NEWS - ~ New 'massacre' reported in Syria's Hama province

At least 86 people, including many women and children, have been
killed by Syrian pro-government forces inHama province, opposition
activists say.
More than 20 children and 20 women were reportedlyamong those who died
in the villages of Qubair and Maarzaf, in what the activists called
a"massacre".
Syrian State TV said troops found some bodies after attacking "terrorists".
Neither account could be confirmed, but it comes less than two weeks
after 108 people were killed in Houla.
Witnesses on Wednesday blamed pro-government militiamen, while the
government of President Bashar al-Assad accused"armed groups" seeking
to trigger foreign military intervention.
'Heinous crime'
Activist groups reported that Qubair and Maarzaf, about 20km (12
miles) north-west of the city of Hama, had come under heavy
bombardment from security forces backed by tanks.
But they said much of the killing in Qubair was done by accompanying
groups of pro-government militiamen known as"shabiha", who had come
from nearby pro-government villages.
The activists said they shot at close range and stabbed many people,
including women and children underthe age of two, and that some of the
bodies were later burnt in houses whichwere set on fire. Others were
taken away by the shabiha, they added.
"They executed [nearly] every person in the village. Very few numbers
could flee. They majority were slaughtered with knives and in a
horrible and ugly way," one activist in Hama told the BBC's World
Tonight.
"[They] are failing to save the lives of the wounded because they are
very poorpeople - usually they are Bedouin who... have no kind of
healthcare," he added.
Analysis
Barbara Plett
BBC UN correspondent
Kofi Annan's plan calls for aceasefire, followed by a dialogue between
the government and the opposition that would leadto a political
transition. Instead there's been an upsurge in violence, with the
regime accused of carrying out massacres, and the rebels stepping up
deadly attacks on soldiers.
There is unity in the Security Council behind the idea in Mr Annan's
plan, now it seems he'll be seeking unity of action.
Diplomats say he's expected to propose the creation of a contact group
made up of world and regional powers - some, such as Russia and Iran,
with influence on the government; others, such as Western and Arab
states,with influence on the opposition.
The idea would be to increase pressure on both, but especially the
regime, to end the violence and begin negotiations.
If this is what Mr Annan is planning to suggest, he's already been met
with objections from Britain andAmerica, who don't want Iran to
participate.
"The small number of villagers who fled were theonly people remaining
who could tell the world about this horrible massacre."
One of Qubair's residents, who told the BBC that the when the army and
militia left the village he had discovered about 40 bodies: most were
women and children who had beenstabbed to death.
Among the victims were four members of his family,the villager said.
He added that he saw a burned corpse of a three-month-old baby.
The Local Co-ordination Committees, an activist network, said 78
people had died in Qubair, including 35 members of one family.
Later on Wednesday, Syrian state TV quoted an official source as
saying that security forces, responding to appeals from citizens, had
launchedan attack on an "armed terrorist stronghold" in Qubair.
The security forces came across the bodies of two women and a number
of children, bound hand and foot, in the village, who thecoroner said
had been killed at 10:00, when the"armed terrorist groups" were still
in the village, theofficial added.
In a statement on state TV quoted by AFP news agency, the government
said that "a terrorist group has committed a heinous crime".
"The reports by the media are contributing to spilling the blood of
Syrians," the statement added.
The LCC said the Qubair killings had brought the total number of
people killed nationwide by security forces on Wednesday to 140.
Annan appeal
The BBC's Jim Muir in Beirutsays there has been no independent
confirmation of these latest reports and no video has surfaced on the
internet to back them up.
But the news of the Houla massacre emerged in a similar way and the
details given by activists were later confirmed by UN ceasefire
observers on the ground, our correspondent adds.