Posted on May 28, 2012 - by Venik

Syria: Kofi Annan arrives in Damascus – live updates

• Annan due to discuss failing peace plan with Assad
• UNSC condemns ‘outrageous use of force’ in Houla
• Activists claim dozens killed in a fresh atrocity in Hama

• Read the latest summary

12.55pm: Bahrain: The country’s most prominent political detainee, Abdulhadi al-Kawaja, has announced he is ending his hunger strike, according to his daughter Maryam.

Abdulhadi Alkhawaja on his 110th day #hungerstrike announces he will stop his hunger strike today #bahrain

— Maryam Alkhawaja (@MARYAMALKHAWAJA) May 28, 2012

12.50pm: Kofi Annan said he was horrified by the killings in Houla and urged the Syrian government to take bold steps to show it was serious about reaching a peaceful solution to crisis, Reuters reports.

Speaking shortly after arriving in Damascus, Annan said he expected to have “serious and frank discussions” with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The two men are due to meet on Tuesday, according to the Syrian Foreign Ministry.

Annan also called on “every individual with a gun” in Syria to lay down arms, according to AP.

“I am personally shocked and horrified by the tragic incident in Houla two days ago, which took so many innocent lives, children, women and men,” Annan said as he arrived in the Syrian capital.

He called on all sides of the conflict to end the bloodshed, saying “this message of peace is not only for the government, but for everyone with a gun.”

12.20pm: Here’s a summary of the latest developments:

Syria

• International envoy Kofi Annan has arrived in Damascus for talks aimed at salvaging his wrecked six-point peace plan amid reports of another massacre in Syria. Annan is due to meet President Bashar al-Assad tomorrow.

• Activists claim scores of people have been killed in the central city of Hama. Syrian tanks, armoured vehicles, and snipers opened fire on several neighbourhoods of Hama after a series of attacks by rebel Free Syrian Army fighters, opposition sources said.

• The United Nations security council, including Russia and China, has condemned the “outrageous use of force” by the Syrian government following the massacre of more than 100 civilians, including dozens of children, in Houla. But Russia said it is unlikely government forces would have killed civilians at point-blank range and suggested there was a third force – terrorists or external agents – seeking to trigger outside intervention.

• Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has repeated Moscow’s objection to western attempts to remove Bashar al-Assad from power. Speaking at a news conference with his UK counterpart William Hague, Lavrov said the priority was ending the violence in Syria which he blamed on both sides. Hague said Annan’s plan was the only alternative to a further descent into violent civil war.

Egypt

• The official results of the first round of the presidential election are to be announced 3pm local time (2pm BST). The Presidential Elections Committee is expected to confirm that the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi secured the most number of votes followed by Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister Ahmed Shafiq.

Bahrain

• Prominent rights activist, Nabeel Rajab, has been released on bail, three weeks after being arrested on charges of inciting protests by using social networking sites. Rajab, president of Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, said he paid bail of 300 dinars (£510) and is banned from travelling abroad as part of the conditions of his release.

Libya

• Mustafa Abdel Jalil, the head of the National Transitional Council, said he expected parliamentary election would be delayed. In an interview with Reuters, he said: “All depends on the appeal process for the election candidates. This appeal process will result in a postponement of the elections.”

12.09pm: An opposition activist based in Hama claimed that at least 50 people were killed by government forces in the city.

In a Skype message Rami claimed that Assad’s forces stormed the city with armoured vehicles and snipers. He said: “Hama witnessed a true war today. The sounds of explosions did not stop all day, and as a result of the violent and arbitrary shelling, several houses were destroyed with residents still inside. Tens of people were killed and many were injured. Most of those injured have critical injuries.”

He also claimed a local businessman, Taha al-Mubeed, who runs a frozen food business, was kidnapped by a shabbiha gang.

Rami claimed that suburbs of Hama were bombarded from dawn this morning.

His account cannot be independently verified.

11.46am: Bahrain: Nabeel Rajab, a prominent human rights activist, who arrested earlier this month charged with inciting protests by using social networking sites, has been released on bail, according to reports.

Nabeel Rajab was arrested on 5 May at Manama’s airport, on his return from the Lebanese capital, Beirut. He described his trial as “vindictive” and political.

Activist @MohmdAshoor, claimed Rajab was heading home:

Nabeel Rajab is going home now! =D #Bahrain #Gha9ban3alaihom

— #SaveAlKhawaja (@MohmdAshoor) May 28, 2012

Commenting on the release Maryam al-Khawaja, whose father, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, tweeted:

Congratulations to #bahrain on the release of @nabeelrajab and Hassan Oun, now lets work on getting the other 750 prisoners out

— Maryam Alkhawaja (@MARYAMALKHAWAJA) May 28, 2012

11.31am: Kofi Annan has arrived in Damascus for talks with Assad and senior figures in his regime.

Annan’s spokesman said he would also meet representatives of the opposition and civil society and review the work of UN supervision mission in Syria with the head of the tema Major-General Robert Mood.

The Telegraph bills Annan’s trip as a last ditch effort to save the six-point peace plan.

The former UN secretary general is not thought likely to succeed.

Analyst James Denselow tweeted:

Hague – Annan plan is ‘only hope for Syria’ – oh dear

— James Denselow (@jamesdenselow) May 28, 2012

Obeida Nahas, a member of the opposition Syrian National Council, tweeted:

Sorry Mr @WilliamJHague, but sticking to #Syria Annan Plan is not good enough.#Assad must be FORCED, not CALLED, to stick to it.He must GO

— Obeida Nahas (@ObeidaNahas) May 28, 2012

10.44am: Egypt: The official results of the first round of the presidential election are to be announced 3pm local time (2pm BST).

The Presidential Elections Committee is expected to confirm that the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi secured the most number of votes followed by Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister Ahmed Shafiq.

A runoff between the two men is considered the worst possible outcome from the poll because it will expose sharp divisions in Egyptian society.

10.35am: In their joint press conference Hague and Lavrov made it clear they are sticking to Annan’s failing peace plan. Here are they key quotes:

Hague: “We are very much agreed that the Annan plan is the best hope for Syria. At the moment the only hope, for Syria, to try to break the cycle of violence. We are all deeply disturbed by what we have seen at the weekend …

The alternatives are the Annan plan or ever increasing chaos in Syria, and a dissent closer and closer to all out civil war.”

Lavrov: “We are deeply alarmed by what is happening. General Robert Mood confirmed that [in Houla] you can see the traces of artillery fire, as well as discovering a large number of armed groups working in the field. So both sides are responsible for the deaths of innocent civilians …

We need to have mechanisms in order to implement Kofi Annan’s plan.”

Hague: “We are not arguing that all violence in Syria is the responsibility of the Assad regime, although it has the primary responsibility for such violence. The implementation of the Annan plan was meant to start with the pulling back of the forces of the regime from populated areas. They have not implemented that plan. We are in an agreement, on the very important point Mr Lavrov just made, about exerting more pressure in order to make sure that the Annan plan is implemented.”

Both Hague and Lavrov played down the idea of transition plan for removing Assad from power. The idea was deleted from early draft’s of Annan’s plan but is being revived by the Obama administration according to the New York Times.

Hague: “We have said all the way back from last August that finding a solution involves him [Assad] standing aside. But the important thing is that the Annan plan is pursued. That is now the urgent priority. There are a variety of ways of doing that, but it certainly involves a political process. The absolutely urgent priority is to have the Annan plan implemented. That plan involves a more plural democratic system being implemented in Syria. Everyone can speculate about what that will mean for President Assad. But the urgent thing now is to try to get such a political process started on whatever terms can be agreed between Kofi Annan, the Assad regime, the relevant opposition forces, that is what we are all united about doing.”

Lavrov: “The main thing for us is not about who is in power in Syria. The main thing is stopping any violence, and to create a political dialogue among the Syrian people. Everything else is secondary. If we want to stop violence we have to work together with the regime and the opposition. Kofi Annan’s plan is about consensus.

“Russia has particular role in applying pressure. We sense from our contacts that some other forces are not committed [to dialogue]. We support Kofi Annan’s plan and they [other countries] should do everything for this to succeed and not to break up this plan. There should no be external interference.”

9.49am: Hague and Lavrov were asked whether Assad should stand aside in a Yemen-style agreement, as the Obama administration is pushing for.

Hague stressed the importance of Annan’s plan.

Lavrov said the priority was stopping violence. “Everything else is secondary,” he said. He said the need for political dialogue in Syria was non-negotiable.

Kofi Annan’s plan has to be supported, he said. He suggested that talk of political transition in Syria was undermining the plan. “We sincerely want to implement Kofi Annan’s plan,” he said.

9.40am: The foreign ministers of Russia and the UK have reiterated their commitment to the Annan plan in Syria, but admitted their differences on the crisis.

Speaking at a joint news conference in Moscow, after holding talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, William Hague said the two men agreed that the the Annan plan is the “best and only hope” for a solution.

Hague said the discussions were frank and honesty, and that he Lavrov did not agree on everything.

Lavrov said “both sides” were to blame for the deaths of innocent civilians in Houla. He talked of the need for “mechanisms” to implement Annan’s plan.

Hague said the Assad regime was primarily responsible for the violence in Syria, but not all it.

9.15am: China has condemned the “cruel killings” in Houla but has said nothing yet about who was to blame.

Reuters quoted foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin as saying:

China feels deeply shocked by the large number of civilian casualties in Houla, and condemns in the strongest terms the cruel killings of ordinary citizens, especially woman and children.

8.57am: Syrian activists are reporting a fresh atrocity, according to Reuters:

The Syrian army’s bombardment of the city of Hama has killed at least 41 people in the past 24 hours, an opposition group in the city said on Monday.

Syrian tanks and infantry fighting vehicles opened fire on several neighbourhoods of Hama on Sunday after a series of attacks by rebel Free Syrian Army fighters on roadblocks and other positions manned by President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, opposition sources said.

The dead included five women and eight children, the Hama Revolution Leadership Council said in a statement.

“Tank shelling brought down several buildings. Their inhabitants were pulled out from the rubble and many are in a critical condition,” the statement said.

Graphic unverified images purporting to show the bodies of men, women and children killed in the bombardment of Hama have been circulated by activists. [Warning: extremely disturbing images].

8.51am: Kofi Annan is due to meet Bashar al-Assad tomorrow, a Syrian official told AFP.

Britain’s former ambassador to the UN, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, is pessimistic about Annan’s chances of success, according to an interview on the BBC Radio 4′s Today programme.

“I don’t think he [Kofi Annan] can stop either the regime or the opposition from using arms” – Sir Jeremy Greenstock #Syria

— BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) May 28, 2012

Most likely scenario in #Syria “is the increase of the use of arms on either side and descent into further violence” – Sir Jeremy Greenstock

— BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) May 28, 2012

8.11am: (all times BST) Welcome to Middle East Live. Will the Houla massacre become a turning point in the crisis in Syria, or just another bloody episode in the 14-month uprising?

Here’s a roundup of the latest developments:

Syria

• The United Nations security council, including Russia and China, has condemned the “outrageous use of force” by the Syrian government following the massacre of more than 100 civilians, including dozens of children, in Houla. But Russia said it is unlikely government forces would have killed civilians at point-blank range and suggested there was a third force – terrorists or external agents – seeking to trigger outside intervention. After an emergency meeting of the council it issued a non-binding statement, which said:

The security council condemned in the strongest possible terms the killings, confirmed by United Nations observers, of dozens of men, women and children and the wounding of hundreds more … in attacks that involved a series of government artillery and tank shellings on a residential neighbourhood.

• International envoy Kofi Annan is to visit Damascus today in an attempt to salvage his failed peace plan, the BBC reports. On Sunday, Syria refused permission for Annan’s deputy to travel to Damascus with him, a senior Arab League official told AFP. Meanwhile, Syria’s ambassador to the UN, Bashar al-Jafa’ari has rejected what he called a “tsunami of lies” from some security council members over the Houla massacre.

• Barack Obama is preparing to push Russia to back the departure of Assad under a scheme modelled on the transition of power in Yemen, according to the New York Times. Under the plan the international community would broker a settlement in which Bashar al-Assad would leave, but remnants of the political structure would remain intact.

• Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential candidate, criticised Obama for backing the Annan plan, Talking Points Memo reports.

The Annan ‘peace’ plan — which President Obama still supports — has merely granted the Assad regime more time to execute its military onslaught …The United States should work with partners to organise and arm Syrian opposition groups so they can defend themselves.

• The Guardian’s Martin Chulov, who is just back from an under cover visit to Syria, pieces together how the massacre in Houla unfolded based on testimony from residents.

In a few short hours, the town of Houla joined the sorry list of localities whose names have become synonymous with the merciless slaughter of civilians. Srebrenica. Nyarubuye. My Lai. Up to now, the Syrian conflict has killed 13,000 people. But until this weekend, it had yet to include the mass slaughter of nursery-age infants.

“The shelling started around 3pm,” said Abu Jaffour. “I was in the fields at the time and we tried to reach the area being bombed. It took us three hours to get there. When I reached the houses it was dreadful. I was carrying babies’ bodies that had parts of their heads hanging out.”

• Both sides share responsibility for the bloodshed in Houla, according to Patrick Seale, the biographer of Bashar al-Assad’s father Hafez.

The regime’s strategy is to prevent – at all costs – its armed opponents from seizing and holding territory inside the country, as this might give foreign powers a base from which to operate. As soon as it identifies pockets of armed opponents, it sends in its troops to crush them. That it often uses disproportionate force is not in doubt: this is all too predictable when a conventional army faces hit-and-run opponents. Trapped between opposing forces, civilians inevitably pay the price.

• Members of Assad’s family and inner circle are directly ordering the commission of crimes against humanity in Syria, according to new evidence to be broadcast by Channel 4′s Dispatches. The programme’s reporter, Jonathan Miller, writes:

Defectors from Syrian intelligence and security agencies, used by the regime to crush the revolt, claim that Assad’s cousin issued shoot-to-kill orders against civilian protesters in Dera’a, the cradle of the insurrection. Kill quotas were reportedly issued to snipers tasked with assassinating pro-democracy activists.

They allege that Assad’s brother Maher, a senior army commander, was among senior figures operating out of a secret command centre in Dera’a when orders were issued to contain a protest march by all means necessary.

• The foreign secretary, William Hague, is expected to press his Russian counterpart on the spiralling crisis in Syria during his visit to Moscow. In a Twitter message sent before his arrival Hague said:

In Moscow tomorrow. Will call on Russia to support rapid & unequivocal pressure on #Assad regime and accountability for crimes. #Syria

— William Hague (@WilliamJHague) May 26, 2012

• The Houla massacre could represent a turning point, according to Middle East analyst Juan Cole. Writing on his blog Informed Comment, Cole says

The outcome in Houla is so horrific that it may turn the stomachs of the remaining Syrians who are on the fence, and produce a new backlash against the regime. The revolution in Syria is a contest of wills between the regime on the one hand, and on the other the revolutionaries (who have a civil and a military wing that seldom agree). The revolutionaries have remained steadfast in the face of massive brutality, for over a year. Their will seems strong. The regime seems to be popular in fewer and fewer places. The will of all but its devoted cadres is being shaken.

Egypt

• Hamdeen Sabahy, the leftist candidate who looks set to fail to make the runoff ballot, has demanded a recount, citing many “violations”, the BBC reports. Next month’s runoff is expected to between the Muslim Brotherhood Mohammed Morsi and Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister Ahmed Shafiq. Sabahy who came third claimed conscripts had voted illegally.

Original article