Activists report new Syria killings

A Syrian boy sits in the rubble of house
7 June 2012

Syrian activists have reported a surge of bloodshed in the central Hama province, with at least 23 people killed - and possibly many more.

The exact circumstances of the violence were impossible to confirm independently.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, the head of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, says he has gathered the names of 23 people killed in shelling and other attacks. But the Local Co-ordination Committees, an activist group, said at least 86 were dead.

Mr Abdul-Rahman called on United Nations observers to visit the area immediately. "Do not wait until tomorrow in order to investigate this latest massacre," he said.

The latest reports of violence in Hama came on the heels of a horrific massacre on May 25 and 26 in Houla, a cluster of villages in the central Homs province. Although Syria has seen relentless violence for more than a year, the Houla massacre stands out for its sheer brutality. Many of the dead were women and children who were gunned down in their homes.

Meanwhile, the United States and its allies in Europe, Turkey and the Arab world have agreed to work on a political transition plan for Syria, hoping to persuade President Bashar Assad's powerful ally Russia to join a broadened diplomatic effort to ease the embattled leader out of power.

The push for a structured end to the four-decade Assad regime came at a closed-door meeting of foreign ministers and other top officials in Istanbul on Wednesday night, including US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, according to a top US official. Mrs Clinton, the US State Department official said, outlined a set of principles to guide the post-Assad transition strategy. But with neither Russia nor China present and both remaining hostile to the idea of global sanctions against the Syrian government or any Libya-style military intervention, it was unclear what effect the show of unity might produce.

Assad's refusal to allow peaceful protest and determination to crack down on any political dissent poses another problem. Some 13,000 people have been killed in Syria over 15 months of repression and later armed rebellion and a peace plan proposed by United Nations mediator Kofi Annan has failed to halt the violence.

"Given the continuing horrific violence, including ... in Lattakia and in Hama, the group obviously talked about increasing the pressure on the Assad regime and those who still support it," the official said.

The officials will return to Turkey next week for more talks with Syria's embattled opposition. A full meeting of the Friends of Syria, which includes some 70 governments, will take place on July 6 in Paris, and Mrs Clinton is expected to attend.

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