Peres Says Assad 'Murderer' of his People
Israeli President Shimon Peres said on Tuesday that Syrian President Bashar Assad has become the "murderer" of his people and they need help to free themselves from his regime.
"Their president, who is supposed to be the father of their nation, became their murderer," Peres told reporters during a joint press conference with visiting German President Joachim Gauck.
"Nobody can remain indifferent to it," the Nobel peace laureate said.
"The reactions until now have been declarations; unfortunately, declarations don't stop murders and assassinations. I think the time has come to help the Syrians achieve peace and regain their freedom."
The United Nations says that at least 108 people -- including 49 children and 34 women -- were slaughtered in the central Syrian village of Houla on Friday and Saturday, many of them gruesomely blown to pieces or shot dead at point blank range.
The massacre brought an end to Israel's long official silence on events taking place across its northern border.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday voiced his revulsion over the killing, while accusing Iran and its Hizbullah of being accomplices.
He was "revolted by the incessant massacres conducted by Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces" against civilians in the town of Houla at the weekend, his office said.
The violence in Syria has killed more than 13,000 people, most of them civilians, according to Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, since an uprising erupted against Assad's regime in March 2011.
Source: Agence France Presse
| Copyright © 2012 Naharnet.com. All Rights Reserved. | https://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/41752 |