Ban condemns new massacre in Syria's Maan

With great shock, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday learned and condemned "yet another massacre" in the Syrian village of Ma'an, his spokesman Martin Nesirky told the daily press briefing. Dozens of civilians have reportedly been brutally killed in the village yesterday. "The Secretary-General condemns in the strongest terms all violence against civilians and calls for the perpetrators of this massacre, and all other crimes in Syria, to be brought to justice. "Such horrific incidents should be a reminder to all of the urgency of ending the conflict and launching a political transition towards a new Syria where all people and communities are guaranteed protection, rights and freedoms," Nesirky said in a statement. In a related matter, he said Joint Special Representative for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi is expected to brief Ban fairly soon on the second round of Geneva-2 peace talks currently under way. On another related issue, Nesirky said "we understand about 370 men who left Old Homs in the last couple of days are being screened by the Government forces, and more than 111 have been released so far. They are reported to be between 15 and 50 years of age. "We are concerned of their welfare and we have UN protection officers present at the school where these individuals are being held and talking to the men after their questioning," he said. He added that "it is essential they do not come to any harm, and along with our colleagues in other UN organisations, we will continue to press for their proper treatment according to international and human rights law."