Gruesome discovery marks start of New Year in Syria

30 tortured bodies found in Damascus In a bloody start to 2013, the New Year has bought the discovery of what sources said were dozens of tortured corpses in Damascus. Monitors say the conflict has now killed more than 45,000 people , and this recent incident has clouded end-of-year efforts to end 21 months of bloodshed.
According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of medics and activists on the ground, nearly 90 percent of the dead came in the past 12 months. The observatory told AFP that it had discovered of 30 tortured bodies in a flashpoint district of Damascus. "Thirty bodies were found in the Barzeh district. They bore signs of torture and have so far not been identified," the Observatory explained.
The Syrian Revolution General Commission activist network gave a higher estimate of 50 bodies, saying “their heads were cut and disfigured to the point that it was no longer possible to identify them.” A gruesome video of a separate slaying of three children in the capital was also discovered. The children were allegedly kidnapped the day before at a checkpoint on their way home from school.
Meanwhile in central Syria, the army shelled the town of Halfaya in Hama province, where an air strike on a bakery last week killed 60 people. The Observatory said this puts the 2012 death toll at 39,362 people, mostly civilians.
The uprising began in March 2011 with peaceful protests inspired by the Arab Spring but escalated into an armed rebellion following a brutal government crackdown. Although rebels now hold vast swathes of territory in both the northeast and the northwest, the government has so far stood firm despite Western predictions of its imminent fall.
The government of President Assad said it welcomed any initiative for talks to end bloodshed in the country, after UN-Arab League envoy Brahimi said he had a peace plan acceptable to world powers. Brahimi says the plan is the only one on the table, and predicts “hell” if countries do not push both sides to talk. “The situation in Syria is bad, very, very bad, and it is getting worse, the pace of deterioration is increasing,” Brahimi told reporters in Cairo. “I have discussed this plan with Russia and Syria. I think this proposal could be adopted by the international community,” the UN and Arab League envoy said, without giving details. The proposal allegedly involves a ceasefire, the formation of a government, an election plan, and was based on an agreement world powers reached in Geneva in June. The opposition has already rejected the plan, insisting Assad must go before any dialogue can take place.
“The government is working to support the national reconciliation project and will respond to any regional or international initiative that would solve the current crisis through dialogue and peaceful means and prevent foreign intervention in Syria’s internal affairs,” Prime Minister Wael Al-Halaqi told parliament.

Source: Arabstoday with agencies