U.N. Chief Warns of 'Catastrophic Civil War' in Syria
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon warned Thursday of a "catastrophic civil war" in Syria after the massacre of more than 100 civilians in the town of Houla that sparked global horror and outrage.
"The massacres of the sort seen last weekend could plunge Syria into a catastrophic civil war, a civil war from which the country would never recover," he told an Istanbul forum of the U.N.-led Alliance of Civilizations initiative.
Ban's remarks came amid mounting international outrage over the massacre in the central town of Houla, in which at least 108 people, including 49 children, were killed, according to U.N. figures.
The assault prompted Western countries, including the United States, Britain, France, Australia to expel the senior Syrian diplomats in their countries.
The bodies from the Houla massacre were counted by U.N. observers whom Ban described as "our eyes and ears of the international community."
The observers were in Syria "so that perpetrators of crimes may be held accountable," he said.
"We are not there to play the role of passive observer to unspeakable atrocities."
The U.N. chief demanded that the Damascus regime honor its commitment to a peace plan drawn up by international mediator Kofi Annan.
"I demand that the government of Syria act on its commitment to the Annan peace plan," he said.
He also demanded that "the Syrian government act on its responsibilities to its people."
An international team led by Annan visited Syria Tuesday and called for "concrete gestures" from Damascus on halting the violence.
In Istanbul, Ban said: "Annan has expressed his concerns that we may have reached a tipping point in Syria."
The U.N. chief dismissed talk of a clash of civilizations between East and West over Syria.
"We hear a great deal about the so-called clash of civilizations, the supposed rift between predominantly Muslim and Western societies," he said.
"This is not what is going on in Syria. There, it is the old story of a tyranny seeking to hold power.
"And in seeking to hold power, the regime threatens to exacerbate tensions among Syria's diverse people, much as we saw in the former Yugoslavia two decades ago."
More than 13,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since an uprising erupted against President Bashar Assad's regime in March 2011, according to monitoring groups.
31 May 2012, 13:42
02
ban ki moon if we are waiting for u to survive,w'ill die too soon,ur time mr moon is finishing... and rapidly.... unless "they" are working on a new sykes-picot
31 May 2012, 14:05
01
" we are not there to play the role of passive observer to unspeakable atrocities".. yes infact u are....waiting for the new sykes-picot?
31 May 2012, 15:03
02
what a shame that the world sits back and watch massacres like a sports event and fools like this gives us the play by play
if only syria had some oil, this regime would have been finished a year ago
31 May 2012, 15:28
02
What planet is this guy on? Warning of civil war in Syria? Hell there is already one ongoing. The international community needs to wake up and smell the coffee when it comes to Syria and Hezbollistan. These are criminal family enterprises masqarading as governments. They are not governments, but carry the trappings of governments. They survive by any and all means available and the law means absolutely nothing to them.
Should Assad's Regime escape elimination and get away with the atrocities which it has committed to survive, the whole world will have been made less secure that such a pariah not only survived, but has been made viral, emboldened and active in further corroding what international order we try to keep and maintain.
The absence of international leadership in bringing this outrage to an end and prosecuting its perpetrators in Syria is glaring. The consequences of failure cannot be measured.
31 May 2012, 17:48
00
One solution, immediate UN military intervention to remove the butcher Assad and co.
31 May 2012, 19:01
01
http://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2012/05/31/en-syrie-la-paix-avec-poutine_1710617_3232.html
"Un témoin direct, dont on conservera l'anonymat, excellent connaisseur de ce pays compliqué, nous décrivait il y a quelques jours une lente descente aux enfers. L'armée assiège des quartiers supposés aux mains des insurgés, elle tire à l'artillerie lourde. "Elle tue, puis elle pille et brûle, poursuit-il ; elle se comporte comme des hordes mongoles en paysétranger." Les plus redoutés sont les Shabiba, les milices alaouites, celles qui ont massacré des familles entières le 25 mai dans des villages du Nord"
Que du malheur pour ce peuple!
31 May 2012, 21:20
00
the UN should not rule out the use of force to topple the assad regime .this is the only way to stop the killing of children.
we ll never forget
01 June 2012, 01:13
00
Why are we Lebanese so concerned about the Syrian Civil War? By the way Mr. Ban Ki-Moon should realize that Syria is already in a catastrophic civil war after the death of 13K people. For us Lebanese we don't care about the pro-regime or anti-regime, they were all brothers when they occupied and pillaged Lebanon for years. Now that they are out of Lebanon they turned against each other. They terrified all Lebanese without any exception. The ones who allied themselves with them did that out of fear or to survive. We are not going to do what they did to us but we should distance ourselves from them as far as possible. Pro and Con Syrian regime are still the same for us, they are Syrians. We don’t care about either side.
