Houla carnage: UK, Germany also expel Syrian envoys

Houla carnage: UK, Germany also expel Syrian envoys
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Summary Germany and UK Tuesday said they would expel Syrian ambassadors in protest at Houla killings.

DPA said the 52-year-old ambassador was summoned to the foreign ministry and told he has 72 hours to leave the country. Germanys move followed similar measures announced by French President Francois Hollande.Meanwhile Britain is also expelling the top Syrian diplomat in London in protest at the massacre of at least 108 people in Houla, following similar moves by Australia, France and Germany, a source said Tuesday.The charge daffaires is being expelled. The foreign secretary will give more details soon, the British government source told AFP on condition of anonymity.British media said two other Syrian diplomats were also being expelled but the embassy was not being closed.Syria had already withdrawn its ambassador from London.The move comes a day after Britain summoned the charge daffaires to receive an official protest against the sickening and evil massacre.British Prime Minister David Cameron also on Monday urged UN chief Ban Ki-moon to step up the pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and help end the despicable suppression of the Syrian people.Cameron spoke to the Secretary General by telephone and the pair agreed that the peace plan drawn up by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan needed to be implemented in the wake of the massacre.The Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported the expulsions were a coordinated move with France, Britain and Italy.Australia also expelled Syrias top diplomat earlier Tuesday.World leaders have voiced outrage over the deaths of at least 108 people in the central town of Houla on Friday and Saturday, among them 49 children and 34 women, many blown to bits or shot dead at point blank range.Most of the victims of the massacre were summarily executed, the UN rights body said.
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