UN Accuses Syria Of Crimes Against Humanity

The UN human rights chief has said that the organisation's failure to pass a resolution on Syria gave the Assad regime courage to "launch an all-out assault" on its people.

High commissioner for human rights Navi Pillay told the UN General Assembly that the scale of deaths in the last year indicated that crimes against humanity have taken place and continue in the country and that they must not go unpunished.

Despite the Arab League's request to the UN's Security Council for a joint UN peacekeeping force, the calls are unlikely to be heeded so long as Russia and China continue with their policy of no outside interference in Syrian affairs.

Even British Foreign Secretary William Hague has admitted Western troops are unlikely to join the peacekeeping mission in Syria, despite saying he backs the idea of a joint Arab League-UN plan.

The League demanded the UN's military presence, spelled out in a resolution adopted at a meeting of the League's foreign ministers. But Syria has already rejected the call.

The League's meeting in Cairo at the weekend was full of impassioned pleas to save the Syrian people.

Sky News foreign affairs editor Tim Marshall said: "The Saudi delegation asked: 'Until when will we remain spectators?' But they know the answer.

"Without a complete U-turn by the US and European states there will be no intervention until the Arab League decides to do it by itself.

"As it has neither the stomach nor the army to do so, it will not be happening any time soon.

"The League also disbanded its monitoring mission. The mission was already suspended, which appears to be one of the reasons why President Assad felt able to so dramatically escalate the violence 10 days ago."

Marshall added that Saudi Arabia and Qatar are the two Arab states taking the hardest line against Syria and led the calls to collapse the mission completely.

If they had not pulled out their monitors in the first place it is possible President Assad could not have launched the full-scale bombardment of Homs that began on Friday, February 3.

Today's UN meeting forms part of the ongoing search for some countries to find ways to pressure the Assad regime.

It will continue on February 24 with the first meeting of the new 'Friends of Syria' group.

This includes Arab and EU countries, and the USA.

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