The Syrian regime has "lost its fundamental humanity" and no longerhas any legitimacy, Ban Ki-moon , the UN secretary general, said on Thursday as he described amassacre of around 90 villagers as "shocking and sickening" anddemanded that the killers be brought to account. Using some of the strongest language yet to condemn the governmentof Bashar al-Assad , Ban said UN monitors were shot at trying to get to the scene ofthe massacre on Wednesday. He said the situation in Syria was close to breaking point and the danger of civil war wasimminent and real. The recent mass killings were "indicative of a pattern that mayamount to crimes against humanity," he added. "The Syrian peopleare bleeding.
They are angry. They want peace and dignity. Aboveall, they all want action." The latest massacre, in the hamlet of al-Qubair, near Syria'sfourth city of Hama, comes less than three weeks after more than100 people were killed in Houla an event that has sharplyincreased sectarian tensions and appears to be sending the countrysliding towards civil war. A loyalist civilian militia known as the Shabiha was widely accusedof carrying out the Houla killings.
Witnesses to the massacre inal-Qubair insisted that the Shabiha, whose members are largely fromthe ruling Alawite sect, had again been responsible. Ban said the village had apparently been surrounded by Syrianforces. "The bodies of innocent civilians lying where they were,shot. Some were allegedly burned or slashed with knives," he said,adding that "each day seems to bring new additions to the grimcatalogue of atrocities". Ipl Hair Removal Machines
Ban said it has been evident for manymonths that President Assad and his government "have lost alllegitimacy", and added that "any regime or leader that toleratessuch killing of innocents has lost its fundamental humanity". Soon after Ban's address to the UN general assembly, Kofi Annan,the envoy he dispatched to Syria, conceded that his battered peaceplan was faltering. UN diplomats said Annan is urging the divided security council tounite and act immediately to press the Syrian government toimplement his peace plan. The diplomats said Annan told councilmembers that there must be consequences usually a term forsanctions for opponents of his six-point plan. Britain's foreign secretary, William Hague, warned that the Annanpeace plan was in serious trouble, and said Syria was on the edgeof a worse and more bloody phase than seen so far. China Yag Laser Tattoo Removal
Hague said: "TheAnnan plan won't last indefinitely. Syria is clearly on the edge of deeper violence, of deep, sectarian violence, village againstvillage, pro-government militias against opposition areas, and oflooking more like Bosnia in the 1990s than Libya last year. "The Annan plan has clearly failed so far, but it is not dead, allhope is not lost." The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, said America wasprepared to work with Assad's closest ally, Russia, on a plan thatwould oust him but potentially leave his regime intact. David Cameron, who has so far failed in his attempt to softenMoscow's unwavering support for Damascus, said: "It really isappalling, what is happening in that country, and I want to seeconcerted action from the international community." Two men who saw parts of the al-Qubair massacre claim that Shabihamilitiamen whom they knew personally passed by with loyalist troopsminutes before the killing started. IPL Beauty Equipment
At face value, Wednesday's attack has stark similarities with themassacre in Houla on 25 May, where the bulk of those killed werewomen and children. The attacks on civilian homes in al-Qubair and in Houla also appearto have been launched after shelling from tanks. Women and childrenhave again accounted for many of the deaths, witnesses say. Abu Hisham al-Hamawi, a resident of the Mazraat area, whose home ison the outskirts of al-Qubair, said he saw Shabiha militiamen fromnearby Alawite villages pass by his home on the way to al-Qubairminutes before the attack.
"I knew some of them from school," he said. "I know their names, Iknow their villages. I know exactly who they are. They are Shabiha,no doubt.
They passed by here with the regime army." He said that Mazraat had not been a politically active area duringthe 16-month uprising, nor had it been a stronghold of the FreeSyrian Army, which continues to battle loyalist forces on mostdays. "This is a farming community," he said. "They are very poor people a lot of them are shepherds. Thereare only a few families in the village and all of them are nowdead." Mazraat al-Qubair is near four Alawite villages, placing it in thedemographically sensitive heart of Syria's uprising.
"But we havenever had a problem with them before now," said Abu Hisham. "We have not even had a relationship, or any tensions. This is thefirst time there has been any fighting in this area. This is thefirst time the army has attacked us.
But in the region around us,the Shabiha is very strong. So is the regime army." A second witness, who did not want to be named, said shelling ofthe area had started at around 2pm. He said gunfire then followed around 2.45pm, lasting for 30minutes, before a second burst of fire later. The man said there were no more than 25 homes in the village, mostbelonging to the Ulwan family.
He said tanks moved in after thefiring had stopped, levelling some of the homes. Some houses werethen burned. "Some survivors tried to run away, but they shot atthem in the olive orchards. There are still bodies there that noone can reach." A third witness, Laith al-Hamawi, said he heard and saw the attackfrom 800 metres away. "They came from the Alawite villages, likeAsseela, al-Bayat, al-Sakina," he said.
"I saw the tanks enter thevillage and I knew some of the Shabiha personally." Syria denied that its forces had been responsible for the latestdeaths, again blaming terrorist groups, which it claims areoutmanoeuvring its armed forces and slaughtering civilians. That account was strongly challenged by witnesses, who said theyhad not seen any extremists in the area and claimed none couldenter because of the tightly guarded Alawite villages and the heavypresence of regime troops. "They are the terrorists," said Abu Hisham of the regime. "Theirtroops, intelligence agencies and loyalists. They want to installfear into our hearts." Syria, home to a large Sunni majority, has been ruled for more than40 years by an offshoot of Shia Islam, known as the Alawites.Sunnis have formed the backbone of the Syrian uprising, which wasinspired by the Arab awakenings, but has since slowly transformedinto a grinding series of battles with deep sectarian undertones.
"Syrian Sunnis don't want a war in Syria," said Abu Hisham. "SyrianAlawites want one because it's a war they can win. They have allthe support, all the big weapons. If it happens, we will be thelosers. We will be exterminated.".
They are angry. They want peace and dignity. Aboveall, they all want action." The latest massacre, in the hamlet of al-Qubair, near Syria'sfourth city of Hama, comes less than three weeks after more than100 people were killed in Houla an event that has sharplyincreased sectarian tensions and appears to be sending the countrysliding towards civil war. A loyalist civilian militia known as the Shabiha was widely accusedof carrying out the Houla killings.
Witnesses to the massacre inal-Qubair insisted that the Shabiha, whose members are largely fromthe ruling Alawite sect, had again been responsible. Ban said the village had apparently been surrounded by Syrianforces. "The bodies of innocent civilians lying where they were,shot. Some were allegedly burned or slashed with knives," he said,adding that "each day seems to bring new additions to the grimcatalogue of atrocities". Ipl Hair Removal Machines
Ban said it has been evident for manymonths that President Assad and his government "have lost alllegitimacy", and added that "any regime or leader that toleratessuch killing of innocents has lost its fundamental humanity". Soon after Ban's address to the UN general assembly, Kofi Annan,the envoy he dispatched to Syria, conceded that his battered peaceplan was faltering. UN diplomats said Annan is urging the divided security council tounite and act immediately to press the Syrian government toimplement his peace plan. The diplomats said Annan told councilmembers that there must be consequences usually a term forsanctions for opponents of his six-point plan. Britain's foreign secretary, William Hague, warned that the Annanpeace plan was in serious trouble, and said Syria was on the edgeof a worse and more bloody phase than seen so far. China Yag Laser Tattoo Removal
Hague said: "TheAnnan plan won't last indefinitely. Syria is clearly on the edge of deeper violence, of deep, sectarian violence, village againstvillage, pro-government militias against opposition areas, and oflooking more like Bosnia in the 1990s than Libya last year. "The Annan plan has clearly failed so far, but it is not dead, allhope is not lost." The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, said America wasprepared to work with Assad's closest ally, Russia, on a plan thatwould oust him but potentially leave his regime intact. David Cameron, who has so far failed in his attempt to softenMoscow's unwavering support for Damascus, said: "It really isappalling, what is happening in that country, and I want to seeconcerted action from the international community." Two men who saw parts of the al-Qubair massacre claim that Shabihamilitiamen whom they knew personally passed by with loyalist troopsminutes before the killing started. IPL Beauty Equipment
At face value, Wednesday's attack has stark similarities with themassacre in Houla on 25 May, where the bulk of those killed werewomen and children. The attacks on civilian homes in al-Qubair and in Houla also appearto have been launched after shelling from tanks. Women and childrenhave again accounted for many of the deaths, witnesses say. Abu Hisham al-Hamawi, a resident of the Mazraat area, whose home ison the outskirts of al-Qubair, said he saw Shabiha militiamen fromnearby Alawite villages pass by his home on the way to al-Qubairminutes before the attack.
"I knew some of them from school," he said. "I know their names, Iknow their villages. I know exactly who they are. They are Shabiha,no doubt.
They passed by here with the regime army." He said that Mazraat had not been a politically active area duringthe 16-month uprising, nor had it been a stronghold of the FreeSyrian Army, which continues to battle loyalist forces on mostdays. "This is a farming community," he said. "They are very poor people a lot of them are shepherds. Thereare only a few families in the village and all of them are nowdead." Mazraat al-Qubair is near four Alawite villages, placing it in thedemographically sensitive heart of Syria's uprising.
"But we havenever had a problem with them before now," said Abu Hisham. "We have not even had a relationship, or any tensions. This is thefirst time there has been any fighting in this area. This is thefirst time the army has attacked us.
But in the region around us,the Shabiha is very strong. So is the regime army." A second witness, who did not want to be named, said shelling ofthe area had started at around 2pm. He said gunfire then followed around 2.45pm, lasting for 30minutes, before a second burst of fire later. The man said there were no more than 25 homes in the village, mostbelonging to the Ulwan family.
He said tanks moved in after thefiring had stopped, levelling some of the homes. Some houses werethen burned. "Some survivors tried to run away, but they shot atthem in the olive orchards. There are still bodies there that noone can reach." A third witness, Laith al-Hamawi, said he heard and saw the attackfrom 800 metres away. "They came from the Alawite villages, likeAsseela, al-Bayat, al-Sakina," he said.
"I saw the tanks enter thevillage and I knew some of the Shabiha personally." Syria denied that its forces had been responsible for the latestdeaths, again blaming terrorist groups, which it claims areoutmanoeuvring its armed forces and slaughtering civilians. That account was strongly challenged by witnesses, who said theyhad not seen any extremists in the area and claimed none couldenter because of the tightly guarded Alawite villages and the heavypresence of regime troops. "They are the terrorists," said Abu Hisham of the regime. "Theirtroops, intelligence agencies and loyalists. They want to installfear into our hearts." Syria, home to a large Sunni majority, has been ruled for more than40 years by an offshoot of Shia Islam, known as the Alawites.Sunnis have formed the backbone of the Syrian uprising, which wasinspired by the Arab awakenings, but has since slowly transformedinto a grinding series of battles with deep sectarian undertones.
"Syrian Sunnis don't want a war in Syria," said Abu Hisham. "SyrianAlawites want one because it's a war they can win. They have allthe support, all the big weapons. If it happens, we will be thelosers. We will be exterminated.".