A UN observer team in Syria- who are investigating the recent massacre in the village of Tremseh-- is calling on President Bashar al-Assad to stop the violence.
New video released of Tremseh by UN monitors show several houses destroyed, and bloodstains on walls and furnishings from the assault by Syrian government forces
This comes as the Red Cross formally declared on Sunday.. that the Syrian conflict is a civil war.
This is significant as, from now, all those fighting in Syria could potentially be prosecuted for war crimes.
However, a Syrian government spokesperson rejected accusations that the government massacred civilians using heavy weaponry.


[Interview : Jihad Makdissi, Spokesperson
Syrian Foreign Ministry] "Government forces did not use planes or helicopters or tanks or artilleryWhat happened was not a massacre, what happened was a military operation."

He added that security forces killed fewer than 40 rebels in Tremseh--- a number far lower than what human rights groups estimate.
Activists claim that as many as 300 people, including civilians, were killed.


[Interview : Villager] "They killed my three brothers. One of them was a defector and two were civilians. They killed them, burnt them and took their bodies away with them."


Meanwhile, the UN-Arab League envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan is set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday.
The UN official hopes to pressure Russia to stop supporting Syria and encourage tougher action against President Assad.
Connie Lee, Arirang News.

Reporter : connie@arirang.co.kr