UN Security Council stops short of blaming Syria for Houla  massacre 
By Edith M. Lederer
May 28, 2012
Detroit Free Press
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UNITED NATIONS -- The United Nations Security Council blamed the Syrian government Sunday for attacking residential areas of the town of Houla with artillery and tank shelling and also condemned the close-range killings of civilians there -- but avoided saying who was responsible for the massacre of more than 100 men, women and children.
The council said in a news media statement after an emergency meeting Sunday that the outrageous use of force against civilians violated international law and Syrian government commitments under previous UN resolutions to stop all violence, including the use of heavy weapons in populated areas. It said those responsible for acts of violence must be held accountable.
It demanded that the Syrian government immediately halt the use of heavy weapons and pull its troops out of cities and towns, and it asked UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the UN observer mission in Syria to continue investigating the Houla attacks. Ban, in a letter to the council, called for a transparent, independent and impartial international investigation.
Britain and France had proposed issuing a statement condemning the attack on civilians and pointing the finger at the Syrian government for Friday's massacre. But Russia called for an emergency council meeting, saying it first wanted a briefing by Gen. Robert Mood, the head of the unarmed UN observer mission.
After Mood's briefing, Germany's UN Ambassador Peter Wittig said there is a clear footprint of the government in the massacre.
Britain's UN Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said: The fact is that this is an atrocity, and it was perpetrated by the Syrian government.
But Russia's Deputy UN Ambassador Alexander Pankin said, It still remains unclear what happened and what triggered what.
Russia, which considers Syria its closest Mideast ally, has used its Security Council veto power to block resolutions raising the possibility of UN action against President Bashar Assad.
The Syrian government denied responsibility Sunday for the Houla massacre, blaming the killings on hundreds of heavily armed gunmen who also attacked soldiers in the area.
Mood reported that UN observers, after revisiting the scene in the Houla area, had raised the death toll to 108 people, UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous said. Those killed include 49 children and 34 women, said Ahmad Fawzi, a spokesman for Annan.
International envoy Kofi Annan is to visit Damascus, reportedly today. The council will meet Tuesday about the Middle East and will hear a briefing Wednesday from Annan.