The U.S. Ambassador to Russia urged all members of the international community to join forces and prevent a repeat of the massacre in the town of Houla that left dozens dead, many of them children.
“All responsible powers in the international community have to work together to prevent a future Houla massacre. The time for action is now,” Michael McFaul wrote in his Twitter account.
The city, where over 100 people including 32 children were reported to be killed, was shelled by the troops loyal to the Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
UN observers in Syria confirmed the deaths of civilians in the city.
Syrian authorities on Sunday denied the involvement of government forces in Houla massacre. The spokesperson for the Syrian ministry of foreign affairs Jihad Makdissi said that the government established a commission to investigate the events in Houla. According to Makdissi, UN and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan would return on Monday to Syria.
The state-run SANA news agency however said that it was al-Qaeda-linked militant group that was behind the attack on Houla.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague condemned the massacre on Saturday, saying that it was necessary "to move swiftly to ensure that those responsible are identified and held to account."
Syria's UN mission chief, General Robert Mood called the Friday's killings "brutal tragedy" that could “create more instability, more unpredictability and may lead country to civil war.”
Houla’s slaughter came as the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in a report to the Security Council that the situation in Syria “remains extremely serious” and UN efforts to end the political crisis in the country have seen only “small progress.”
Although the scale of violence has decreased compared to the period before April 12, when U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan six-point plan was implemented in the country, “the Syrian army has not ceased the use of, or pulled back their heavy weapons in many areas,” Ban said on Friday.
According to unconfirmed reports by Syrian activists, more than 12,600 people have been killed in Syria since a revolt against Assad’s regime started in March last year. The U.N. says up to 10,000 have been killed.
