London: 'All options' open to handle Syria

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LONDON, June 12 (UPI) -- "All options" should be on the table if the Syrian peace plan brokered by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan fails, the British foreign secretary said.

Political violence in Syria has entered its second year. An estimated 10,000 people have died as a result of fighting that the Syrian government blames on domestic terrorists.

Following massacres in the village of Houla and al-Qubair, U.N. officials and other members of the international community have said Syrian regime officials may be committing war crimes against the people.

All parties to the violence in Syria were to lay down their weapons by April through terms of a cease-fire brokered by Annan.

The official Syrian Arab News Agency notes that all sides were to abandon violence, but said armed groups inside the country "backed by the United States and its pawns" have worked to breach the cease-fire.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague issued a statement to lawmakers in London saying Damascus was making matters worse by "branding opponents terrorists." This, he said, only encouraged Syrians to take up arms to defend themselves.

"We do not want to see the Annan plan fail, but if despite our best efforts it does not succeed, we would have to consider other options for resolving the crisis, and in our view all options should then be on the table," he said.