Syria crisis: US and UN urge Security Council unity

The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the US secretary of state have urged the international community to speak with one voice on Syria.

Hillary Clinton said that Syria’s “horrific campaign of violence” had “shocked the conscience of the world”.

Russia and China have blocked resolutions condemning Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

In Syria, activists report that at least 47 people were killed in an attack by government militia in Homs.

Women and children are among those reported to have been tortured and killed on Sunday night in the neighbourhood of Karm el-Zeytoun. The Syrian government acknowledged the deaths, but blamed “armed terrorists”.

Ms Clinton told the UN Security Council meeting in New York: “We believe that now is the time for all nations – even those who have previously blocked our efforts – to stand behind the humanitarian and political approach spelled out by the Arab League.”

In a clear reference to China and Russia, she appealed to the international community to “say with one voice – without hesitation or caveat – that the killing of innocent Syrians must stop and a political transition must begin”.

Mr Ban said the Syrian government had “failed to fulfil its responsibility to protect its own people and instead has subjected its citizens in several cities to military assault and disproportionate use of force”.

He said the Council must “unite strongly” by UN and Arab League peace envoy Kofi Annan’s efforts “to help Syria pull back from the brink of a deeper catastrophe”.

She was speaking after British Foreign Secretary William Hague said that the Security Council had so far failed in its responsibility to the Syrian people.

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague: ‘The UN has failed on Syria’

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the situation in Syria remained a “grave concern” but warned that change in the Arab world “must not be achieved by misleading the international community or manipulating the Security Council”.
‘Burned alive’

The attack in the embattled city of Homs happened hours after UN-Arab League peace envoy Kofi Annan ended his two-day mission to Damascus.

Homs has been under assault for weeks as government forces have tried to root out rebel fighters. Parts of the city are devastated.

Hundreds of families fled the Karm el-Zeytoun area of Homs on Monday after reports of the attack in their neighbourhood overnight, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

One activist in Homs, Hadi Abdallah, told AFP the bodies of 26 children and 21 women were found, some with their throats slit and others bearing stab wounds.

Both the opposition Syrian Revolution General Commission (SRGC) and the Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC), an activist network in Syria, put the toll at 45.

The SRGC said that some of the victims had been burned alive with heating fuel poured over them and others had their necks and limbs broken.

Mulham al-Jundi, an opposition activist and member of the SNC, said Karm el-Zeytoun was experiencing a military bombardment similar to the one seen in Baba Amr district in recent weeks.

The BBC’s Jon Donnison: ‘The Syrian government has acknowledged these deaths’

He told the BBC government troops were firing rockets from tanks outside the neighbourhood, then going in and “killing the families who stay inside these areas”.

Reports are difficult to verify because of tight restrictions on independent media operating in Syria.

Footage posted on YouTube, said to show the bodies of men, women and children killed in the attack, made for grim viewing, said the BBC’s Jon Donnison in neighbouring Lebanon.

In one video, at least 11 bodies can be seen, including at least four young children covered in blood, he adds.
‘Concrete proposals’

Syrian state television accused “armed terrorist gangs” of carrying out the killings, saying the bodies had been filmed in an effort to discredit the government.

Both the LCC and the Observatory blame the pro-government Shabiha militia for the attack.

The Shabiha has been blamed for many of the atrocities carried out since the uprising began nearly a year ago.

Activists say their presence has allowed the government to deny any involvement in the most brutal actions against protesters.

Kofi Annan left Syria on Sunday after two days off talks with President Bashar al-Assad, saying he was “optimistic” about the possibility of a ceasefire, humanitarian access to affected areas and future political dialogue.

He said he had presented Mr Assad with “concrete proposals” to bring an end to the bloodshed, but gave no hint that a deal was imminent.