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Anan: Violence in Syria Surges after UN Observers Visits

Posted By The Media Line Staff On In Mideast Daily News

Former UN Secretary General Kofi Anan told a closed-door session of the Security Council that he is alarmed by the surges in violence by Syrian President Bashar Al-Asad’s forces that follow visits by the UN observer force. Sources at the session told news organizations that Anan spoke of reports that more than 35 were killed in Homs following an observer-force visit and quoted him as saying that, “This is totally unacceptable and reprehensible.” Anan is reportedly urging that the observer force be increased to 300 from its present strength of one-tenth that size, but experts familiar with the situation doubt a force under 3,000 would have any real impact on Al-Asad’s intention to pound his opponents into submission. The Associated Press is quoting an opposition member as saying those coming out to greet the UN observers are being targeted for punishment by Al-Asad’s troops.