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1 Shot Dead At School

Activist group helps smuggle Brit out as violence and killing continue.


BEIRUT &mdash; Syrian rebels spirited a British photographer who had been trapped in the opposition stronghold of Homs out of the country Tuesday after he was trapped for days under fierce government shelling that killed 13 of those trying to save him, an activist group said.
The global activist group Avaaz said it helped smuggle British photographer Paul Conroy across the border into neighboring Lebanon.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, meanwhile, retracted his statement that French journalist Edith Bouvier also had been safely evacuated to Lebanon.
He said Tuesday that he had been &ldquo;imprecise&rdquo; earlier in the day due to the complexities of the situation and that &ldquo;It is not confirmed that Madame Bouvier is today safe in Lebanon.&rdquo;
The two were injured last week in a government rocket attack on the rebel-controlled neighborhood of Baba Amr in central Homs. Two other Western journalists, American Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik, were killed in the same attack. 
Hundreds have been killed in Homs, a stronghold for government opponents waging an uprising against President Bashar Assad&rsquo;s authoritarian rule, in more than three weeks of relentless shelling.
A top U.N. official released a new death toll for the 11-month-old uprising, saying well over 7,500 people have been killed and the conflict looked increasingly like civil war. Activist groups said Monday that the death toll had surpassed 8,000.
Meanwhile, the U.N. human rights chief said the situation in Syria has deteriorated rapidly in recent weeks and demanded an immediate humanitarian cease-fire.
The United States criticized Syria&rsquo;s envoy for storming out of an emergency U.N. meeting about the crisis in his country Tuesday, saying the walkout and a fiery speech that preceded it demonstrated the &ldquo;delusional&rdquo; nature of President Bashar Assad&rsquo;s regime.


A top U.N. official released a new death toll for the 11-month-old uprising, saying well over 7,500 people have been killed.

Wounded Reporter Escapes From Syria