U.N. Security Council meets to discuss Syrian massacre

According to the Montreal Gazette, the U.N. Security Council met on Sunday after their six-week-old plan to cease violence in the Syrian town of Houla failed when at least 108 people were killed.

The Syrian government and rebels are blaming each other for this tragedy.

Images of limp, lifeless and bloodied bodies have now spread internationally, trigging shock and outrage. Both Western and Arabic states blame the government for these deaths.

However, Russian Deputy U.N. Ambassador Alexander Pankin does not believe suggestions that the government was behind the massacre, saying that most victims were killed with knives or shot at a point-blank range.

Mark Lyall Grant, British Ambassador, disagrees. Grants believes that it is quite clear that the massacre was caused by heavy bombardment by government artillery and tanks.

Russia as well as China do no agree with the Security Councils resolutions and have asked for tougher action towards the ongoing violence in Syria.

Security Council diplomats hope to reach a conclusion as to who the massacre was caused by, although Russia and the Western powers are at a complete disagreement.

Head of the U.N. observer mission, General Robert Mood, has stated that he has spent all of Saturday and Sunday collecting information on the events of the massacre to finally reach a conclusion.

The use of artillery, which is only accessible by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, has been confirmed by Mood.

However, Mood did not say how all the victims died. 

Flickr photo by: FreedomHouse