Syrian rebels urge Annan to declare end of ceasefire - Thursday 31 May

• Head of Free Syrian Army denies deadline
• Syria releases 500 political detainees
• 'We will cut Assad's throat', chant residents of Houla

Read the latest summary
Free Syrian Army's spokesman Colonel Qassem Saadeddine issues deadline
A Free Syrian Army commander issued the Assad regime with a 48-hour deadline to stop the killing. But later the head of the FSA denied that a deadline had been set, calling instead for Kofi Annan to declare an end to the ceasefire. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
Live blog: recap

5.54pm: Here's a summary of the latest developments:

Syria

Foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi has issued a statement about the Houla massacre, saying that security forces have never entered the area of the massacre, and that the victims were "known for their peaceful life, and their opposition to the actions of the terrorist groups".

Divisions in the rebel Free Syrian Army have been exposed after one commander issued the government with a deadline for ending the violence, while the head of the group called on Kofi Annan to declare an end to the ceasefire.

The Syrian government has released 500 political detainees in an attempt to show its commitment to Kofi Annan's peace plan.

Syrian troops have again shelled Houla, the town where more than 100 people were massacred last week, according to activists.

A member of the security forces was killed when an improvised explosive device went off at Aleppo university, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said those responsible for last week's Houla massacre in Syria should be punished. "Any individual who committed these murders is guilty ... The people responsible for this massacre must be punished, must be sanctioned," he said in an interview with France 24.

Egypt

The notorious decades-old emergency law has been lifted (see 1.48pm).

5.31pm: A Russian cargo ship that western officials say was heavily laden with weapons for the government of Syria docked at the Syrian port of Tartus last weekend, a rights group said today.

"Today's updated shipping databases show that the Professor Katsman did in fact dock in the port of Tartus on 26 May, 2012 before heading to Piraeus, Greece," Sadia Hameed of Human Rights First told Reuters.

Reuters adds:

Western officials confirmed her remarks, adding that they understood the ship had been carrying arms for the government of Syria, which for 14 months has been using its security forces to attack an increasingly militarised opposition. A spokesman for Russia's U.N. mission was not immediately available for comment.

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5.17pm: There has been renewed shelling by Syrian government forces in the Houla area today, the Associated Press reports.


The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees activist groups said government troops unleashed heavy machine guns and mortar shells in Houla, a collection of poor farming villages in the central Homs province. A young man also was killed by sniper fire, both groups said.

5.12pm: Makdissi continues:

There are more than 200 media apparatuses in Syria, more than 100 accredited officially.

It is unfortunate that Mr Ban Ki Moon would preach a sectarian war. Would he go back to the document we signed with his UN? It shows what we committed ourselves to.

We would like Mr Annan to see what his observers are saying. The observers have a website and a media team, so I am sure he is listening to what we are saying now.

We want things to calm down so we can go for the political solution. Please go ask the opposition, and ask them to come to Syria so we can discuss what we want to do for her. Anyone who does not call for a foreign intervention in Syria is welcome in Syria.

I have attended the meeting between President Assad and Mr Annan, and any leaks regarding threats and such matters are baseless. They discussed Annan's six points plan, not international policies.

5.10pm: Here is a fuller version of Makdissi's statement (posted on Facebook in three parts – here, here and here):

Security forces have never entered the area of the massacre.

The victims bodies did not show any traces of bombing. The buildings were not subjected to any heavy attacks.

The families which were killed, were known for their peaceful life, and their opposition to the actions of the terrorist groups.

The first victims targeted were relatives of a parliament member, who were also killed, before the terrorist plans went out of its aim to commit the massacre.

The massacre is in line with the armed opposition's pathetic plan to show that there is sectarian strife.

...

What is of great importance is that we prove that the Syrian Arab Army would NEVER commit such a crime against its people.

There are still some details which we had not stated, for fear for the lives of witnesses and people involved in the investigation.

We are repeating what we are saying all the time. The criminal evidence shows that the massacre targeted at first killing the family of a parliament member who had participated in the elections.

Syria's enemies will never believe what we come up with.

International observers did not participate in the investigations. General Mood was contacted by us, and we asked him to visit the area. After the observers reached the area, lies began. End of story.

...

Syria is a mosaic country. There are more than 18 religious sectors in our country. There is some serious work to attack this mosaic, and to target the sectarian harmony. We refuse to look at a Syrian citizen based on his sectarian background. The co existence of Syria will never be shaken.

We are unhappy with the diplomatic expulsion, but we still believe in diplomacy as a way of dialogue.

There is a paradox, while Annan calls for dialogue, and they expel our ambassadors. However, we believe that such a resolution is a sovereign issue.

5.01pm: More from Syrian press conference:

Syria is a mosaic country, there are 18 different sects living in harmony.

We went through many massacres, Jisr al Shaghour, Karam al Zaitoun, etc. Why the lack of reaction there?

The goal of these ugly massacres is to plant the seed of sectarianism, we are a mosaic of sects.

4.58pm: More from the Syrian press conference, via News About Syria:

Conducting the investigation into Houla massacre is very difficult due to the presence of armed groups.

Houla massacre has political dimensions and the investigations are not over.

The Syrian army must protect the Syrian people.

Massacre's victims are from nonaligned families refusing to stand against regime.

The foreign ministry called General Mood and asked him to examine the location of the Houla massacre, not the opposition.

4.53pm: Syrian brigadier-general says images show the Houla victims were killed at close range and do not show signs of shelling. Some of bodies that were presented as victims were of armed men killed in clashes.

4.47pm: Syrian foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi is addressing press conference:

This is a preliminary report on the massacre, not a final one. Investigations have not been finalised.

Head of investigation committee:

We based our report on statements from live witnesses, in addition to proofs and facts regarding the attack on the security forces in al Houla area.

4.26pm: We're expecting a press conference at the Syrian foreign ministry in a few minutes, to report the findings of the official investigation into the Houla massacre.

3.56pm: There's further evidence of a rift between the domestic and foreign-based sections of the Free Syrian Army. We now have Communique No 9 from the Joint Command of the Free Syrian Army in the Interior, issued by Colonel Qassim Saadeddine, who yesterday set the Syrian government with a 48-hour deadline for ending the violence.

Saadeddine's latest communique appears aimed at the Turkish-based leader of the FSA Colonel Riad al-Asaad, after he denied that an ultimatum had been set (see 9.43am). It does not mention Asaad by name, but appears to renounce his leadership.

"Nobody has the right to speak or issue any statements for the Free Syrian Army in the interior ... except for the leadership of the Free Syrian Army in the interior," says Saadeddine.

According to our colleague Mona Mahmood, he adds:

We call upon any one who wants to talk on behalf of the FSA or the Syrian people to go war on the battle field in Syria in order to get legitimacy from the Syrian people. We say, he whoever wants to be a commander in the FSA needs to be in the battle field not to be a media man abroad.

Middle East analyst Randa Slim comments:

3.50pm: The UN's human rights council is to demand accountability for the Houla massacre which it blames, at least in part, on Syrian government attacks, according to UN Watch.

It has obtained a copy of what it says is a draft text to be agreed by the council at an emergency session on the massacre tomorrow.

It stops short of calling for the Assad government to be referred to the international criminal court, but it calls for a UN fact finding mission into the massacre.

3.16pm: A grim milestone has been quietly passed in Syria, according to activists. More than 1,000 children have been killed since the uprising began almost 15 months ago, according to Violation Documentation Centre, a website maintained by activists.

It claims 1,098 children have been killed out of a total 12,014 deaths.

syria-children-deathtoll

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights puts the number of child deaths at 1,012, El Pais's Javier Espinosa reports.

Last week's massacre in Houla killed 49 children, according to the UN.

Ban Ki-moon

2.09pm: Here's the full text of UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon's remarks about Syria, the dangers of civil war, and the role of the UN's monitors.

Our mission on the ground - the United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria, or UNSMIS - is there to help bring about a cease-fire. Our observers are the eyes and ears of the international community.

We are there to record violations and to speak out so that the perpetrators of crimes may be held to account. And that is what we did after last Friday's massacre in Houla, drawing on our own unbiased and incontestable evidence. The more the international community knows, the more likely it is that we can advance on our most important goal: to help find a political solution, a solution that safeguards the lives and interests of all the Syrian people.

Let me state plainly, however: the UN did not deploy in Syria just to bear witness to the slaughter of innocents. We are not there to play the role of passive observer to unspeakable atrocities.

The Joint Special Envoy, Kofi Annan, has expressed his concern that we may have reached a "tipping point" in Syria. The massacre of civilians of the sort seen last weekend could plunge Syria into a catastrophic civil war - a civil war from which the country would never recover.

2.00pm: Egypt: Bassem Sabry, who blogs as "An Arab Citizen", has more information about the so-called Charter of the Covenant – a 12-point document which liberal/secular Egyptians are hoping both presidential runoff candidates will accept before next month's election.

Sabry says Egyptian newspapers seem to have differing versions of the document, but it appears to contain the following:

• It reaffirms article two of the 1971 constitution as it stands, stipulating that Islam is the religion of the state, Arabic is the official language and that the "principles of the Islamic Shari'a are the main source of legislation," while demanding the addition of: "with non-Muslims having the right to refer to their own laws (literally: Shari'as)) The previous interpretations of the article by the Supreme Court would be upheld.

• Calls for the application of the Universal Declaration On Human Rights, reaffirms the principle of equal citizenship, denounces discrimination and practices such as the accusation of others of apostasy.

• Stresses the importance of the separation of powers, the independence of the judiciary.

• Before the elections runoff, the willing candidate must announce a "presidential team" with multiple VPs who have real influence.

• Negotiations on a coalition government must begin now, which would include youth, different political groups, women, copts.

• Al-Azhar becomes the only official reference on Islamic matters.

• Equal rights in the construction of house of worship and in the practice of religious rituals.

• Promises to facilitate the regular peaceful transfer of power.

• A fairer composition for the constituent assembly in charge of writing the constitution. Only 35 out of 100 members would come from parties represented in the parliament by at least 5 sears, and they should be divided equally among those different parties and political groups, with the remaining 65 coming from different national groups. Decisions would be taken by two/thirds majority.

• The collective practice of politics should be done through official parties, and not through organisations or groups with sectarian bases.

• Demands the replacement of the (Orwellian) Ministry Of Information with a National Council For Media/Information (BBC-like structure.)

• Ensures the right to peaceful protest and public "resistance and revolution," says Ahram.

• Insists on social justice and the empowerment of underprivileged groups in society.

1.48pm: Egypt: A few people are sounding notes of scepticism regarding the end of the emergency law in Egypt. The Beirut Daily Star quotes an official statement saying the military will continue its "national and historic responsibility, taking into account that the state of emergency has ended, in accordance with the constitutional declaration and with the law".

Egyptian activist Mona Eltahawy tweets:

1.32pm: Egypt: Sherine Tadros of al-Jazeera has just tweeted to say that the ruling military council has declared an end to the unpopular emergency law.

More details when we have them. The law was originally imposed during the 1967 war with Israel and, apart from a short break in the 1980s, has remained in force ever since. It was due to come up for renewal in parliament today.

1.15pm: Alarming news for Syrians and Iranians who rely on anti-censorship software to circumvent their governments' internet filtering. The Citizen Lab in Toronto has discovered that some versions of Simurgh – a downloadable proxy tool which is popular in both countries – may be spying on users.

While appearing to work normally, the malicious version includes a "Trojan horse" which records every keystroke on the computer and then attempts to send this information to servers which possibly have a Saudi connection.

Citizen Lab says:

While this Trojan is detected by most anti-virus software as malicious, AV software cannot always be guaranteed to clean up an infected system and a full re-install is suggested.

This Trojan has been specifically crafted to target people attempting to evade government censorship. Given the intended purpose of this software, users must be very careful if they have been infected by this Trojan.

12.55pm: US secretary of state Hillary Clinton says Russia's continuing support for Damascus could contribute to a potential civil war in Syria, the BBC reports.

Clinton, speaking on a visit to Denmark, said the case for military intervention was growing stronger every day.

"[The Russians] are telling me they don't want to see a civil war. I have been telling them their policy is going to help to contribute to a civil war," she told an audience in Copenhagen.

The threat of civil war appears to be the theme of the day. Ban Ki-moon said: "The massacre of civilians of the sort seen last weekend could plunge Syria into catastrophic civil war - a civil war from which the country would never recover."

12.51pm: Kofi Annan held talks with King Abdullah II of Jordan today, but his office is revealing virtually nothing about what was said.

Annan's spokesman issued this statement:

The Joint Special Envoy for Syria, Kofi Annan, met with King Adbullah II Bin Al Hussein today in Amman, Jordan. They discussed the complexity of the crisis in Syria and its potential impact on the region.

The Joint Special Envoy briefed him on his recent visit to Damascus and on his efforts to push for full implementation of the six-point plan. They agreed on the importance of ending the violence and finding a political solution.

That's all it said.

12.31pm: Here's a summary of the latest developments in Syria.

Divisions in the rebel Free Syrian Army have been exposed after one commander issued the government with a deadline for ending the violence, while the head of the group called on Kofi Annan to declare an end to the ceasefire. Riad al-Asaad denied that an ultimatum had been issued to the government, but said the shattered ceasefire should be declared over to allow the FSA to resume military operations.

The Syrian government has released 500 political detainees in an attempt to show its commitment to Kofi Annan's peace plan. Releasing thousands of political prisoners is one of the four conditions of Annan's six point plan, and was raised by the international envoy during talks with President Assad on Tuesday.

Syrian troops shelled Houla, the town where more than 100 people were massacred last week, according to activists. UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon again pleaded with the Assad government to abide by Annan's plan. "The massacre of civilians of the sort seen last weekend could plunge Syria into catastrophic civil war - a civil war from which the country would never recover," he said.

A member of the security forces was killed when an improvised explosive device went off at Aleppo university, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The activist group, the Local Co-ordination Committees in Syria, reports that UN observers have arrived at the scene of the blast.

Live blog: recap

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said those responsible for last week's Houla massacre in Syria should be punished. "Any individual who committed these murders is guilty ... The people responsible for this massacre must be punished, must be sanctioned," he said in an interview with France 24.

12.18pm: Yet more division and confusion from the Free Syrian Army over its ceasefire ultimatum.

Shakeeb al-Jabri, a Syrian activist based in Lebanon, tweets an update from another rebel wing:

BSyria comments:

12.12pm: Confusion over Free Syrian Army statements on the future of the ceasefire, highlight how fractured and disorganised the rebels are, according to security and Middle East analyst James Denselow from Kings College London.

In a telephone interview Denselow suggest the statements were more political than strategic.

"The Free Syrian Army has to look after its own constituency. It can't be seen to be defending a process where the regime says there is a ceasefire yet artillery is used on a daily basis," he said.

Denselow added:

The final death of the ceasefire is a hugely important point for the narrative of what happens next in Syria. The regime will be very keen to blame the Free Syrian Army for calling it off. But the Annan plan is the only game in town and it is game that no one is playing ...

It shows that the tipping point that the Houla massacre created on Friday maybe one that is not remembered for further intervention, or involvement, from outside powers, but rather the thing we look back on as the moment when Syria really did enter a full blown civil war.

Denselow said the UN can do noting to help, because of divisions on the security council. "The international community, and its main body the UN, is simply not fit for purpose on this conflict," he said. He added that Turkey and the Gulf countries could now intervene in the crisis.

We have to look for far more imaginative solutions now, because the traditional elements of statecraft are not defending the Syrian people, who are dying on a daily basis. The responsibility to protect is not being adhered to.

There is no simple solution but the Annan plan is not fit for purpose when we are talking about a long term solution. It could be that Syria is heading towards a crescendo of violence or civil war.

12.09pm: Alongside the violence in Syria, strikes by shopkeepers are not getting much attention – though some observers see them as very important measure of how the regime's support is crumbling.

On Monday, the old city of Damascus saw what was described as
"the biggest act of civil disobedience by the capital's merchant class" since the uprising began. The strikes are continuing.

Above is a video showing closed shops in the Barzeh area of Damascus, said to have been filmed today.

Here is another, said to have been filmed today in Aleppo.

Rime Allaf, a Syria specialist at Chatham House, has been tweeting about the strike in Damascus:

(Bahsa is the district of Damascus where everyone goes to buy computers, electronic equipment and pirated software.)

Iranian President Ahmedinejad speaks during a conference in Tehran Photograph: HO/Reuters

11.37am: Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said those responsible for last week's Houla massacre in Syria should be punished, the Associated Press reports.

"We (in Iran) are quite disappointed about this," Ahmadinejad said from Tehran in an interview with the France 24 TV station. "Any individual who committed these murders is guilty ... The people responsible for this massacre must be punished, must be sanctioned."

Ahmadinejad declined to say who he believed was behind the attack, but added: "It seems unbelievable to me that a government would engage in killing its own people .... (but) I'm not excluding anyone from this responsibility," he said.

11.27am: Tunisia: Prominent broadcaster Tim Sebastian has been giving a press conference in Tunis (video here) about the suspension of the New Arab Debates following what has been described as "a serious incident".

The debates are a televised discussion forum for issues relating to the political upheavals in the Middle East. In Tunis last Tuesday they were debating whether political violence in Tunisia is getting out of control – mainly referring to recent attacks by Salafists.

In a scene reminiscent of Ben Ali's police state era in Tunisia, two plainclothes police turned up shortly after the debate began and demanded the names of those attending.

New Arab Debates' Facebook page describes what happened next:

A junior Tunisian staff member was told that it was a matter of "orders from superiors" and the list was taken from her. Another staff member succeeded in tearing off the list of email addresses and telephone numbers as the police left the area.

The New Arab Debates' team regards this breach of security with the utmost concern and apologises unreservedly to those who were present at the debate and have loyally supported our events.

We have protested to the Tunisian Interior Ministry and told them that we regard this as an attack on our independence and interference in our right to pursue a free speech project in a newly democratic country.

We are suspending all our operations in Tunisia, pending an internal investigation and until such time as we can guarantee the security of our data.

11.04am: A member of the security forces was killed when an improvised explosive device went off at Aleppo university, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

It said five others were injured in the attack which occurred at a park beside the electrical engineering department.

The activist group, the Local Co-ordination Committees in Syria, reports that UN observers have arrived at the scene.

10.40am: UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon has called on Syria to stop its attacks, saying UN observers monitoring the ceasefire were not there to watch the killings of innocent people, AP reports.

Ban was speaking Thursday at a summit of the Alliance of Civilizations, a forum promoting understanding between the Western and Islamic worlds, days after more than 100 people were massacred in Syria's central Houla region.

According to UN reporter Colum Lynch, Susan Rice the US ambassador to the UN, expressed concern about the fate of UN monitors in Syria, at a closed session of the security council yesterday.

The UN's Twitter account has a little more on what Ban's comments:

10.32am: More gloom about Syria. Israel fears its northern neighbour is becoming a failed state and is planning accordingly, Reuters reports.

Syria is heading for collapse and will become a "warehouse of weapons" for Islamist militants as it descends into chaos, a senior Israeli army commander said.

"Syria is in civil war, which will lead to a failed state, and terrorism will blossom in it," said Major-General Yair Golan, making a rare public appearance at a conference at Bar Ilan University on Wednesday. "Syria has a big arsenal."

The Arab republic's stock of mainly Russian-made weapons includes surface-to-air missiles, surface-to-surface missiles and marine missiles.

It also possesses chemical weapons which Syria never used in its wars against Israel but which could be attractive weapons for militants, the general said.

"The risk to Israel is taking shape," said Golan, who is commander of Israeli forces on the border with Lebanon and the disengagement line with Syria in the Golan Heights.

"The challenge we are facing is a huge one," he added, according to a translation.

The Israel Defence Forces were "deeply engaged in getting ready, with plans and physical means" along the borders, the Northern Command chief said, without offering specific details.

9.55am: Token gesture?

The Syrian government has released 500 political detainees two days after peace envoy Kofi Annan urged the Assad government to show commitment to his plan by freeing prisoners.

"500 people involved in the events taking place in Syria, without blood on their hands, have been released," a newsflash on state TV read, Reuters reports.

The fourth point of Annan's six-point plan calls on the Syrian government to:

Intensify the pace and scale of release of arbitrarily detained persons, including especially vulnerable categories of persons, and persons involved in peaceful political activities, provide without delay through appropriate channels a list of all places in which such persons are being detained, immediately begin organizing access to such locations and through appropriate channels respond promptly to all written requests for information, access or release regarding such persons.

Syrian Colonel Riad Assad at a refugee camp in Hatay, Turkey

9.43am: The head of the Free Syrian Army, Colonel Riad Asaad, has muddied the waters by denying that his forces have issued the Syrian government with a deadline demanding instead that Kofi Annan declares the ceasefire over so that rebels can carry on military operations.

Speaking to al-Jazeera, Asaad, he said:

There is no deadline, but we want Kofi Annan to issue a declaration announcing the failure of this plan so that we would be free to carry out any military operation against the regime.

He claimed that rebel forces had so far honoured their commitments to the plan.

9.25am: If the UN security council cannot deliver swift action to pressure Syria to end the violence, member nations may have no choice but to consider acting outside the United Nations, Susan Rice, US ambassador to the UN, warned yesterday.

She warned of the dangers of "a proxy conflict with arms flowing in from all sides." In this case she said, "members of this council and members of the international community are left with the option only of having to consider whether they're prepared to take actions outside of the Annan plan and the authority of this council."

9.15am: Brown Moses, a regular commenter to this blog, has a grisly collection of the latest videos from Houla.

Storyful cross checks some of the latest videos from Houla with statements made by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

8.56am: "We will look back on May and say 'this was the month that civil war began in earnest in Syria'," an activist who, until now has played down sectarian tension, told the BBC's Paul Wood.

Wood, who spent three weeks undercover in nearby Rastan, said most people in Syria think the UN peace plan will fail. He said:

There is no ceasefire, and the threat to lift the ceasefire by the Free Army will just mean business as usual.

8.21am: (all times BST) Welcome to Middle East Live. Both sides in the conflict in Syria are ignoring Kofi Annan plea to lay down arms. The rebel Free Syrian Army has threatened to resume attacks against the Assad regime if it fails to stop the violence. There's little sign of that happening with fresh reports of shelling against Houla where more than 100 people were massacred last week.

Here's a roundup of the latest developments:

Syrian rebels have given Bashar al Assad a 48-hour deadline to abide by an international peace plan to end violence or face consequences, the BBC reports.

In a video statement, Colonel Qassim Saadeddine said: "The joint leadership of the Free Army inside Syria announces that it is giving the regime a final 48-hour deadline to implement the resolutions of the UN security council. It ends on Friday at 1200 [1000 BST]; then we are free from any commitment and we will defend and protect the civilians, their villages and their cities."

Western efforts remain focused on trying to persuade Russia to exert pressure on President Bashar al-Assad, despite Moscow's continuing insistence that it will block any form of forced regime change in Syria. Gennady Gatilov, Russia's deputy foreign minister, said UN security council pressure on Syria was "premature", Gatilov said, adding that Russia would use its veto to block any initiatives on foreign military interference.

"We will cut Assad's throat" residents of rebel held Houla chanted when Channel 4 became the first UK broadcaster to reach the town after last week's massacre.

Reporter Alex Thomson writes:

There is an overwhelming and searing grief. What can you say? What can you do? What can you offer an elderly man, Abdul Hamad, who knows not only that his daughter was killed but that her throat was hacked with a knife, it seems, wielded by men who live just a few miles distant.

Syria's ambassador to the UN, Bashar Ja'afari, said the Channel 4 news report should be ignored, insisting that terrorists were responsible for the massacre at Houla, the New York Times Lede blog reports.

In a somewhat bizarre exchange (captured in full, about 22 minutes into video posted on the UN Web site), Ja'afari pleaded with the Channel 4 News correspondent in New York, Matt Frei, to ignore the work of his colleague in Syria, Alex Thomson, and wait for President Bashar al-Assad's commission of inquiry to publish its findings later this week. "Don't base your information on reports," Ja'afari told the reporter.

The US insists it is close to making a deal with Russia to remove Assad from power. "We are making progress, Denis McDonough, the deputy national security adviser told the US Islamic World Forum in Doha, Qatar, without going into details. "The Assad regime has lost its legitimacy to lead. We don't believe it's in the Russians' interest to be associated with the Assad regime."

Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the United Nations, suggested there is little hope left for a political settlement, after hearing security council briefing on Kofi Annan's mission to Damascus, the New York Times reports. Annan's deputy, Jean-Marie Guéhenno, who gave a private video briefing to the security council, said the council members had "an understanding that any sliding toward a full-scale civil war in Syria would be catastrophic and the Security Council now needs to have that kind of strategic discussion on how that needs to be avoided."

Kofi Annan flew out of Damascus yesterday amid news of fresh atrocities on the ground, the Independent reports. Even as Mr Annan's observer mission announced the discovery of the bodies of 13 Syrians who appeared to have been summarily executed.

Annan is in an impossible situation Richard Gowan, an expert on UN peacekeeping at New York University tells Julian Borger.

Gowan said Annan now finds himself in a deepening dilemma, with his peace plan stalled and ignored inside Syria, facing a split security council back in New York, and under fire for providing a fig-leaf to mass murder. "If the UN pulls out, on the other hand, and there another escalation of violence, Annan could be accused of walking out on a dialogue too early. So its a lose-lose situation."

Middle East and security analyst James Denslow likens the current diplomatic pressure on Syria to the ineffectiveness of global efforts to tackle climate change.

The Annan plan is like the Kyoto Treaty, the best and only game in town but completely unsuited for the scale of what it is trying to address. The world's major powers are trapped in a comfortable inertia. The Europeans and the Americans are happy to make diplomatic gestures, like throwing out Syrian Ambassadors, and talking about how the Assad regime has lost legitimacy, but their biggest effort to unite the Syrian opposition remains half-baked to say the least. The Chinese and the Russians meanwhile, still smarting from being conned on Libya UNSCR 1973 and with deep strategic and economic ties with Syria, are stonewalling any movement at the United Nations.

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