Civil war clouds loom over Syria | WPN World People News

UN chief Ban Ki-moon warned on Thursday that Syria risks a "catastrophic civil war" even as armed rebels threatened fresh action against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad unless it adheres to the six-point peace plan by Friday.

The US has also criticized Russia for resisting UN action against Syria following last week's massacre of 108 people, including many children, at Houla.

Ban, addressing a forum in Istanbul, made it clear he expected Damascus to implement the plan brokered by UN-Arab League peace envoy Kofi Anna.

The ceasefire came into effect on April 12 but has been violated daily.

"I demand that the government of Syria act on its commitment to the Annan peace plan," Ban told a UN-led Alliance of Civilisations initiative.

"The massacres of the sort seen last weekend could plunge Syria into a catastrophic civil war, a civil war from which the country would never recover."

Some were killed by artillery and tank fire but most were summarily executed, according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Following the massacre, many Western countries, including the US, Britain, France and Australia have expelled senior Syrian diplomats in their countries.

In Denmark, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned that Russia's action of resisting UN Security Council action against Damascus could contribute to a civil war.

Source: Middle East News.Net