BEIRUT — Thirteen bound corpses, many apparently shot execution-style, have been discovered in eastern Syria, U.N. observers said Wednesday, days after the massacre of more than 100 people provoked international outrage.
The latest killings happened in Deir el-Zour province, where the bodies were found late Tuesday, blindfolded with their hands tied behind their backs.
The fresh killings underline violence that seems to be spiraling out of control.
In the wake of last weekend’s massacre in Houla, in which nearly half of the 108 dead were children, the United States and Western nations expelled Syrian diplomats in protest — a move Syria’s state-run media denounced Wednesday as “unprecedented hysteria.”
The massacre drew continued harsh criticism Wednesday, even from Syria’s closest ally, Iran, with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad saying that anyone responsible for the killings should be punished.
“I’m not excluding anyone from this responsibility,” Ahmadinejad told France 24 TV station.
U.N. investigators and survivors have blamed pro-regime gunmen for at least some of the carnage in Houla. The Syrian government denied its troops were behind the killings and blamed “armed terrorists.”
Damascus had said it would conclude its own investigation into the Houla deaths by Wednesday, but it was not clear whether the findings would be made public. The U.N.’s top human-rights body planned to hold a special session Friday to address the massacre.
Meanwhile, violence continued unabated. Syrian forces bombarded rebel-held areas and clashed with army defectors in Homs province, killing at least eight people, activists said.
The United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Bulgaria ordered top Syrian diplomats to leave Tuesday. On Wednesday, Turkey, Syria’s neighbor and a former close ally, ordered the Syrian charge d’affaires and other diplomats to leave the country.
Japan also ordered the Syrian ambassador in Tokyo to leave the country because of concerns about violence against civilians.
The Obama administration added new sanctions on a Syrian bank Wednesday as the U.N. Security Council met behind closed doors to hear briefings from special envoy Kofi Annan’s deputy, Jean-Marie Guehenno, and U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous.
U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice warned that the failure of a peace plan negotiated by Annan could create a spreading conflict that creates “a major crisis” not only in Syria but also regionwide.
