Kuwaiti rally condemns Syria 'massacre'

Hundreds of Kuwaitis including several MPs rallied outside the Syrian embassy on Saturday to condemn a reported massacre in the Syrian town of Houla and to demand the arming of the rebel Free Syrian Army. Islamist MP Jamaan al-Harbash urged Turkey and all Arab states in the Gulf to act to provide protection for Syrian civilians, warning that if the governments cannot do so "they should open the door for people to fight." Falah al-Sawwagh, another Islamist MP, called for weapons to be sent to the FSA, and urged Kuwaitis to apply pressure on the government to provide more aid to the Syrian people. More than 90 people, including many children, were killed in the central town of Houla during shelling by the Syrian regime forces on Friday and Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. In Damascus, UN mission chief General Robert Mood said in a statement the observer mission had counted more than 92 bodies in Houla. "This morning UN military and civilian observers went to Houla and counted more than 32 children and over 60 adults killed," the statement said. Speakers at the rally in Kuwait also announced the start of fund-raising campaigns to collect donations in aid for the Syrian people and the FSA.