Annan: Syrian massacre of 108 civilians ‘appalling’

UN peace envoy Kofi Annan condemned the killing of at least 108 people in the Syrian town of Houla as “an appalling crime” and urged president Bashar al-Assad to prove he wants a peaceful resolution to the crisis racking his country.

Assad’s forces killed at least 41 people in an artillery assault on the city of Hama, activists said, shortly after the UN Security Council condemned the massacre in nearby Houla that took place on Friday.

With international criticism growing of Assad’s methods in trying to crush a 14-month-old uprising, now accompanied by a lightly armed insurgency, UN/Arab League envoy Annan arrived in Damascus for talks on his faltering peace plan.

He explicitly urged the Syrian government to “take bold steps to signal that it is serious in its intention to resolve this crisis peacefully”, adding: “This message of peace is not only for the government, but for everyone with a gun.”

Russia and China, which had previously vetoed resolutions condemning Assad, both approved a non-binding text in New York that criticised the use of artillery and tank shells on homes in Houla, but declined to blame the government alone. The rebels do not have artillery and tanks.

China also used strong words about the killings. “China feels deeply shocked by the large number of civilian casualties in Houla, and condemns in the strongest terms the cruel killings of ordinary citizens, especially women and children,” Chinese foreign ministry spokes-man Liu Weimin said.

Many of the victims were hacked to death or shot at close range, as shown in graphic images distributed by activists.

UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon told the Security Council the killings could have been the work of rebels or government forces who moved in after the bombardment.

Both Russia and China have resisted joining Western and Arab League sanctions against Assad. Both reaffirmed Annan’s plan, accepted by both sides in the conflict, was the only way forward.