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| Annan at UN amid reports of new massacre – live updates | Annan at UN amid reports of new massacre – live updates |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| 9.31am: Syria: Leaders of a bloc representing China, Russia and Central Asian states have today called for dialogue to address the violence in Syria, all but guaranteeing that there will be no end to the deadlock in discussions at the UN security council, Reuters reports. | |
| "The Shanghai group member states are against military interference in the affairs of this region [Middle East and North Africa], enforced 'handover of power', unilateral sanctions," a joint statement from leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation said. | |
| "Member states stress the need to stop any violence on the territory of Syria wherever it is coming from, they respect broad nationwide dialogue, based on independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty of Syria." | |
| U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, the former U.N. secretary-general, is to brief the Security Council in New York on Thursday. U.N. diplomats said they expected Annan to present a new proposal to rescue his failing peace plan by creating a "contact group" of world and regional powers. | |
| Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping said on Thursday that both China and Russia would remain opposed to foreign intervention. | |
| "The Syrian issue should be resolved based on envoy Annan's six-point proposal within the UN framework," Cheng told a news conference. "You can't say that because you dislike a country's system, you can then think of ways to overturn its government." | |
| 9.24am: Syria: At least one million people in Syria are in need of urgent assistance, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says in its latest report. | |
| This includes people injured during fighting; families who have lost their breadwinners or left their home areas; host communities; and those whose vulnerability has increased due to the impact of the unrest on livelihoods and access to essential services. | |
| Key points from the report: | |
| • Food prices have risen by 30% to 60% over the past year and access to food in some areas has been severely reduced. | |
| • Families who have relocated as a result of the unrest are in urgent need of non-food items, including hygiene kits, kitchen sets, blankets and mattresses. | |
| • Healthcare services in the areas most affected by the unrest have suffered disruptions and are facing shortages in essential medicines. | |
| 9.09am: Syria: British prime minister David Cameron has commented on the reported Qubair massacre. Speaking in Oslo, he said: | |
| If these reports are true, it is yet another absolutely brutal and sickening attack. | |
| Frankly, the international community has got to condemn absolutely this regime and President Assad for what he is doing. | |
| I think that lots of different countries in the world – countries that sit around the UN Security Council table - have got to sit down today and discuss this issue. | |
| None of them should be able to hide from the fact that, if this is true, it will be once again President Assad demonstrating that his regime is completely illegitimate and cannot stand. | |
| We need to do much more to isolate Syria, to isolate the regime, to put the pressure on and to demonstrate that the whole world wants to see a political transition from this illegitimate regime and to actually see one that can take care of its people. | |
| It really is appalling, what is happening in that country, and I want to see concerted action from the international community. | |
| 9.03am: Syria: A statement from the Revolution Leadership Council of Damascus: | |
| Qubair is 20km away from Hama, and it is located near Ma'arzaf village. It was formed of only 25 houses inhabited by 150 people, now, more than half of them are killied. | |
| The timing of Qubair massacre is not clear so far, but the ranch, as they call it, was under shelling since 1pm on 6 June. Several people were killed in the shelling. | |
| After shelling, shabiha and pro-regime militias armed with machine guns and knives stormed into the ranch in the midst of heavy gunfire, and raided civilian homes and randomly shot their residents. Shabiha then led many men outside their homes and slaughtered them. It was reported that 10 people were also burned after they were killed. | |
| Residents of the area were of three main families, now, the largest part of them was killed. Out of about 150 residents, around 80 were killed including 22 children and 20 women. Thirty corpses were kidnaped by shabeeha afterwards. | |
| The Guardian is unable to verify these allegations. | |
| 8.44am: (all times BST) Welcome to Middle East Live. Today we shall be trying to shed light on the latest reported massacre in Syria and following diplomatic manoeuvres as Kofi Annan prepares to brief the United Nations. We shall also be monitoring developments elsewhere in the region. | 8.44am: (all times BST) Welcome to Middle East Live. Today we shall be trying to shed light on the latest reported massacre in Syria and following diplomatic manoeuvres as Kofi Annan prepares to brief the United Nations. We shall also be monitoring developments elsewhere in the region. |
| Syria | Syria |
| • Syria's government has been accused of carrying out a new massacre yesterday in al-Qubair, a small village near the central city of Hama, with an opposition group claiming 100 people, including many women and children, had been killed. | • Syria's government has been accused of carrying out a new massacre yesterday in al-Qubair, a small village near the central city of Hama, with an opposition group claiming 100 people, including many women and children, had been killed. |
| The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the massacre was carried out by pro-regime shabiha militiamen armed with guns and knives after regular troops had shelled the area. | The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the massacre was carried out by pro-regime shabiha militiamen armed with guns and knives after regular troops had shelled the area. |
| Syrian state TV said troops had attacked "terrorists" – the phrase the official media uses for any opposition, armed or peaceful, to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. | Syrian state TV said troops had attacked "terrorists" – the phrase the official media uses for any opposition, armed or peaceful, to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. |
| • Today, Kofi Annan, the joint UN-Arab League envoy, will give his latest assessment of the Syrian conflict to the UN general assembly and then brief the security council behind closed doors. | • Today, Kofi Annan, the joint UN-Arab League envoy, will give his latest assessment of the Syrian conflict to the UN general assembly and then brief the security council behind closed doors. |
| Annan is said to be hoping to stop a total collapse of his six-point plan for a truce and negotiated political solution. There are reports that he will present a plan for creating a "contact group", though is unclear whether that will be acceptable to Syria's most powerful allies, Russia and China. | Annan is said to be hoping to stop a total collapse of his six-point plan for a truce and negotiated political solution. There are reports that he will present a plan for creating a "contact group", though is unclear whether that will be acceptable to Syria's most powerful allies, Russia and China. |
| Egypt | Egypt |
| • There are hints that former president Hosni Mubarak will shortly be transferred from a prison hospital to a military hospital. His health is said to have "deteriorated significantly" after he was sentenced to life imprisonment at the weekend. | • There are hints that former president Hosni Mubarak will shortly be transferred from a prison hospital to a military hospital. His health is said to have "deteriorated significantly" after he was sentenced to life imprisonment at the weekend. |
| The Egypt Independent says that after sentencing Mubarak had expected to be taken back to the luxurious, military-run International Medical Centre, where he had spent his custody detention, rather than the notorious Tora prison. | The Egypt Independent says that after sentencing Mubarak had expected to be taken back to the luxurious, military-run International Medical Centre, where he had spent his custody detention, rather than the notorious Tora prison. |