PRIME Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs HE Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor al Thani on Saturday sought a deadline for Kofi Annan’s peace mission in the light of continued killings there.

More than 100 men, women and children were massacred in eastern Houla region last week triggering fresh outrage. UN monitors believe it was the work of pro-Assad militias and soldiers. In his speech at the opening of the meeting of the Arab Ministerial Committee on the Situation in Syria, he said “It is unacceptable that massacres and bloodshed continue while the mission is ongoing indefinitely”.

He also called upon the UN Security Council to put the six-point Annan plan under Chapter VII of the UN charter “so that the international community could assume its responsibilities”.

The action would permit military intervention by the Security Council in Syria to restore peace and security. “We cannot tolerate the continuing violence in Syria, and the situation to remain as it is”, he said and warned that the Syrian regime was “making a mistake in surviving this way.”

He accused the Assad regime of ignoring Annan’s six-point peace plan, saying Damascus “did not implement the first point of the plan and ignored the rest.”

Stressing that the situation did not permit further procrastination, he said, “Our responsibility requires us to be frank with the Syrian people and to take necessary and explicit decisions to stop the aggression.”

He explained that the meeting aimed to examine the situation in Syria, to consult on the handling of the crisis, and to address its implications. “I hope that we measure up to the responsibility to take practical decisions to end people’s ordeal as quickly as possible.”