Syria slides into the abyss, Civil War and prospects of regional war

‘Syria Is Experiencing a Full-Blown Civil War’
29 May, 2012 – Spiegel

The United Nations on Tuesday revealed that the majority of those massacred on Friday in the Syrian town of Houla were executed by regime-allied forces, whereupon France and Germany expelled the Syrian ambassadors from their capitals. German commentators say that it is time for the international community to take action.
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The condemnation from the West has been withering. With months of violence continuing in Syria despite a United Nations attempt to broker a ceasefire six weeks ago, Western leaders have left no doubt that they consider Syrian President Bashar Assad to be solely responsible.

Now, following Friday’s horrific massacre of over 100 people, dozens of them children, in the town of Houla, there are indications that China and Russia are reconsidering their support of the Assad regime. China, on Monday, strongly censured the violence, saying it “condemns in the strongest terms the cruel killings of ordinary citizens, especially women and children.”

If anything, Moscow was even more unbending in its disapproval. “The government (of Syria) bears the main responsibility for what is going on,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov following a Monday meeting with British Foreign Secretary William Hague. “Any government in any country bears responsibility for the security of its citizens.”

Given the inability of the United Nations Security Council to find consensus on a course of action with regards to the Syrian conflict, such indications that the two countries may be reconsidering their support are significant — particularly now that the ceasefire seems to have incontrovertibly failed.

Syrian Ambassadors Expelled

UN envoy Kofi Annan travelled to Damascus on Tuesday for talks with Assad in an effort to salvage the peace plan. Anti-government fighters, however, indicated on Monday that they no longer feel bound by the fragile agreement. And several Western governments would appear to have reached the conclusion that diplomacy has little future. Australia, France and Germany all announced on Tuesday that they were expelling the Syrian ambassadors to their countries.

Furthermore, a statement by the UN human rights office released on Tuesday is likely to make a return to the ceasefire plan even more difficult. Speaking in Geneva, UN rights spokesman Rupert Colville said that initial investigations have revealed that fewer than 20 of the 108 people who died on Friday night were killed by artillery fire. Most of the rest of the victims were killed by summary executions carried out by the pro-government shabiha militia. …more