The head of the U.N. observer mission in Syria said Monday he will emphasize "the suffering of the Syrian people" during special envoy Kofi Annan's visit, which comes just days after a gruesome weekend massacre that killed more than 100 people. "Today, I look very much forward to Annan's visit, I look forward to be able to covey my impressions of the Syrian people," Maj. Gen. Robert Mood, the head of the unarmed U.N. observer mission, said in Damascus. "Also to share with him that the suffering of the Syrian people is something that they don't deserve." Annan was expected in Syria on Monday, as activists reported a fresh bombardment in the central city of Hama, according to a report of the Associated Press. The Regime's troops shelled several neighborhoods in Hama until the early hours of Monday, killing at least 24 people, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees activist group said. Amateur videos showed a makeshift hospital where several people lay on the floor either dead or wounded. Further details were not immediately clear. The Security Council issued a press statement Sunday that "condemned in the strongest possible terms" the killings in Houla. It blamed the regime's forces in Syria for artillery and tank shelling of residential areas. It also condemned the killings of civilians "by shooting at close range and by severe physical abuse."
