TURKEY: U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warns that massacres of civilians, like the one in Houla last weekend, could plunge Syria into a devastating civil war

Record ID: 217571

  • Title: TURKEY: U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warns that massacres of civilians, like the one in Houla last weekend, could plunge Syria into a devastating civil war
  • Date: 1st June 2012
  • Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (MAY 31, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF TURKISH PRIME MINISTER TAYYIP ERDOGAN ADDRESSING ALLIANCE OF CIVILIZATION FORUM AUDIENCE U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL BAN KI MOON WALKING TO PODIUM AUDIENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL BAN KI MOON SAYING: "Joint special envoy Mr. Kofi Annan has expressed his concerns that we may have reached a tipping po
  • Embargoed: 16th June 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Conflict
  • Reuters ID: LVADF7KXE32UQC6YOVP1ELOROBJJ
  • Story Text: U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned on Thursday (May 31) that massacres of civilians, like the one perpetrated in Houla last weekend, could cast Syria into a devastating civil war.
    Ban cited fears raised a day earlier by Kofi Annan, the joint special envoy for the Arab League and United Nations, that Syria may have already reached a "tipping point" following the slaughter of 108 people in Houla last Friday.
    The April 12 ceasefire, that forms part of Annan's 6-point plan to restore peace, has so far failed to take hold.
    "The massacre of civilians of the sort seen last weekend could plunge Syria into catastrophic civil war -- a civil war from which the country would never recover," the U.N. Secretary General told a news conference in Istanbul.
    "The more the international community knows, the more likely it's that we can advance on our most important goal to help find a political solution, a solution that can save the lives and interests of all the Syrian people. Let me say however, the United Nations did not deploy in Syria just to bear within the slaughter of innocence. We are not there play the role of passive observers to unspeakable atrocities," he added.
    The international community has been heaping pressure on the Assad regime after the Houla massacre as Syrian rebels gave President Bashar al-Assad a 48-hour deadline to comply with an international peace plan otherwise they would renew their battle to overthrow him.
    The ultimatum was issued after U.N. observers reported the discovery of 13 bodies bound and shot in eastern Syria, adding to the world outcry over the massacre last week of 108 men, women and children.
    The latest violence emphasised how the peace plan drafted by Annan has failed to stem 14 months of bloodshed or bring the Syrian government and opposition to the negotiating table.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register