Massacre in Syria ahead of League team's visit

Dubai: Syrian forces killed 111 people ahead of the start of a mission to monitor President Bashar Al Assad's implementation of an Arab League peace plan, activists said yesterday as France branded the killings an "unprecedented massacre".

Rami Abdul Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 111 civilians and activists were killed in addition to over 100 casualties among army deserters in Idlib province, turning Tuesday into the "bloodiest day of the Syrian revolution".

"There was a massacre of an unprecedented scale in Syria on Tuesday," said French foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero. "It is urgent that the UN Security Council issue a firm resolution that calls for an end to the repression."

The main opposition Syrian National Council demanded international action to protect civilians.

The escalating death toll in nine months of unrest has raised the spectre of civil war in Syria with Al Assad still trying to stamp out protests with troops and tanks despite international sanctions against him.

Idlib, a northwestern province bordering Turkey, has been a hotbed of protest during the revolt, inspired by uprisings across the Arab world this year, and has also seen escalating attacks by armed insurgents against the regime's forces.