The United States has expressed fears that Syria’s Assad regime is planning fresh massacres in the country and warned the Syrian President against doing so, reminding them of the case of Bosnia.
Speaking in the daily press briefing, State Department Spokesperson Victoria Nuland said,
Her statement came as Sausan Ghosheh, a spokeswoman for the UN monitors, called on both sides in Syria “to grant the U.N. observers immediate and unfettered access to conflict zones.”
Nuland said that the Assad regimes continuing violence against civilians marked their desperation, commenting,
Speaking in the daily press briefing, State Department Spokesperson Victoria Nuland said,
“The United States joins Joint Special Envoy Kofi Annan in expressing deep alarm by reports from inside Syria that the regime may be organizing another massacre”
“Taken together, Syrian forces have already escalated their repression in direct defiance of their commitments to the Annan plan by using now new horrific tactics, including the firing on civilians from the air by helicopters added to the use of irregular forces, the shabiha. This constitutes a very serious escalation.She went on to slam the Assad regime for barring and hindering the UN from accessing affected sites in the country stating,
And we remind Syrian commanders of one of the lessons from Bosnia. The international community can and does learn what units were responsible for crimes against humanity, and you will be held responsible for your actions.”
“In any event, it was a perfect opportunity to allow the UN in and for the UN to help protect civilians, but it’s the regime who barred them from being able to go in."
"The responsibility lies with the government. And the government had an opportunity to allow the UN in to bear witness to do what it could to protect civilians and has aggressively chosen not to do so."See her full comments here.
Her statement came as Sausan Ghosheh, a spokeswoman for the UN monitors, called on both sides in Syria “to grant the U.N. observers immediate and unfettered access to conflict zones.”
Nuland said that the Assad regimes continuing violence against civilians marked their desperation, commenting,
"What government voluntarily uses helicopters and fires from them on their own civilians if they’re not desperate? What government depends on a bunch of thugs in trucks, irregulars, if they’re not desperate?"