UN Security Council condemns killing of 108 people in Syria

PanARMENIAN.Net - The UN Security Council on Sunday, May 27, unanimously condemned the killing of at least 108 people, including many children, in the Syrian town of Houla, a sign of mounting outrage at the massacre that the government and rebels blamed on each other.

Images of bloodied and lifeless young bodies, laid carefully side by side after the onslaught on Friday, triggered shock around the world and underlined the failure of a six-week-old UN ceasefire plan to stop the violence, Reuters reports.

Western and Arab states opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad put the blame for the deaths squarely on the government. But Damascus rejected the charge.

"The Security Council condemned in the strongest possible terms the killings, confirmed by United Nations observers, of dozens of men, women and children and the wounding of hundreds more in the village of (Houla), near Homs, in attacks that involved a series of government artillery and tank shellings on a residential neighborhood," the non-binding statement said.

"Such outrageous use of force against civilian population constitutes a violation of applicable international law and of the commitments of the Syrian Government under United Nations Security Council Resolutions," the statement said.

Russian Deputy UN Ambassador Alexander Pankin said the circumstances surrounding the massacre were "murky" and rejected the idea that the evidence clearly showed Damascus was guilty.

International mediator Kofi Annan and Ladsous are expected to brief the council on Syria on Wednesday.