 |
| Mass killing in Syrian village of Tremseh--Image© Google map |
Damascus: Arab league and United Nations envoy for Syria Kofi Annan has said that
he "shocked and appalled" at reports that tanks and helicopters were
used in fighting that may have killed as many as 200 people in Syria's Hama
region.
Annan said he
condemned "these atrocities in the strongest possible terms," adding
that the Syrian government had apparently violated a pledge not to use heavy
weapons in populated areas.
The Syrian
government and the opposition have acknowledged deaths in Hama, but have given
different accounts.
Syrian activists
have posted a video on the Internet they say shows 15 bodies of men who were
among dozens killed in heavy government shelling of a farming village.
The head of the
opposition Syrian National Council, Abdel Basset Sayda, expressed outrage at
the massacre and called for a tough United Nations resolution that allows for
military intervention against the Damascus regime.
Regime-controlled
media has blamed "terrorist gangs" for the bloodshed, and accused
pro-opposition media of manipulating public opinion with false reports of a
government massacre.