Alep (AsiaNews) -Western nations and Arab states are stepping up their pressure for regime change in Syria following the death of 78 people in Qubair and Maarzaf (Hama province), which rebel forces blame on Assad forces and which world media reported. Like in Houla on 26 May, women and children are said to be among the victims.
"When a child dies, the world cries out," Mgr Giuseppe Nazzaro, apostolic vicar in Alep, told AsiaNews, "but too often this is done for political and strategic reasons. Sadly, the death of the innocent is front-page news. The United Nations has a moral duty to verify the context as well as find the culprits of these crimes and what is behind these odds massacres."
In Houla, soldiers deliberately shot at children in a school, the prelate noted. "This is a crime. But who allowed the killing of innocent children? Where were the adults who videotaped the bodies and quickly posted it online" when the crime was being perpetrated?"
The Houla massacre had a devastating impact in the Syrian people, forced to endure the actions of Muslim extremists who have entered the country, without a voice in the media and increasingly isolated.
"The UN and Western countries don't realise that their sanctions and their support for the rebels are causing more victims than the regime," he said.
According to Mgr Nazzaro, a campaign is underway to destroy Syria. "The fury against the regime of Bashar al-Assad has caused a cycle of violence that is preventing the people and the government from starting a gradual opening to democracy and reforms."
"Like in Iraq and Libya, human rights are being used for the sake of power and economic interests, not always for the good of the people. Those who want to destroy Assad, Qatar and Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, govern their own country with an iron fist with no respect for human rights and religious freedom. Why hasn't anyone condemned the violence against the Shias in Bahrain or the arrests and sentences inflicted on Christian migrants in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait?"