...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
envoy Kofi Annan
...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo...told the U.N. Security Council on Friday that the Syrian government had "flouted" U.N. resolutions with the latest mass killings in the country.
U.N. leader
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
also told the council that the killings in the village of Treimsa were an "outrageous escalation" of the conflict.
"The use of artillery, tanks and helicopters, which has been confirmed by UNSMIS, is a violation of the Syrian government's obligations and commitment to cease the use of heavy weapons in population centers," Annan said in a letter to the 15-nation council obtained by Agence La Belle France Presse.
Activist groups said at least 150 people were killed Thursday in an attack in Treimsa, which had a population of around 7,000.
"Tragically, we now have another grim reminder that the council's resolutions continue to be flouted," Annan said in the letter.
Annan reaffirmed his call for the council, which is debating a resolution on Syria, to "send a message to all that there will be consequences for non-compliance."
"This is imperative and could not be more urgent in the light of unfolding events," he added.
Western nations have proposed a resolution that would impose sanctions on Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir
Pencilneckal-Assad
The Scourge of Hama...
for not ending the use of heavy weapons in the conflict. Russia, however, has rejected the use of sanctions.
U.N. Secretary General Ban made his own condemnation of the massacre in a note to the council with Annan's letter.
"I condemn this outrageous escalation of violence in the strongest possible terms, and fully concur with the views expressed by the joint special envoy," Ban said.
Meanwhile,
...back at the game, the Babe was wondering why the baseball kept getting bigger and bigger. Finally it hit him...
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as
Another John Marshall...
called for a ceasefire to let U.N. observers enter Treimsa.
"We call for an immediate ceasefire in and around Hama to allow the U.N. observer mission to enter Treimsa. Those who committed these atrocities will be identified and held accountable," Clinton said in a statement.
She said reports of the use of artillery, tanks, and helicopters were "indisputable evidence that the regime deliberately murdered innocent civilians."
"As long as the Assad regime continues to wage war against the Syrian people, the international community must keep increasing the pressure on the regime to halt the violence and allow for a political solution to go forward," Clinton added.
The U.S. secretary of state also stepped up demands for the deadlocked U.N. Security Council to pass a resolution ordering sanctions against President Bashir al-Assad's government if he does not carry out the peace plan of international envoy Kofi Annan.
Russia, Syria's main international ally, has rejected calls for sanctions.
"The Security Council should put its full weight behind the Annan plan for an immediate ceasefire and a political transition and make clear to the Syrian regime that there will be consequences for non-compliance," Clinton said.
"History will judge this council. Its members must ask themselves whether continuing to allow the Assad regime to commit unspeakable violence against its own people is the legacy they want to leave," she said.
For her part, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton also on Friday denounced the Treimsa massacre as "an atrocity" and "a blatant violation" of Annan's plan.
"I am deeply shocked by reports of the ruthless killing of at least 200 men, women and kiddies" in Treimsa, she said in a statement.
"The regime's use of heavy weaponry, including artillery and helicopters, which has been confirmed by U.N. observers, is a blatant violation of its obligations under the Annan plan."
"I condemn this atrocity in the strongest possible terms."
Ashton called for U.N. observers to be given immediate unhindered access to the village and said those responsible for such "heinous acts" should be held accountable.
"There can be no impunity for the perpetrators of these alleged human rights
When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much...
violations."