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| Syria crisis: rebel FSA sets deadline - live updates | Syria crisis: rebel FSA sets deadline - live updates |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| 9.15am: Brown Moses, a regular commenter to this blog, has a grisly collection of the latest videos from Houla. | |
| Storyful cross checks some of the latest videos from Houla with statements made by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. | |
| 8.56am: "We will look back on May and say 'this was the month that civil war began in earnest in Syria'," an activist who, until now has played down sectarian tension, told the BBC's Paul Wood. | 8.56am: "We will look back on May and say 'this was the month that civil war began in earnest in Syria'," an activist who, until now has played down sectarian tension, told the BBC's Paul Wood. |
| Wood, who spent three weeks undercover in nearby Rastan, said most people in Syria think the UN peace plan will fail. He said: | Wood, who spent three weeks undercover in nearby Rastan, said most people in Syria think the UN peace plan will fail. He said: |
| There is no ceasefire, and the threat to lift the ceasefire by the Free Army will just mean business as usual. | There is no ceasefire, and the threat to lift the ceasefire by the Free Army will just mean business as usual. |
| 8.21am: (all times BST) Welcome to Middle East Live. Both sides in the conflict in Syria are ignoring Kofi Annan plea to lay down arms. The rebel Free Syrian Army has threatened to resume attacks against the Assad regime if it fails to stop the violence. There's little sign of that happening with fresh reports of shelling against the Houla where more than 100 people were massacred last week. | 8.21am: (all times BST) Welcome to Middle East Live. Both sides in the conflict in Syria are ignoring Kofi Annan plea to lay down arms. The rebel Free Syrian Army has threatened to resume attacks against the Assad regime if it fails to stop the violence. There's little sign of that happening with fresh reports of shelling against the Houla where more than 100 people were massacred last week. |
| Here's a roundup of the latest developments: | Here's a roundup of the latest developments: |
| • Syrian rebels have given Bashar al Assad a 48-hour deadline to abide by an international peace plan to end violence or face consequences, the BBC reports. | • Syrian rebels have given Bashar al Assad a 48-hour deadline to abide by an international peace plan to end violence or face consequences, the BBC reports. |
| In a video statement, Colonel Qassim Saadeddine said: "The joint leadership of the Free Army inside Syria announces that it is giving the regime a final 48-hour deadline to implement the resolutions of the UN security council. It ends on Friday at 1200 [1000 BST]; then we are free from any commitment and we will defend and protect the civilians, their villages and their cities." | In a video statement, Colonel Qassim Saadeddine said: "The joint leadership of the Free Army inside Syria announces that it is giving the regime a final 48-hour deadline to implement the resolutions of the UN security council. It ends on Friday at 1200 [1000 BST]; then we are free from any commitment and we will defend and protect the civilians, their villages and their cities." |
| • Western efforts remain focused on trying to persuade Russia to exert pressure on President Bashar al-Assad, despite Moscow's continuing insistence that it will block any form of forced regime change in Syria. Gennady Gatilov, Russia's deputy foreign minister, said UN security council pressure on Syria was "premature", Gatilov said, adding that Russia would use its veto to block any initiatives on foreign military interference. | • Western efforts remain focused on trying to persuade Russia to exert pressure on President Bashar al-Assad, despite Moscow's continuing insistence that it will block any form of forced regime change in Syria. Gennady Gatilov, Russia's deputy foreign minister, said UN security council pressure on Syria was "premature", Gatilov said, adding that Russia would use its veto to block any initiatives on foreign military interference. |
| • "We will cut Assad's throat" residents of rebel held Houla chanted when Channel 4 became the first UK broadcaster to reach the town after last week's massacre. | • "We will cut Assad's throat" residents of rebel held Houla chanted when Channel 4 became the first UK broadcaster to reach the town after last week's massacre. |
| Reporter Alex Thomson writes: | Reporter Alex Thomson writes: |
| There is an overwhelming and searing grief. What can you say? What can you do? What can you offer an elderly man, Abdul Hamad, who knows not only that his daughter was killed but that her throat was hacked with a knife, it seems, wielded by men who live just a few miles distant. | There is an overwhelming and searing grief. What can you say? What can you do? What can you offer an elderly man, Abdul Hamad, who knows not only that his daughter was killed but that her throat was hacked with a knife, it seems, wielded by men who live just a few miles distant. |
| • Syria's ambassador to the UN, Bashar Ja'afari, said the Channel 4 news report should be ignored, insisting that terrorists were responsible for the massacre at Houla, the New York Times Lede blog reports. | • Syria's ambassador to the UN, Bashar Ja'afari, said the Channel 4 news report should be ignored, insisting that terrorists were responsible for the massacre at Houla, the New York Times Lede blog reports. |
| In a somewhat bizarre exchange (captured in full, about 22 minutes into video posted on the UN Web site), Ja'afari pleaded with the Channel 4 News correspondent in New York, Matt Frei, to ignore the work of his colleague in Syria, Alex Thomson, and wait for President Bashar al-Assad's commission of inquiry to publish its findings later this week. "Don't base your information on reports," Ja'afari told the reporter. | In a somewhat bizarre exchange (captured in full, about 22 minutes into video posted on the UN Web site), Ja'afari pleaded with the Channel 4 News correspondent in New York, Matt Frei, to ignore the work of his colleague in Syria, Alex Thomson, and wait for President Bashar al-Assad's commission of inquiry to publish its findings later this week. "Don't base your information on reports," Ja'afari told the reporter. |
| • The US insists it is close to making a deal with Russia to remove Assad from power. "We are making progress, Denis McDonough, the deputy national security adviser told the US Islamic World Forum in Doha, Qatar, without going into details. "The Assad regime has lost its legitimacy to lead. We don't believe it's in the Russians' interest to be associated with the Assad regime." | • The US insists it is close to making a deal with Russia to remove Assad from power. "We are making progress, Denis McDonough, the deputy national security adviser told the US Islamic World Forum in Doha, Qatar, without going into details. "The Assad regime has lost its legitimacy to lead. We don't believe it's in the Russians' interest to be associated with the Assad regime." |
| • Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the United Nations, suggested there is little hope left for a political settlement, after hearing security council briefing on Kofi Annan's mission to Damascus, the New York Times reports. Annan's deputy, Jean-Marie Guéhenno, who gave a private video briefing to the security council, said the council members had "an understanding that any sliding toward a full-scale civil war in Syria would be catastrophic and the Security Council now needs to have that kind of strategic discussion on how that needs to be avoided." | • Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the United Nations, suggested there is little hope left for a political settlement, after hearing security council briefing on Kofi Annan's mission to Damascus, the New York Times reports. Annan's deputy, Jean-Marie Guéhenno, who gave a private video briefing to the security council, said the council members had "an understanding that any sliding toward a full-scale civil war in Syria would be catastrophic and the Security Council now needs to have that kind of strategic discussion on how that needs to be avoided." |
| • Kofi Annan flew out of Damascus yesterday amid news of fresh atrocities on the ground, the Independent reports. Even as Mr Annan's observer mission announced the discovery of the bodies of 13 Syrians who appeared to have been summarily executed. | • Kofi Annan flew out of Damascus yesterday amid news of fresh atrocities on the ground, the Independent reports. Even as Mr Annan's observer mission announced the discovery of the bodies of 13 Syrians who appeared to have been summarily executed. |
| • Annan is in an impossible situation Richard Gowan, an expert on UN peacekeeping at New York University tells Julian Borger. | • Annan is in an impossible situation Richard Gowan, an expert on UN peacekeeping at New York University tells Julian Borger. |
| Gowan said Annan now finds himself in a deepening dilemma, with his peace plan stalled and ignored inside Syria, facing a split security council back in New York, and under fire for providing a fig-leaf to mass murder. "If the UN pulls out, on the other hand, and there another escalation of violence, Annan could be accused of walking out on a dialogue too early. So its a lose-lose situation." | Gowan said Annan now finds himself in a deepening dilemma, with his peace plan stalled and ignored inside Syria, facing a split security council back in New York, and under fire for providing a fig-leaf to mass murder. "If the UN pulls out, on the other hand, and there another escalation of violence, Annan could be accused of walking out on a dialogue too early. So its a lose-lose situation." |
| • Middle East and security analyst James Denslow likens the current diplomatic pressure on Syria to the ineffectiveness of global efforts to tackle climate change. | • Middle East and security analyst James Denslow likens the current diplomatic pressure on Syria to the ineffectiveness of global efforts to tackle climate change. |
| The Annan plan is like the Kyoto Treaty, the best and only game in town but completely unsuited for the scale of what it is trying to address. The world's major powers are trapped in a comfortable inertia. The Europeans and the Americans are happy to make diplomatic gestures, like throwing out Syrian Ambassadors, and talking about how the Assad regime has lost legitimacy, but their biggest effort to unite the Syrian opposition remains half-baked to say the least. The Chinese and the Russians meanwhile, still smarting from being conned on Libya UNSCR 1973 and with deep strategic and economic ties with Syria, are stonewalling any movement at the United Nations. | The Annan plan is like the Kyoto Treaty, the best and only game in town but completely unsuited for the scale of what it is trying to address. The world's major powers are trapped in a comfortable inertia. The Europeans and the Americans are happy to make diplomatic gestures, like throwing out Syrian Ambassadors, and talking about how the Assad regime has lost legitimacy, but their biggest effort to unite the Syrian opposition remains half-baked to say the least. The Chinese and the Russians meanwhile, still smarting from being conned on Libya UNSCR 1973 and with deep strategic and economic ties with Syria, are stonewalling any movement at the United Nations. |