International community condemns Syrian regime over Houla's massacre

The international community is appalled by shelling in Houla which left more than 114 civilians dead, including more than 32 children.

The White House said the Syrian regime responds to peaceful political protest with "unspeakable and inhuman brutality," AFP news reported.

The U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement: "Those who perpetrated this atrocity must be identified and held to account. The United States will work with the international community to intensify our pressure on Assad and his cronies, whose rule by murder and fear must come to an end."

In Paris, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius condemned the violence as a “massacre,” and said he wanted to arrange a meeting in Paris of the Friends of Syria, a group that brings together Western and Arab countries keen to remove Assad.

"I made immediate contacts to arrange a meeting in Paris of the Group of Friends of the Syrian People," said the French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius.

In London,the British Foreign Secretary William Hague denounced the killings and he would call for the Security Council to meet in an emergency meeting.

The U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon and international envoy Kofi Annan both condemned "in the strongest terms the deaths, confirmed by the UN observers, of dozens of men, women and children "at Hula, in central Syria, said Martin Nesirky, spokesperson for Mr. Ban.

"This terrible and revolting crime, in which indiscriminate and disproportionate force was used, is a flagrant violation of international law and commitments made by the Syrian government to cease its use of heavy weapons in cities," stated Ban and Annan, adding that "the perpetrators of these crimes must be judged."

Norwegian Major General Robert Mood, the UN Chief Observer, also condemned "the brutal tragedy."

For his part, Arab League head Nabil Elaraby called the killing in Houla a "horrific crime," urging the U.N. Security Council to "stop the escalation of killing and violence by armed gangs and government military forces."

In Damascus, the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) accused "armed terrorist groups" of having "burned and blew up houses Friday night [...] to make it appears like the Syrian armed forces bombed the area. "

Meanwhile, the Free Syrian Army (FSA), called powers to conduct "air raids" against the regime of Bashar al-Assad. The opposition accused the regime of committing the massacre that left, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), 114 dead, including 32 children.

For more details please check here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18224559

http://www.yalibnan.com/2012/05/26/france-condemns-syria-massacre-in-houla/

http://www.wcvb.com/news/national/UK-condemns-reported-Syrian-massacre-urges-international-action/-/9848944/14232246/-/1ylov0z/-/index.html