Syrian Diplomats Expelled in Coordinated Protest of Houla Slayings
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Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images(LONDON) — In a coordinated move, a number of western countries have started to expel senior Syrian diplomats from their countries.
“We have again called the Syrian Charge in London here to the Foreign Office,” said U.K. Foreign Secretary William Hague. “He has been given seven days to leave the country. Other Syrian diplomats, two other diplomats, will be expelled at the same time.”
And it was a similar story in places like Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United States. The action comes in response to the massacre in the Syrian city of Houla of more than 100 civilians.
“A fairly small number appear to have been killed by shelling – artillery and tank fire which took place over a period of more than twelve hours,” said Rupert Colville of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. “But the majority appear to have been the result of house-to-house summary executions of armed men going into houses and killing men, women and children inside.”
The expulsions come amid increasing diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the bloodshed in Syria, and putting more pressure on President Bashar Assad.
It’s also been announced that Paris will host a meeting in early July of the “Friends of Syria” in hopes of finding a solution to the conflict.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio