UN envoy begs Syrians to lay down their arms
Source: Agencies |
May 29, 2012, Tuesday
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UN envoy Kofi Annan called yesterday on "every individual with a gun" in Syria to lay down arms, saying he was horrified by a weekend massacre that killed more than 100 people, including women and small children.
"I am personally shocked and horrified by the tragic incident in Houla two days ago, which took so many innocent lives, children, women and men," Annan said as he arrived in the Syrian capital Damascus for talks with President Bashar Assad and other senior officials.
He called on all sides of the conflict to end bloodshed, saying "this message of peace is not only for the government, but for everyone with a gun."
The killings in Houla, a collection of villages in the central province of Homs, was condemned internationally although world powers differed over whether Assad's forces were exclusively to blame.
Activists from the Houla area said the army pounded the villages with artillery and clashed with local rebels after protests last Friday. Some activists said pro-regime thugs later stormed the area, doing the bulk of the killing by gunning down men in the streets and stabbing women and children in their homes.
The Syrian government rejected that narrative and claimed soldiers were attacked in their bases and fought back in self-defense.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov contended in Moscow both the government and the rebels were to blame. "Both sides have obviously had a hand in the deaths of innocent people, including several dozen women and children," Lavrov said. "This area is controlled by the rebels, but it is also surrounded by the government troops."
The brutality of the killings came across in amateur videos posted online that showed scores of bodies, many of them young children, in neat rows and covered with blood and deep wounds. A later video showed the bodies, wrapped in white sheets, being placed in a sprawling mass grave.
The massacre in Houla cast fresh doubts on the ability of an international peace plan put forward by Annan to end Syria's crisis.
Syria has strongly denied allegations that its forces carried out the killings, but the UN Security Council after an emergency session on Sunday "condemned in the strongest possible terms" the killings in Houla. It blamed Syrian forces for shelling residential areas with tanks and artillery.
It also condemned the killings of civilians "by shooting at close range and by severe physical abuse," but avoided saying who was responsible for these attacks.
The council's statement said the "outrageous use of force" against civilians violated international law and Syrian government commitments under previous UN resolutions to stop all violence, including the use of heavy weapons in populated areas.
"I am personally shocked and horrified by the tragic incident in Houla two days ago, which took so many innocent lives, children, women and men," Annan said as he arrived in the Syrian capital Damascus for talks with President Bashar Assad and other senior officials.
He called on all sides of the conflict to end bloodshed, saying "this message of peace is not only for the government, but for everyone with a gun."
The killings in Houla, a collection of villages in the central province of Homs, was condemned internationally although world powers differed over whether Assad's forces were exclusively to blame.
Activists from the Houla area said the army pounded the villages with artillery and clashed with local rebels after protests last Friday. Some activists said pro-regime thugs later stormed the area, doing the bulk of the killing by gunning down men in the streets and stabbing women and children in their homes.
The Syrian government rejected that narrative and claimed soldiers were attacked in their bases and fought back in self-defense.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov contended in Moscow both the government and the rebels were to blame. "Both sides have obviously had a hand in the deaths of innocent people, including several dozen women and children," Lavrov said. "This area is controlled by the rebels, but it is also surrounded by the government troops."
The brutality of the killings came across in amateur videos posted online that showed scores of bodies, many of them young children, in neat rows and covered with blood and deep wounds. A later video showed the bodies, wrapped in white sheets, being placed in a sprawling mass grave.
The massacre in Houla cast fresh doubts on the ability of an international peace plan put forward by Annan to end Syria's crisis.
Syria has strongly denied allegations that its forces carried out the killings, but the UN Security Council after an emergency session on Sunday "condemned in the strongest possible terms" the killings in Houla. It blamed Syrian forces for shelling residential areas with tanks and artillery.
It also condemned the killings of civilians "by shooting at close range and by severe physical abuse," but avoided saying who was responsible for these attacks.
The council's statement said the "outrageous use of force" against civilians violated international law and Syrian government commitments under previous UN resolutions to stop all violence, including the use of heavy weapons in populated areas.
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