Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for May 28/12
Iran tried to kill Israeli, US diplomats
President Michel Suleiman Calls on Lebanese Foes for Dialogue Session in June
Syrian al-Ahrar party secretary general Ibrahim al-Zohbi Withdraws from Mediations with Kidnappers of Pilgrims
Lebanon asks Arab League to intervene in hostage crisis
Speaker Nabih Berri Denies Kidnapped Pilgrims Executed, Preaches Patience
Report: Speaker Nabih Berri  Obtains Names of Group Plotting to Assassinate him
Report: The Speaker Obtains Names of Group Plotting to Assassinate him
March 14 Holds onto Demands to Resume Dialogue
Mufti calls massacre in Syrian town an atrocity, slams U.N. observers
UN observer chief in Syria to emphasize 'suffering' of people during Annan visit
Annan to meet Assad Tuesday, says Syrian official
Security Council blames Syria for shelling Houla
Syrian government denies attack that killed more than 100, UN council condemns shelling
Canada's Statement from Minister Baird on UN Security Council Resolution on Syria
Syria massacre: UK 'no right' to ban athletes
Ghalioun: For Battle of Liberation if U.N. Fails to Act under Chapter 7
Russia doubts Syrian government behind Houla massacre
116 dead in Syria's Houla, UN mission chief says
Israel sees Iranian hand in Syria’s Houla killings
Iran may rethink 20% enrichment, says foreign ministry
Observatory: More Than 13,000 Killed in Syria since March 2011
Iran to launch new nuclear plant project: state TV
Sen. McCain talks Syria, Iran and tensions with Pakistan; Cardinal Wuerl on Catholic institutions vs. Obama administration
Lebanese troops Shoot Dead Charbel Rahme Who Failed to Stop at al-Madfoun Checkpoint
Lebanese Dead, Another Hurt, Held in Ambush by Syrian Army
Year after his Abduction, by Syria Shebli al-Aisamy's fate is still Unknown
Lebanese Shiite Survivors of Iraq Bus Bombing Arrive in Beirut
March 14 calls for new Cabinet before dialogue
Syrian rebels make demands for hostages’ release
Syrian border guards kill Lebanese man, kidnap another in Rashaya
Syrian rebel says “five Hezbollah” members among abducted pilgrims
Terro: Liberation of abducted Lebanese will save Lebanon from ‘ordeal’
LBC: Two soldiers interrogated following killing at Batroun checkpoint
Keyrouz condemns killing at army checkpoint
Future Movement condemns Syria’s Houla massacre
Wahhab: Resistance weapons could be used internally
Patriarch Al Raei voices hope for success of national dialogue session

 

President Michel Suleiman Calls on Lebanese Foes for Dialogue Session in June
Naharnet/ 28 May 2012/President Michel Suleiman invited the Lebanese foes for a national dialogue session on June 11 at the Baabda Palace, the National News Agency reported on Monday.
The session is scheduled to kick off at 11:00 a.m. According to the NNA, the invitations included an explanation on the importance of dialogue amid the latest regional and domestic developments especially the continuous Israeli threats. The agenda of the dialogue also includes seeking to positively benefit from Hizbullah’s arms in order to reach a consensus on a national defense strategy, the arms spreading across Lebanon and organizing the Palestinian arms inside the refugee camps and halting its use outside them, the news agency said. It added that the invitation includes the importance of implementing the decisions taken on the previous national dialogue table. The March 14-led opposition refuses to resume dialogue under the current government conditioning its participation on the discussion of Hizbullah’s arms. However, Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah voiced his support to the president’s initiative without preconditions.

'Iran tried to kill Israeli, US diplomats'
Ynetnews/28.05.12
US, Mideast security officials tell Washington Post Iranian, Hezbollah operatives attempted to assassinate Western, Saudi officials in at least seven countries; plot was halted abruptly when Tehran agreed to resume nuke talks . New evidence has emerged indicating the involvement of Hezbollah operatives and Iranian agents in several attempts to assassinate Israeli, American and Saudi officials, the Washington Post reported Monday. According to the report, Iran-linked operatives attempted to kill foreign diplomats in at least seven countries over a span of 13 months. The targets included two Saudi officials, a half-dozen Israelis and several Americans, US and Middle Eastern security officials told the newspaper. Many experts, the report said, see the incidents as part of an ongoing shadow war, a multi-sided, covert struggle in which Iran also has been the victim of assassinations and cyber attacks. The officials told the Washington Post that the assassination attempts halted abruptly in early spring, when Iran began to shift its tone after weeks of aggressive anti-Western rhetoric and agreed to resume negotiations with the six world powers on proposals to curb its nuclear program.
“There appears to have been a deliberate attempt to calm things down ahead of the talks,” a Western diplomat briefed on the assassination plots told the Washington Post. “What happens if the talks fail — that’s anyone’s guess.” According to the officials, in recent weeks investigators working in four countries have amassed new evidence tying the disparate assassination attempts to one another and linking all of them to either Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorists or operatives based inside Iran. An official report last month summarizing the evidence cited phone records, forensic tests, coordinated travel arrangements and even cell phone SIM cards purchased in Iran and used by several of the would-be assailants, two officials who have seen the six-page document told the Washington Post.
The Iran-backed operatives, the report said, were behind the thwarted plot to assassinate Israel's ambassador to Azerbaijan in early 2012.
The plot was exposed when a "foreign spy agency" intercepted electronic messages that appeared to describe plans to move weapons and explosives from Iran into Azerbaijan, the Washington Post reported.  The operatives plotted to assassinate senior American diplomats and Israeli embassy employees in the capital Baku.
US officials said the plot had two strands, one involving snipers with silencer-equipped rifles and the other a car bomb. "Both strands could be traced back to the same place, the officials were told: Azerbaijan’s southern neighbor, Iran," the report said. "The threat, many details of which were never made public, appeared to recede after Azerbaijani authorities rounded up nearly two dozen people in waves of arrests early this year." According to the report, it remains unclear whether the attempts were ordered by Iranian government officials or perhaps carried out with the authorities’ tacit approval by intelligence operatives or a proxy group such as Hezbollah. “The idea that Iran and Hezbollah might have worked together on these attempts is possible,” a senior US official who has studied the evidence told the Washington Post, “but this conclusion is not definitive.”

Syrian al-Ahrar party secretary general Ibrahim al-Zohbi Withdraws from Mediations with Kidnappers of Pilgrims
Naharnet/ 28 May 2012/Syrian al-Ahrar party secretary general Ibrahim al-Zohbi announced that his mediation with the abductors of the 11 Lebanese pilgrims in Aleppo has ended.
“I ended my meditation for several reasons, mostly because the Lebanese government is dealing in an unprofessional manner with the incident,” according to a statement issued by his press office.
He said that the Lebanese state failed to determine a stance towards his mediation and didn’t contact him. The statement noted that the statements of Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah affected the release of the 11 men and the efforts exerted by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri to set them free. During a speech on Friday, Nasrallah thanked President Michel Suleiman, Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Najib Miqati and Hariri for their efforts. He also thanked Syrian President Bashar Assad for securing the return of the women and elderly who were with the 11 pilgrims. Al-Zohbi described his mediation as humanitarian, noting that the media rumors forced him to end his efforts. The secretary general told LBC TV station that the latest developments and the interference of a senior Arab figure in the case and the negotiations between the Lebanese authorities with Turkey transferred the incident from a humanitarian case to a political one. Al-Zohbi stressed that the pilgrims are in “good health,” and the delay in releasing an audio record for them is the result of the political rhetoric. The pilgrims, who were snatched in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo last week, were reported as having arrived in Turkey on Friday. However, conflicting reports emerged about the whereabouts of the abducted men as they were expected to arrive in Lebanon on Friday but an unclear problem occurred and halted their release. The kidnappers of the pilgrims also are still unknown as the Syrian opposition and the regime exchanged the blame.

Speaker Nabih Berri Denies Kidnapped Pilgrims Executed, Preaches Patience
Naharnet /28 May 2012/Speaker Nabih Berri sought on Monday to appease the angry families of Lebanese pilgrims kidnapped in Syria, saying sources from the Syrian opposition and Turkish officials have confirmed that they are still alive. In remarks to several Beirut dailies, Berri said reports and “rumors” that the 11 men, who were kidnapped in the northern province of Aleppo last week, were executed are baseless. “They are still alive and are in good health. This is confirmed by sources in the Syrian opposition in addition to Turkish officials,” the speaker added.
He also slammed statements allegedly issued in the name of the families of the abductees that target relations with Turkey and seek to increase the divide among the Lebanese.
“Patience is the key to the happy outcome,” Berri said in a message to the families. Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour also denied that Lebanese authorities had received any requests from the kidnappers, whose identities are not known yet. He warned against issuing rumors that the pilgrims had ties to any political party or that U.S. intelligence agencies had interfered in the case to delay their release.
Mansour also urged the media to be accurate.

Report: Speaker Nabih Berri  Obtains Names of Group Plotting to Assassinate him
Naharnet/ 28 May 2012/ Speaker Nabih Berri revealed that he had obtained the names of those who are plotting to assassinate him, As Safir newspaper reported on Monday. “I know where they are holding their meetings and what they are plotting,” Berri told senior Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmed. He urged the Palestinian authority to halt any attempt to use the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon to escalate tension in Lebanon. Earlier this month, the speaker confirmed that a list of politicians and figures would be targeted by extremist groups, describing the threat as serious and dangerous. According to As Safir newspaper, the information coincided with similar data obtained by Lebanese security agencies. The report said that Berri and several other senior Lebanese officials might be the target of a security threat by the terrorist group. In January, security agencies urged Berri and Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat to take precautions as they might be the target of an assassination plot.

March 14 Holds onto Demands to Resume Dialogue
Naharnet/ 28 May 2012/The March 14-led opposition reiterated on Monday its rejection to resume the national dialogue under the current government and said its participation was conditioned on the discussion of Hizbullah’s arms. Lebanese Forces Leader Samir Geagea stressed during an interview with L'Orient Le Jour that his allies in the March 14 forces voiced their support to the resumption of the national dialogue. However, he said that there should be a “serious basis” in this regard amid the latest developments. Asked about the results of the resumption of the all-party talks, Geagea said that the dialogue is useless as the majority of the cabinet members are linked to the Syrian regime. “The other team isn’t seeking a serious dialogue,” he told the daily.
Al-Mustaqbal sources told As Safir newspaper that the movement is waiting for President Michel Suleiman to send his invitation for the dialogue in order to determine an official stance regarding this matter.
For his part, LF MP Shant Janjanian pointed out that dialogue is important between the Lebanese foes. He told Free Lebanon radio that the only controversial item on the agenda of the dialogue would be the arms of Hizbullah. Janjanian stated that the resignation of the cabinet is the only solution.
MP Michel Pharaon told Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) that Suleiman’s dialogue initiative is “honorable.”However, he noted that the March 14 forces “can’t resume dialogue with the presence of the current cabinet.”On Thursday, the President announced that he would invite the Lebanese foes for the resumption of the all-party talks in June.
Earlier, the March 14 forces, following an emergency meeting at the Center House in downtown Beirut, called for forming a “neutral, salvation government,” revealing that they will submit an initiative to Suleiman that is “aimed at confronting the attempt to ruin Lebanon.”They said that all arms outside the state should be on the agenda of the dialogue, a reference to Hizbullah’s weapons and other arms spread among the Lebanese.

UN observer chief in Syria to emphasize 'suffering' of people during Annan visit
By Bassem Mroue, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press
BEIRUT - The head of the U.N. observer mission in Syria said Monday he will emphasize "the suffering of the Syrian people" during special envoy Kofi Annan's visit, which comes just days after a gruesome weekend massacre that killed more than 100 people.
The mass killings Friday in the west-central area of Houla — punctuated by amateur videos showing rows of bloody children killed in the attack — prompted sweeping international criticism of the regime of President Bashar Assad, although differences emerged from world powers over whether his forces were exclusively to blame.
"Today, I look very much forward to Annan's visit, I look forward to be able to covey my impressions of the Syrian people," Maj. Gen. Robert Mood, the head of the unarmed U.N. observer mission, said in Damascus. "Also to share with him that the suffering of the Syrian people is something that they don't deserve."
Annan was expected in Syria on Monday, as activists reported a fresh bombardment in the central city of Hama.
Syrian troops shelled several neighbourhoods in Hama until the early hours of Monday, killing at least 24 people, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees activist group said. Amateur videos showed a makeshift hospital where several people lay on the floor either dead or wounded. Further details were not immediately clear.
The violence comes at a time of deep concern over the conflict in Syria. The Houla massacre was one of the deadliest single days of the country's uprising, which is in its 15th month.
Syria has strongly denied allegations that its forces carried out the killings, but the U.N. Security Council after an emergency session Sunday condemned government forces for shelling residential areas.
Human Rights Watch urged a swift investigation.
"There's no way a Syrian military commission can credibly investigate this horrendous crime when so much evidence suggests pro-government forces were responsible," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at the New York-based group. "Annan should insist that Syria grant access to the U.N. commission of inquiry to investigate this and other grave crimes."
The brutality of the killings became clear in amateur videos posted online that showed scores of bodies, many of them young children, in neat rows and covered with blood and deep wounds. A later video showed the bodies, wrapped in white sheets, being placed in a sprawling mass grave.
The United Nations estimates that 9,000 people have been killed since the uprising began in March 2011, but hundreds more have been killed since the U.N. provided that figure.
The Security Council issued a press statement Sunday that "condemned in the strongest possible terms" the killings in Houla. It blamed Syrian forces for artillery and tank shelling of residential areas. It also condemned the killings of civilians "by shooting at close range and by severe physical abuse," but avoided saying who was responsible for these attacks.
The council's statement said the "outrageous use of force" against civilians violated international law and Syrian government commitments under previous U.N. resolutions to stop all violence, including the use of heavy weapons in populated areas. It said "those responsible for acts of violence must be held accountable," and asked the U.N. observer mission in Syria and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to investigate the attacks and report back to the council.
Britain and France had proposed issuing a press statement condemning the attack on civilians and pointing the finger at the Syrian government for Friday's massacre. But Russia called for an emergency council meeting saying it first wanted a briefing by Mood, the head of the unarmed U.N. observer mission.
The massacre in Houla cast fresh doubts on the ability of an international peace plan put forward by U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan to end Syria's crisis, which is in its 15th month.
Mood told the Security Council that U.N. observers at the scene now estimate 108 people were killed in Houla, U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous told reporters outside the council chamber. The U.N. counted 49 children and 34 women among the dead.
Activists from the Houla area said the army pounded the villages with artillery and clashed with local rebels after protests Friday. Some activists said pro-regime thugs later stormed the area, doing the bulk of the killing by gunning down men in the streets and stabbing women and children in their homes.
The Syrian government rejected that narrative Sunday, painting a vastly different picture.
Speaking to reporters in Damascus, Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi said Syrian security forces were in their local bases Friday when they were attacked by "hundreds of heavily armed gunmen" firing mortars, heavy machine-guns and anti-tank missiles, staring a nine-hour battle that killed three soldiers and wounded 16.
The soldiers fought back, but didn't leave their bases, he said.
"No Syrian tank or artillery entered this place where the massacres were committed," he said. "The security forces did not leave their places because they were in a state of self-defence."
He blamed the gunmen for what he called a "terrorist massacre" in Houla and accused the media, Western officials and others of spinning a "tsunami of lies" to justify foreign intervention in Syria.
Makdissi did not provide videos or other evidence to support his version of events, nor did he give a death toll. He said the government had formed a committee to investigate and share its findings with Annan, who is due to visit Damascus in the coming days.
Throughout the uprising, the government has deployed snipers, troops and thugs to quash protests and shelled opposition areas.

 Syrian rebels make demands for hostages’ release
May 28, 2012/By Hussein Dakroub/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Hopes for an early release of the 11 Lebanese Shiite pilgrims kidnapped by rebels in Syria last week were dashed Sunday as captors were reported to have made demands for their freedom, including the release of anti-regime activists by the government. Also rebel allegations, quickly denied by Hezbollah, that three of the hostages are members of the party, are bound to further complicate efforts aimed at securing their release. These developments came amid a deluge of speculation and unconfirmed reports concerning the fate of the 11 Lebanese, who were kidnapped last week by rebels in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo while returning from a pilgrimage to Iran. “The 11 Lebanese are still held by a group of rebels who insist they will release them only in exchange for activists held by regime forces,” sources close to Syrian rebels told The Daily Star Sunday. “The rebels are now holding the hostages in different locations, not all in one location.”“Other complicating factors that are pushing the captors into a harder line are: regime forces have been launching a fierce bombardment campaign in the area for the past 48 hours and the Houla massacre,” the sources added.
Therefore, the sources said they did not expect a swift end to this saga. According to the sources, three of the hostages are believed to be members of Hezbollah.
However, these allegations were swiftly denied by Hezbollah. “Hezbollah denies that a nephew of Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah or any of his relatives are among the kidnapped Lebanese,” said a statement released by the resistance party’s media office.
Lebanese officials said contacts are ongoing in an effort to secure the 11 hostages. The men should have been released Friday, according to Turkish officials, but last-minute hurdles hindered their release.
Lebanese officials did not say what caused the delay. But they appear optimistic the ordeal will soon end. Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil told reporters at Beirut airport Sunday that he felt assured that the hostages were safe. Hezbollah’s Administrative Reform Minister Mohammad Fneish expressed hope that the ongoing efforts to secure the release of the Lebanese hostages would reach a happy end.
Hezbollah MP Ali Ammar said the party was not directly involved in negotiations to secure the release of the hostages. He added that the mediation was being conducted by the Lebanese state.
Meanwhile, Jihad Makdessi, a spokesman for the Syrian Foreign Ministry, condemned the kidnapping of the pilgrims, saying that his government would make efforts to secure their release.
“We will spare no efforts to secure the safe return of the kidnapped to their homes,” Makdessi told a news conference in Damascus. “We ask the parties that are helping [secure the hostages’ release] where did they reach with this matter?”
A spokesman for the Turkish Foreign Ministry said the Lebanese hostages are in good health and are in an area close to the Turkish border. He denied earlier reports that the hostages had reached Turkey.
Turkey’s government spokesman Saljouk Onal said Ankara was holding consultations with the Lebanese government over the case.
“The situation in Syria is unstable. There are several kidnappings. We are doing our best to resolve the problem of the kidnapped Lebanese,” Onal said in an interview with Al-Jadeed TV.
He added that Turkey does not know where the hostages are being held and is trying to locate them. “We are trying to contact all the parties who might be concerned with this issue.”
Meanwhile, the head of the opposition Syrian National Council, Burhan Ghalioun, said Sunday said the hostages are still in Syria, not Turkey. “I believe that they are still in Syria,” Ghalioun told a news conference in Istanbul.
“We spoke with some parties who had contacts with the group [of captors] and we offered our assistance to have them freed,” said the outgoing leader of the SNC.
In an interview with LBCI, Ghalioun said the Lebanese were not abducted on religious grounds.
“Religion has nothing to do with the abduction,” Ghalioun said.
Last Friday, Lebanese officials were told by Turkish officials that the hostages had been freed and had reached Turkey.
But Saturday a Turkish diplomatic source said the pilgrims were not in the country after all, adding to growing confusion as to their whereabouts.
“These people are not on Turkish territory. I think there has been some confusion,” the source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The state-run National News Agency reported Friday the release of the pilgrims, saying that Prime Minister Najib Mikati received a call from Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who assured him they were “safe and on their way to Beirut.” A private plane owned by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri was reported to have landed in Turkey to fly the pilgrims home.
But Saturday Mikati said in a statement he was postponing a visit to Turkey following information indicating that contacts and efforts to free the Lebanese still continue.
“It was decided that I visit Turkey today to express my thanks following the assumption that the Lebanese citizens had been freed,” Mikati said. “But since this [release] has been delayed, I decided to postpone the visit,” he said, adding the decision was taken in coordination with Turkish officials.
No one has claimed responsibility for the abductions and Syria’s armed opposition, the Free Syrian Army, has denied any involvement.
Some of the Lebanese women briefly detained reported that their abductors were members of the Free Syrian Army.

Year after Abduction, Fate of Shebli al-Aisamy Unknown
Naharnet /27 May 2012/A year after the kidnapping of Syrian opposition member Shebli al-Aisamy in the Lebanese town of Aley, his family began losing hope of seeing him alive.
“We are convinced that the operation was carried out through the Syrian embassy in Beirut with the assistance of Lebanese sides,” his daughter, Raja Sharafeddine, told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat published Sunday. “There are three witnesses. Among them are those who saw the car and its driver,” she said. Al-Aisamy’s kidnapping near his daughter’s residence on May 24, 2011 created controversy in Lebanon. Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi has claimed the ISF had "dangerous information" linking the Syrian embassy to the disappearance. But Syrian Ambassador Ali Abdul Karim Ali has denied any involvement and challenged Rifi to provide evidence. The kidnapping was one of at least two cases last year in which Lebanese parties were suspected of handing over Syrian dissidents to authorities in Damascus. Asked whether her father was kidnapped for writing his memoirs in which he detailed the rise of the Baath party to power in Syria, Sharafeddine told al-Hayat that al-Aisamy’s arrest won’t do any good because his memoirs are ready to be published in the U.S. but the family is waiting the appropriate time. She told the newspaper that he could have been kidnapped for rejecting a request by the Syrian embassy to announce his opposition to the Syrian revolution and back the regime. The family’s attorney also told al-Hayat that al-Aisamy had rejected to heed a call from the Syrian ambassador to Washington. “The systematic abduction … is part of the behavior of police regimes and is punishable by international law,” he said. Al-Aisamy was a founder of the ruling Baath party and served as a vice president to Amin al-Hafez for three years until radical Baathists overthrew them in 1966. He had lived in exile ever since, in Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt and the United States.  He quit politics in 1992 and eventually got a green card, making him a legal U.S. resident. The 89-year-old was visiting his daughter, who is married to a Lebanese, when he was kidnapped. "The SNC calls on the international community and in particular (U.N.-Arab League envoy) Kofi Annan to act immediately to halt the killings," an unnamed Turkish source quoted him as telling Davutoglu. After an international outcry over what activists branded a massacre, the Syrian government on Sunday denied its forces were responsible for the killing of at least 92 people, a third of them children, in the town of Houla.*Agence France Presse.

Ghalioun: For Battle of Liberation if U.N. Fails to Act under Chapter 7
Naharnet/27 May 2012/Syrian opposition head Burhan Ghalioun called on Sunday for a "battle of liberation" against the regime until the United Nations takes action under Chapter Seven which allows military intervention."I call on the Syrian people to lead a battle of liberation and dignity, relying on its own forces, on the rebels deployed across the country and the Free Syrian Army brigades and friends," he told a news conference in Istanbul. Ghalioun, outgoing leader of the Syrian National Council (SNC), said such action would be taken "unless the international community assumes its responsibilities under Chapter Seven" of the U.N. charter. A Chapter Seven resolution, which can be imposed by the U.N. Security Council, authorizes foreign powers to take measures including military options.
Ghalioun, in a meeting earlier with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, said the anti-regime uprising in Syria had reached a "turning point" after the killings on Friday and Saturday of more than 90 people in a central town.

Canada's Statement from Minister Baird on UN Security Council Resolution on Syria
May 27, 2012 - Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today issued the following statement:
“Canada welcomes the statement by the UN Security Council condemning the Houla massacre, which has—yet again—demonstrated the illegitimate Assad regime’s appalling disregard for human life.
“This weekend’s shocking attack merits the Security Council’s condemnation and much more. We call on the Council to take stronger diplomatic action.
“There must be repercussions for Assad’s refusal to implement the Security Council-endorsed Annan Peace Plan.“We call on all Security Council members to come together and adopt strong measures—including economic sanctions—against the Syrian regime, to ensure that it fulfills its commitments and immediately stops the senseless slaughter of its own people.”