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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
UN: violence 'getting worse' in Syria
2012-08-14
No kidding...
Damascus -- The head of the United Nations monitors in Syria said violence was intensifying across the country, blaming both Assad's forces and rebel fighters for ignoring the plight of civilians.

"It is clear that violence is increasing in many parts of Syria," Gen. Babacar Gaye, head of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria, told journalists in Damascus. "The indiscriminate use of heavy weapons by the government and targeted attacks by the opposition in urban centers are inflicting a heavy toll on innocent civilians.

"I deeply regret that none of the parties has prioritised the needs of civilians."

Activists say more than 18,000 people, including soldiers, rebels and civilians, have been killed since the start of the Syrian uprising against Assad in March last year.

The mandate for the UN monitors, whose original mission was to observe an April cease-fire that never took hold, expires on Aug. 19. Their numbers have already been cut to a third because violence has made it impossible for them to move around.

"But the remaining 100 observers, along with our civilian colleagues, will operate till the last minute," Gaye said.

"I call on the parties to cease military operations and come to the (negotiating) table," he said, adding that he and his colleagues had delivered the same appeal in person to the government and the Syrian opposition abroad.
Posted by:Steve White

#2  I deeply regret that none of the parties has prioritised the needs of civilians

Some people are better off dead---or, at least, the rest of us are.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2012-08-14 01:29  

#1  Johnson! Stop the presses!!
Posted by: tu3031   2012-08-14 00:17  

00:00