International mediator Kofi Annan said on Wednesday that he had convened a ministerial-level meeting on Syria in Geneva on Saturday with the aim of seeking an end to the violence and agreeing on principles for a "Syrian-led political transition".
In a statement, the joint United Nations-Arab League envoy said he had invited foreign ministers from the five major powers (Britain, France, China, Russia and the United States) as well as Turkey, the European Union, Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar, but made no mention of Iran.
Earlier on Wednesday morning, gunmen stormed the headquarters of al-Ikhbariya television, a pro-government Syrian TV news channel, planted explosives and killed three employees, state media said.
"The terrorists planted explosive devices in the headquarters of al-Ikhbariya following their ransacking of the satellite channel studios, including the newsroom which was entirely destroyed," the state media said.
"Three colleagues were killed as a result of the brutal terrorist attack," it added, without giving details.
Information Minister Omran al-Zoebi told reporters outside the station that gunmen stormed the compound, placed explosives and then detonated them.
"What happened today is a massacre, a massacre against the freedom of the press," al-Zoebi said in comments broadcast on state-run Syrian TV. "They carried out a terrifying massacre by executing the employees."
State-run Syrian TV showed a demolished structure without a ceiling, saying it was the station's main studio. It also showed what it said were tapes on fire amid piles of debris.
The Syrian press is tightly regulated by the Ministry of Information. Although Ikhbariya is privately owned, opponents of President Bashar al-Assad say it is a government mouthpiece.
During the 16-month-old pro-democracy revolt against the Assad family's four-decade rule, Ikhbariya has been pushing to counter what it says is a campaign of misinformation by western and Arab satellite channels on the uprising, which it describes as a foreign-backed terrorist conspiracy.
Ikhbariya resumed broadcasting shortly after the attack.
International positions
In international positions, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyib Erdogan declared on
Wednesday that Turkey is not willing to attack neighboring Syria.
As for U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, she said that she was "keeping her calendar open" for international mediator Kofi Annan's proposed meeting on Syria on Saturday and hoped it would be a turning point in the crisis.
Clinton added that the United States fully endorsed a road map for a political transition in Syria that Annan has circulated to major powers.
For their part, U.N.
investigators announced that pro-regime forces “may be responsible” for the
numerous deaths in the Houla massacre, “but there is a need for a comprehensive
investigation”. They said that regime forces have shelled towns, inspected
houses and executed civilians in the past three months.
Investigators also said that
the armed Syrian opposition forces have tortured and executed soldiers, adding
that they increasingly used explosive devices during the uprising.
Earlier on Wednesday, Syrian
ambassador Faisal
Khabbaz Hamoui stormed out of the U.N.
Human Rights Council’s debate held in Geneva while members of the council were
debating on the latest report of the Commission of Inquiry on Syria stipulating
the deteriorating situation there.
"We will not participate in
this flagrantly political meeting," said Hamoui before walking out.
The deputy of international mediator Kofi Annan, Jean-Marie Guehenno warned
the U.N. Human Rights Council that time is running out for a peaceful and
comprehensive settlement in Syria.
REUTERS/AP/LBCI