(Newser)
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The United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting today and condemned Syria's killing of more than 100 people, including 34 children, in brutal attacks last week, the BBC reports. The head of the UN's observer mission in Syria briefed the council via video link, saying 108 people were killed and 300 injured in the town of Houla by shelling and close-range gunfire. After the meeting, the UN council demanded that Syria withdraw heavy weapons from residential areas.
Russia still refused to blame Syria or agree that most of the victims died by shelling, saying most of them were likely "slashed, cut by knives, or executed at point blank distance." Now geopolitical wheels are spinning, with UK Foreign Secretary William Hague traveling to Moscow, governments worldwide denouncing the massacre, and the White House calling it "a vile testament to an illegitimate regime." Syria has denied responsibility, blaming instead anti-government terrorists for the carnage.
