Annan 'impatient, frustrated' over Syria
Source: Agencies |
June 2, 2012, Saturday
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SAYING he is "impatient and frustrated," special envoy Kofi Annan called on the Syrian president yesterday to implement a UN-brokered peace plan following a horrific weekend massacre that killed more than 100 people.
Nearly 300 UN observers have been deployed around Syria to monitor a cease-fire that was supposed to go into effect on April 12, but the peace plan has unraveled amid daily violence and the images from the Houla massacre caused outrage to spike. Many of the dead were women and children.
UN investigators have said there are strong suspicions pro-government gunmen are responsible for at least some of the killings in the Houla massacre, which occurred over several hours starting late on May 25. The government denies any role, blaming rebels.
In fresh violence yesterday, Syrian security forces opened fire as thousands of protesters poured into the streets to mark the Houla massacre, activists said. No casualties were immediately reported. Gunmen also reportedly killed 11 workers on their way to work on Thursday at a state-owned fertilizer factory in the central province of Homs - the third mass killing reported in Syria in a week.
With Syria growing increasingly chaotic in recent months, the UN's top human rights official echoed warnings that the country was veering toward all-out civil war.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that Moscow wants to help Annan achieve "positive results" and prevent an all-out civil war in Syria. He rejected assertions that Moscow is propping up Assad's government and insisted it doesn't support any party to the country's conflict.
Nearly 300 UN observers have been deployed around Syria to monitor a cease-fire that was supposed to go into effect on April 12, but the peace plan has unraveled amid daily violence and the images from the Houla massacre caused outrage to spike. Many of the dead were women and children.
UN investigators have said there are strong suspicions pro-government gunmen are responsible for at least some of the killings in the Houla massacre, which occurred over several hours starting late on May 25. The government denies any role, blaming rebels.
In fresh violence yesterday, Syrian security forces opened fire as thousands of protesters poured into the streets to mark the Houla massacre, activists said. No casualties were immediately reported. Gunmen also reportedly killed 11 workers on their way to work on Thursday at a state-owned fertilizer factory in the central province of Homs - the third mass killing reported in Syria in a week.
With Syria growing increasingly chaotic in recent months, the UN's top human rights official echoed warnings that the country was veering toward all-out civil war.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that Moscow wants to help Annan achieve "positive results" and prevent an all-out civil war in Syria. He rejected assertions that Moscow is propping up Assad's government and insisted it doesn't support any party to the country's conflict.
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