 |
| A child with a Syrian opposition flag painted on her face reacts as Syrian refugees take part in a protest in Tripoli, northern Lebanon, yesterday against an attack by President Bashar al-Assad’s forces on the city of Houla |
The head of a UN mission warned yesterday of “civil war” in Syria after his observers counted more than 92 bodies, 32 of them children, in the town of Houla following reports of a massacre there.
The rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) announced it was no longer committed to the UN-backed peace plan for Syria unless there was prompt UN intervention to protect civilians.
UN head of mission Major General Robert Mood condemned “in the strongest possible terms the brutal tragedy” in Houla in central Syria, where he said UN monitors counted 92 bodies including “more than 32 under the age of 10”.
“The circumstances that led to these tragic killings are still unclear,” Mood told reporters in Damascus.
“Whoever started, whoever responded and whoever carried out this deplorable act of violence should be held responsible.
“Those using violence for their own agendas will create more instability, more unpredictability and may lead the country to civil war,” Mood added, describing the violence as “indiscriminate and disproportionate”.
The killings triggered condemnations from Britain, Germany and France, where Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said he was making “immediate arrangements” for an international meeting on Syria.
His British counterpart William Hague said consultations were under way and “we will be calling for an urgent session of the UN Security Council in the coming days.”
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said in a statement he was “shocked and horrified” by the killings.
Mood confirmed that artillery and tank shells were used to pound Houla and called “on the Syrian government to cease the use of heavy weapons and to all parties to cease violence in all its forms”.
But the rebel FSA said it could no longer commit to the ceasefire brokered by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan.
“We announce that unless the UN Security Council takes urgent steps for the protection of civilians, Annan’s plan is going to go to hell,” an FSA statement said.
Earlier the head of the FSA’s military council, Turkey-based General Mustafa Ahmed al-Sheikh, urged the Friends of Syria nations to launch air strikes against President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.
Targeted strikes against regime forces are the “appropriate stance after the heinous crime committed by Assad’s assassin regime in the Houla region”.
The opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) demanded prompt UN Security Council action, while the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights accused the Arab and international communities of being “complicit” in the killings.
The shelling of Houla began at around midday on Friday and continued until dawn yesterday, the Observatory said.
Amateur videos posted on YouTube showed horrifying images of dead children, with at least one child’s head partly blown away.
SNC spokeswoman Basma Kodmani said “some of the victims were hit by heavy artillery while others, entire families, were massacred.”
“The Syrian National Council urges the UN Security Council to call for an emergency meeting to examine the situation in Houla and to determine the responsibility of the UN in face of such mass killings, expulsions and forced migration from entire neighbourhoods.”
State news agency Sana blamed “armed terrorist groups” for the killings, adding that “clashes led to the killing of several terrorists and the martyrdom of several members of the special forces.”
Regime forces pounded rebel positions elsewhere in Homs province yesterday, according to the Observatory, which reported 18 people killed nationwide, including 13 civilians.
And for the second consecutive day the army used helicopter gunships against rebels in mountain villages near the Turkish border, the Observatory said.
Killings in Houla and elsewhere are taking place “under the eyes of the UN observers”, the FSA statement said, urging the international community to “announce the failure of the Annan plan”.
The UN-backed peace plan drawn up by Annan included a ceasefire that technically began on April 12, and days later UN observers began deploying in Syria to monitor the truce.
But the ceasefire has been breached daily, with the Observatory saying nearly 1,500 people have been killed since April 12.
“Annan is singlehandedly responsible for the Houla massacre,” read a sign held by a protester in the northwestern Idlib province town of Kfarnabel yesterday.
Activists said scores of men and women took to the streets there after news of the Houla killings.
Annan is due in Syria “soon” as he continues efforts to find a peaceful solution to the crisis, his spokesman Ahmed Fawzi said. Diplomats in Geneva said he would visit Damascus early next week.
Fabius said he would speak to Annan today. “In the face of horror, the international community must mobilise still further to stop the martyrdom of the Syrian people,” he said.
Britain’s Hague said: “Our urgent priority is to establish a full account of this appalling crime and to move swiftly to ensure that those responsible are identified and held to account.”
Westerwelle said it was “appalling that the Syrian regime does not put an end to the brutal violence against its own people. Those responsible for this crime must be punished.”
The Observatory says more than 12,600 people have been killed across Syria since the uprising demanding reforms and regime change began in March last year.