QATAR: Kofi Annan, the international peace envoy for Syria, says he fears a larger conflict would emerge if the killings in Syria's uprising continue

Record ID: 280833

  • Title: QATAR: Kofi Annan, the international peace envoy for Syria, says he fears a larger conflict would emerge if the killings in Syria's uprising continue
  • Date: 3rd June 2012
  • Summary: DOHA, QATAR (JUNE 2, 2012) (REUTERS) VIEW OF THE ARAB LEAGUE MEETING ON SYRIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) KOFI ANNAN, U.N.-ARAB LEAGUE ENVOY FOR SYRIA, SAYING: "The spectre of an all-out war with a worrying sectarian dimension grows by the day." QATARI PRIME MINISTER SHEIKH HAMAD BIN JASSIM AL-THANI (CENTRE) WITH ARAB LEAGUE SECRETARY-GENERAL, NABIL ELARABY (LEFT) AND U.N.-A
  • Embargoed: 18th June 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Qatar
  • Country: Qatar
  • Topics: Conflict
  • Reuters ID: LVA1CLD12L6YR2XMCCM9MMS8MRBT
  • Story Text: International peace envoy Kofi Annan warned on Saturday (June 2) that Syria was slipping into an "all-out" war, renewing calls for dialogue and a ceasefire.
    "The spectre of an all-out war with a worrying sectarian dimension grows by the day," said Annan, speaking at an Arab League meeting on Syria in Doha.
    "Today we have 291 U.N. military observers and over 90 U.N. civilians in the mission in Syria, able to move freely throughout the country and provide objective reports that can inform the Security Council and all of you. But we do not have what this was set up to achieve, an end to the appalling violence and abuses and the launch of the political process for a transition that meets the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people."
    Syrian opposition figures also attended the meeting and singled out Russia for criticism in what it called its support of the Assad government.
    "Recently the violence has escalated once again. The massacres of children, women and men in Al Houla is a terrible crime, worst of all, it is one of many atrocities to have taken place. The Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and I, condemned the crime and called for accountability, as did your Secretary-General Elaraby and many others. The Security Council and the Human Rights Council have called for these attacks to be investigated," Annan said.
    More than 100 men, women and children were massacred in Houla last week, most of them shot at point-blank range or slashed with knives.
    U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous said earlier this week that the people who died from artillery and tank fire were clearly victims of government shelling while the others were most likely killed by "shabbiha" militia loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.
    "Hundreds of thousands of Syrians are internally displaced. The crisis is having a regional spill-over in the form of tensions and incidents across the borders. Abductions of nationals and foreigners and refugee flows to neighbouring states. I felt the concerns of Syria's immediate neighbours very acutely in my consultations in recent days."
    "It is not the job of the monitors to stop the violence; that is for the protagonists. But if they have the will to stop the fighting, the monitors can help implement the commitments they make to each other, to the Syrian people and to the international community. This will promote peace and stability in the conditions of a political process," Annan added.
    Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani of Qatar - which has backed arming Sunni Muslim insurgents fighting to topple Assad, a member of Syria's minority Alawite sect - said Annan should set a time limit for his mission and called on the Security Council to put Annan's plan under Chapter 7 of the U.N. charter, a measure that could authorise the use of force.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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