UN chief's shock at report of new massacre in Syria
Source: Agencies |
June 8, 2012, Friday
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UNITED Nations monitors seeking to reach the site of a reported new massacre of Syrian villagers by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad were shot at with small arms, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said yesterday.
Ban, speaking at the start of a special UN General Assembly session on the Syrian crisis, condemned the reported massacre at Mazraat al-Qubeir and called again on Assad to immediately implement international mediator Kofi Annan's six-point peace plan.
"Today's news reports of another massacre are shocking and sickening," he told the 193-nation assembly. "A village apparently surrounded by Syrian forces. The bodies of innocent civilians lying where they were shot. Some allegedly burned or slashed with knives. We condemn this unspeakable barbarity and renew our determination to bring those responsible to account," he said.
Ban said UN monitors were initially denied access to the site. "They are working now to get to the scene," he said. "And I just learned a few minutes ago that while trying to do so the UN monitors were shot at with small arms."
Ban was addressing the General Assembly ahead of Annan's expected presentation to the UN Security Council of a new proposal in a last-ditch effort to rescue his failing peace plan for Syria, where 15 months of violence have brought it to the brink of civil war.
Speaking to the General Assembly after Ban, Annan also condemned the new reported massacre and acknowledged that his peace plan was not working.
The core of Annan's new proposal, diplomats said, would be the establishment of a contact group that would bring together Russia, China, the United States, Britain, France and key regional players with influence on Syria's government and the opposition, such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and Iran.
It would attempt to map out a "political transition" for Syria that would lead to Assad stepping aside and the holding of free elections.
The main point of Annan's proposal, envoys said, is to get Russia to commit to a Syrian political transition, which remains the thrust of Annan's six-point peace plan, which the Syrian government and opposition accepted earlier this year but failed to implement.
Annan's efforts have failed to halt the violence, as demonstrated by a recent massacre in Houla that led to the deaths of at least 108 people. Opposition members said there was a similar massacre on Wednesday in Hama province, with at least 78 people killed.
Ban, speaking at the start of a special UN General Assembly session on the Syrian crisis, condemned the reported massacre at Mazraat al-Qubeir and called again on Assad to immediately implement international mediator Kofi Annan's six-point peace plan.
"Today's news reports of another massacre are shocking and sickening," he told the 193-nation assembly. "A village apparently surrounded by Syrian forces. The bodies of innocent civilians lying where they were shot. Some allegedly burned or slashed with knives. We condemn this unspeakable barbarity and renew our determination to bring those responsible to account," he said.
Ban said UN monitors were initially denied access to the site. "They are working now to get to the scene," he said. "And I just learned a few minutes ago that while trying to do so the UN monitors were shot at with small arms."
Ban was addressing the General Assembly ahead of Annan's expected presentation to the UN Security Council of a new proposal in a last-ditch effort to rescue his failing peace plan for Syria, where 15 months of violence have brought it to the brink of civil war.
Speaking to the General Assembly after Ban, Annan also condemned the new reported massacre and acknowledged that his peace plan was not working.
The core of Annan's new proposal, diplomats said, would be the establishment of a contact group that would bring together Russia, China, the United States, Britain, France and key regional players with influence on Syria's government and the opposition, such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and Iran.
It would attempt to map out a "political transition" for Syria that would lead to Assad stepping aside and the holding of free elections.
The main point of Annan's proposal, envoys said, is to get Russia to commit to a Syrian political transition, which remains the thrust of Annan's six-point peace plan, which the Syrian government and opposition accepted earlier this year but failed to implement.
Annan's efforts have failed to halt the violence, as demonstrated by a recent massacre in Houla that led to the deaths of at least 108 people. Opposition members said there was a similar massacre on Wednesday in Hama province, with at least 78 people killed.
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