Activists report new Syria massacre on eve of U.N. meetings
June 07, 2012: Syrian activists reported the deaths of 78 people in a single village
Wednesday, a day before two United Nations meetings on the crisis in the Middle Eastern
country. The 78 deaths happened in Qubeir, a tiny village north of Damascus, in the
province of Hama. Just 10 families live there in 20 homes, said Lt. Khaled Ali, a
spokesman for the rebel Free Syrian Army's military council in Hama. . The activists
blamed the deaths on Syrian government forces, but the regime blamed a terrorist group
for the massacre, saying it was timed to come just before the top-level meetings and
make the regime look bad. In all, more than 140 people were killed throughout Syria
on Wednesday at the hands of the regime, the opposition Local Coordination Committees
of Syria reported.
Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in his new role
as envoy to Syria, plans to address separate meetings of the U.N. General Assembly
and Security Council in New York. He also plans to discuss the crisis with U.S. Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton in Washington on Friday. The United Nations says more than
9,000 people have been killed since the Syrian crisis began in March 2011. Opposition
activists put the toll higher, with estimates of 12,000 to 14,000.