Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday blamed "both sides" of the Syrian conflict in the weekend deaths of at least 108 people in Houla, noting that the area is under rebel control but is also surrounded by government troops.
UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan said he was "shocked" at the weekend massacre in Houla that left 108 people dead, many of them children, as he arrived in Damascus on Monday. Annan is to meet with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday.
The UN Security Council on Sunday strongly condemned the Syrian government for unleashing artillery and tank shelling on the town of Houla, killing at least 108 people. UN Chief Ban Ki-moon called it a "flagrant violation of international law."
Syrian opposition leader Burhan Ghalioun called on citizens Sunday to lead a “battle of liberation” after Bashar al-Assad’s government denied responsibility for the brutal killing of at least 92 people in Houla.
The Syrian government denied on Sunday that it was behind the massacre of scores of civilians, including 32 children, in the town of Houla. Damascus blamed opposition fighters for the atrocity which sparked outrage among world leaders.
World leaders joined the United Nations in demanding an urgent response on Syria after scores of civilians including 32 children were massacred by regime forces. Damascus hit back on Sunday, claiming opposition forces were behind the atrocity.
UN observers counted 92 bodies, at least 32 of which were children, in the Syrian town Houla on Saturday the day after regime forces were accused of “massacring” civilians in the town. The act has outraged the international community.
Melissa Bell meets Michelle Bachelet, executive director of UN Women and former Chilean president. She is leading the UN's work to advocate for gender equality and the empowerment of women, and also advocates that the UN's resources be used to meet these critical goals.
Christopher Moore speaks to Hervé Ladsous, UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, about the deployment of UN observers in Syria. Hervé Ladsous explains that the current situation has no precedent in the history of UN peacekeeping. Although the ceasefire does not exist, the deployment of observers results in a reduction of the level of violence.
Six UN monitors stranded by an attack on a funeral that killed at least 21 civilians were reunited with their colleagues on Wednesday after taking refuge overnight with a group of rebels fighting troops loyal to the Syrian regime.
