5,400 people had been killed in the Syrian revolt in 2011. Hundreds more have died since. Activists put the number at more than 7,300, but overall figures are impossible to confirm independently.

The crackdown against the mostly Sunni opposition has drawn international condemnation and pressure from other countries in the region as it has taken on increasingly sectarian tones.