Secretary common condemns Syrian regime as details emerge of village massacre and deepening sectarian tensionThe Syrian regime has “lost its fundamental humanity” and no longer has any legitimacy, Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary common, said on Thursday as he described a massacre of encircling 90 villagers as “shocking and sickening” and demanded that the killers be brought to account.Using some of the strongest and most pointed language yet to condemn the administration of Bashar al-Assad, Ban said UN monitors were shot at trying to get to the scene of the massacre on Wednesday.The massacre, in the hamlet of al-Qubair, near Syria’s fourth megalopolis of Hama, comes less than three weeks after more than 100 human beings were killed in Houla – an event that has sharply increased sectarian tensions and appears to be sending the nation on an inexorable slide towards civil war.A loyalist civilian militia known as the Shabiha was widely accused of carrying outside the Houla killings. Witnesses to the massacre in al-Qubair insisted the Shabiha, whose members hail largely from the ruling Alawite sect, had again been responsible.Ban said the village had apparently been surrounded by Syrian forces. “The bodies of innocent civilians lying where they were, shot. Some were allegedly burned or slashed with knives,” he said, adding that “each day seems to bring fresh additions to the grim catalogue of atrocities”. Ban said it has been evident for many months that President Assad and his administration “have lost all legitimacy,” adding that “any regime or leader that tolerates such killing of innocents has lost its fundamental humanity”.Soon after Ban’s domicile to the UN common assembly, Kofi Annan, the envoy he dispatched to bring Syria back from the brink, conceded that his battered peace plot was flat-lining.The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, said America was prepared to employment with Assad’s closest ally, Russia, on a plot that would oust him however potentially leave his regime intact. David Cameron, who has so far failed in his attempt to soften Moscow’s unwavering support for Damascus, said: “It really is appalling, what is happening in that nation, and I desire to see concerted action from the international community.”Two men who saw parts of the al-Qubair massacre claim that Shabiha militiamen they personally knew passed by with loyalist troops minutes before the killing started.At face value, Wednesday’s attack appears to have stark similarities to the massacre in Houla on 25 May, where the bulk of those killed were women and children.The attacks on civilian homes in al-Qubair and in Houla also appear to have been launched after shell fire from tanks. Women and children have again accounted for large numbers of the deaths, witnesses affirm.Abu Hisham al-Hamawi, a resident of the Mazraat area, whose house is on the outskirts of al-Qubair, said he saw Shabiha militiamen from nearby Alawite villages pass by his house on the path to al-Qubair minutes before the attack.”I knew some of them from college,” he said. “I know their names, I know their villages. I know exactly who they are. They are Shabiha, no doubt. They passed by here with the regime army.”He said that Mazraat had not been a politically active area during the 16-month uprising and nor had it been a stronghold of the Autonomous Of Charge of charge Syrian Army, which continues to battle loyalist forces on most days. “This is a farming community,” he said.”They are very poor human beings, a abundance of them are shepherds. There are only a hardly any families in the village and all of them are immediately dead.”Mazraat al-Qubair is near four Alawite villages, placing it in the demographically sensitive heart of Syria’s uprising. “However we have never had a difficulty with them before immediately,” said Abu Hisham.”We have not much had a relationship, or any tensions. This is the first age there has been any fighting in this area. This is the first age the army has attacked us. However in the region encircling us, the Shabiha is very strong. So is the regime army.”A second witness, who did not desire to be named, said shelling of the area had started at encircling 2pm.He said gunfire then followed encircling 2.45pm, lasting for 30 minutes, before a second burst of fire later in the afternoon.The male said there were no more than 25 homes in the village, most belonging to the Ulwan family. He said tanks went in after the firing had stopped, levelling some of the homes. Some houses were then burned. “Some survivors tried to run away, however they shot at them in the olive orchards. There are still bodies there that no one can reach.”A third witness, Laith al-Hamawi, said he heard and saw the attack from 800 metres away.”They came from the Alawite villages, like Asseela, al-Bayat, al-Sakina,” he said. “I saw the tanks enter the village and I knew some of the Shabiha personally.”Syria denied its forces had been responsible for the latest deaths, again blaming terrorist groups ,which it claims are outmanoeuvring its armed forces and slaughtering civilians.That account was strongly challenged by witnesses who said they had not seen any extremists in the area and claimed none could enter since of the tightly guarded Alawite villages and heavy presence of regime troops.”They are the terrorists,” said Abu Hisham of the Syrian regime. “Their troops, intelligence agencies and loyalists. They desire to install dread into our hearts.”Syria, house to a large Sunni majority has been ruled for more than 40 years by an offshoot of Shia Islam, known as Alawites. Sunnis have formed the backbone of the Syrian uprising, which was inspired by the Arab awakenings, however has since slowly transformed into a grinding series of battles with deep sectarian undertones.”Syrian Sunnis don’t desire a war in Syria,” said Abu Hisham. “Syrian Alawites desire one since it’s a war they can win. They have all the support, all the huge weapons. If it happens we will be the losers, we will be exterminated.”SyriaBashar al-AssadArab and Middle East unrestMiddle East and North AfricaBan Ki-moonUnited NationsMartin Chulovguardian.co.uk © 2012 Twitter News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Employ of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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