ROME/ANKARA/TEHRAN/GENEVA: As Iran attempted to distance itself from Syria and Turkey vowed to launch another peace initiative, Italy recalled its envoy from the country for ‘consultations’.

According to the Italian foreign ministry, Ambassador Khaddour Hasan had been recalled to Rome to express “the firm condemnation and disgust of the Italian government for the unacceptable violence [in Syria]”.

However, it said, the embassy in Syria will remain open and “continue to follow with maximum attention developments in an extremely grave crisis.”

Meanwhile, Turkey said it will launch a “new initiative” with like-minded countries after the rejection of a UN resolution aimed at ending the months-long bloodshed in Syria.

“We will start a new initiative with those countries who stand by the Syrian people, not the regime,” Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in parliament, without elaborating.

“We are working on this initiative,” Erdogan said, assuring that his government would utilise all diplomatic means to draw the world’s attention to the Syrian crisis.

Turkey, once a closed ally of Syria, has been at the forefront of international criticism against the Damascus regime and was among the countries that condemned the double veto in the UN Security Council by Russia and China of the resolution that, among other things, demanded the Syrian president to step down.

For his part, the Turkish premier said the Security Council vote gave the “license to kill to the hands of the tyrant,” referring to his one-time friend Syrian President Bashar alAssad.

Erdogan said the veto power should be used responsibly without “giving [a] green light to death”.

Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is planning to fly to the US on Wednesday and meet with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for further discussions on Syria, diplomatic sources told AFP.

Iran rejects accusation of interference

On the other hand, Iran said that foreign interference will destabilise Syria, rejecting accusations that Tehran was complicit in a “massacre” of civilians by supplying weapons to its main ally’s forces.

“We are absolutely not interfering in the internal affairs of Syria, and we consider the interference of other countries there to be a danger to the security and stability of Syria,” foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters.

He was reacting to a statement that Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood issued on Monday, which said: “We consider Russia, China and Iran as direct accomplices to the horrible massacre being carried out against our people.”

The three countries were supplying weapons and equipment to President alAssad’s regime, spokesman Zouheir Salem said in the statement released in London.

Iran was also to dispatch a deputy foreign minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, to the Syrian capital on Tuesday, for a visit which the official IRNA news agency said was aimed at discussing “bilateral relations and regional issues.”

Mehmanparast hailed Russia and China for having a “sense of responsibility” and countering what he said were moves by Western and Arab countries “to prepare the way for political and military intervention in Syria” to protect Israel.

He said the only solution was to help create “the right atmosphere for talks and reforms in Syria”.

Iran’s stance on Syria has earned criticism from neighbouring Turkey, with Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc on Sunday calling into question the Islamic republic’s Muslim credentials. “I am addressing the Islamic Republic of Iran: I do not know if you are worthy of being called Islamic,” Arinc said, questioning Tehran’s silence on the violent crackdown.

UNICEF says 400 children killed in unrest

At least 400 children have been killed in 11 months of violence in Syria and almost the same number detained, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) said on Tuesday.

“As of the end of January, 400 children are dead and more than 400 have been detained,” Unicef spokesperson Marixie Mercado said at a briefing.

“There are reports of children arbitrarily arrested, tortured and sexually abused while in detention,” the agency added in a statement.

Mercado said the figures for children killed came from Syrian human rights groups “that we find to be credible”.